AI + Analog Trust
- Christopher. S. Sellers
- Apr 12, 2024
- 2 min read
AI is hot right now - but there's a giant elephant in the room that advocates either don't see, or are actively ignoring.
Part of my expertise lies in critically evaluating innovation: is this tool actually creative, useful or original, in spite of the hype?
Before an organisation invests hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, into the next revolutionary tool, they might ask me for an independent assessment.
AI is this latest revolutionary tool and my first question is always...
"Why are you using AI as a tool... to what end"?
90% of the time clients are looking to connect with an audience/customer/consumer.
One client at a telecom is considering trialling AI as their first line of customer service.
And here's where I point to the looming analog elephant in the room - an elephant called TRUST.
Two decades of social media have taught us that people - online and in life - will buy from those they know, like and trust.
People, the prospects you're looking to connect with, can smell fake - as social animals, we can sense when something is 'off' and that creates a sense of distrust.
DISTRUST = DISCONNECT
We will actively avoid you - like a YouTube ad, we will skip passed you at first sight.
The era of 'fake news' has raised the concern of... 'who can we trust'?
Now your audience is aware that any study, any report, any advertisement, any LI post, any blog article could potentially be fabricated by a bot.
And this is what you're fighting against - not whether or not that you HAVE used AI to simulate a connection of trust - but the potential that you may have... and how can I trust that you haven't?
This has been my summary to several clients this month.
Not that AI is wrong or bad - AI can be a useful, productive tool.
But how can you maintain your integrity and a trusting relationship with your audience when you choose to use it?
There is a joke amongst actors that 'once you can fake sincerity, you've made it'.
It seems many are looking to leverage AI as the next step toward brute-force, faking the trust they need, to con an audience into getting the result they want.
AI is a tool and when used poorly, manufactures a dysfunctional dynamic that undermines trust and compounds your lack of connection... you become the YouTube ad.
Christopher. S. Sellers is an international Thought Leader, Author
and Speaker on the billion dollar value of creative skills and intelligence.
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