AI-Driven Research and the Decline of Human-Centric Businesses
October 28, 2024 2024-10-28 3:08AI-Driven Research and the Decline of Human-Centric Businesses
Whether it is about customer service, supply chain optimization, or providing deep predictive insights, the revolution AI-driven research has brought to almost every sphere of life is incredible. Big data processing with state-of-the-art machine-learning algorithms, paired with predictive analytics and automation tools, can process vast sums of data in a fraction of the time that humans might have taken hours or months.
However, as the technology for this starts to get on with management and operations, it does beg one question: Is it ending human-centered businesses?
Imagine walking into a bookstore, and instead of being welcomed by the friendly bookseller, the robot comes up. It analyses your search history and prescribes five books. Or, let’s say you get a QR code in the restaurant instead of a menu card, and robots bring your order.
Accurate? Maybe. But did you find it fulfilling? Probably not. It may be worthy for some, while others may find it not.
In a sense, this summarizes the dilemma of AI-driven business versus human-centric business models. More importantly, how should you benefit from the AI-centric era as a current or future professional, or can these two approaches coexist?
Growth of AI-Driven Research: The Industry-specific Perspective
It is not true that the more a company relies on AI, the less human-centered it can be, regardless of what they call themselves. Some industries have utilized AI’s advantages while also preserving human intelligence. Here are a few examples of how they created a more hybrid model that signaled to their advantage:
- Healthcare
IBM Watson Health could be the prime example of this. The company leverages AI and analytics-based health technology solutions to interpret oncology, genomics, and precision medicine data. It enables doctors to analyze patient histories, identify scan patterns, and customize treatments efficiently.
Although AI can provide diagnostic aids or predictive information, patients also require the emotional care and reassurance that only a healthcare practitioner can offer. AI can not replace human care in any form.
- Farming
While AI can help optimize resource use, monitor crop health, and even predict the best times for planting and harvesting, agribusiness’s success lies in blending these tools with traditional farming wisdom.
There’s a reason why large-scale farms use AI for vertical farming and precision agriculture, but they still depend on human leadership to build sustainable relationships with the communities they serve.
Let’s take John Deere, a company that manufactures agricultural machinery, as an example. They have developed driverless autonomous tractors that also use sensors, high-speed processors, and neural networks to determine whether the area is safe to drive in about milliseconds. Would all this work have been possible without understanding traditional farming practices and human intervention?
As someone entering the world of agro-business, you will see AI taking over many operational tasks, but it’s your job to ensure that farming remains people-centered and a community-focused industry.
- Finance
AI-powered fund trading algorithms are one such example. They process huge datasets at lightning speeds to make split-second decisions for real-time investments based on market movements. Brokerage firms like Charles Schwab have Robo-advisors to provide clients with portfolio management, rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and financial planning services.
Yet human advisors are essential for understanding clients’ financial goals; AI cannot mimic the trust between advisors and clients.
What is a Human-Centric Business?
Human-centric businesses understand that people don’t just want products; they want connection, trust, and meaningful experiences.
Now, you might ask, “Is it applicable to all industries?” The answer is yes for most, specifically their customer and client-facing segments. Here are simple examples.
- Walmart, one of the largest retailers in the world, has an advanced AI system that adjusts price values in real-time based on inventory levels, competitor pricing, and customer demand.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Even though Walmart’s AI ensures products are in the right place at the right time, its managers still need to understand regional preferences, customer service expectations, and how local markets respond emotionally to the brand. AI may predict a surge in demand for a particular product, but human insight shapes how that product is marketed and positioned in each location.
- Airbnb uses AI to recommend properties based on a user’s preferences and past behavior. However, Airbnb’s real success lies in its community-driven model, where the personal connection between host and guest remains at the core of its business model. AI enhances the experience by making it more personalized, but the human connection keeps users returning to the platform.
Hence, students and professionals from all sectors must explore how AI can enhance productivity and accuracy, but the customer experience, delivery timelines, and personalized service are what make or break a company’s reputation.
Why Do Future Leaders Need to Understand AI?
Several career paths are open to you, including those in international business, marketing, quality management, tourism, HRM, digital transformation, or agribusiness management.
However, the message still remains the same. You must know why customers should be loyal to you. Sure, industries are dominated by technology and AI, but people always want to deal with things that feel human.
As someone learning or practicing, it is important to ask, “How do I design a brand model that leverages AI while preserving its soul and core values?”
Steps to utilize AI without losing the human touch:
- Meaningful Brand Story
Your brand story needs to make people feel. Take Apple, for instance. They sell value, innovation, creativity, and the notion that people can change the world by buying what they have to offer. AI may help Apple predict the market, but it is Apple’s philosophy that makes people come back.
However, always keep in mind that customers know when a brand is faking empathy and listening just for the sake of it.
- Understand Your Target Audience
AI can provide you with real-time data on how customers behave, but not the reasons that make them a part of your brand (or don’t). This is where your emotional intelligence comes in. Ask yourself: “What does my audience actually care about consciously?”
People like supporting a cause. For instance, brands such as Patagonia, which emphasize sustainability and are committed to ethical manufacturing, resonate with customers personally.
Although AI may hint at more lucrative strategies, successful brands like these will continue doing what they always have since they revolve around human-centric and environment-centric ideologies.
- Emotional Intelligence is the Highest ROI for You and Your Team
AI cannot allow you to empathically understand your team, customers, and market the way humans do.
This could require customer service representatives to be able to take all the time they need with customers, be it over an extended call or when helping a customer with a challenge totally unrelated to your product.
This type of service creates brand loyalty and retention that no artificial intelligence could match.
- Personalization
While AI can segment an audience and their preferences, adding personal touches like remembering favorite orders or surprising loyal customers with handwritten birthday notes (or unsolicited recommendations) helps build meaningful loyalty.
Those small gestures are things a customer remembers, not algorithmic recommended goods.
The Risks of Over-Reliance on AI
Of course, relying on AI can have risks when it comes to businesses not retaining enough human input. The results of AI may not be ideal, but relying entirely on technology could have unexpected consequences. The well-known cases to explain this would be:
- H&M adopted a fast-fashion business model, which increased production efficiency but took precedence over sustainable methods and ethical concerns.
In such cases, while AI may assist in pushing out more clothes, it can lead to worse outcomes like overproduction and destroy the personal connection customers once had with brands.
- Facebook’s AI-powered algorithms, which were supposed to increase engagement, came under fire for encouraging adverse content. That is because they lose sight of the actual quality of content by orienting focus on algorithm-derived metrics of likes and shares.
Without adequate human control, such systems not only fail to establish trust among users but even work against them. As a result, you need to ensure that you focus on ethics and human values when it comes to developing and deploying AI so as not to be unfair and unaccountable.
The Future of Business is Hybrid
On a final note, the decline of human-centric businesses is a bit overstated. This is because the future of work isn’t one or the other; AI and humans must work together to leverage efficiency and emotion.
By benefiting from AI without forgetting the humanity behind it, you can ultimately secure your legacy as a marketer, healthcare worker, administrator, or artist. This will empower your career while appealing to the people who matter most to you.
At Rushford Business School, we recognize the importance of this balance. Our programs include the MSc in Strategy and Digital Business, the MBA in Chosen Specialization, and the MSc in Strategic Management, among many other specializations. We emphasize offering a full-fledged education that enables students to master AI technically and lead with empathy while maintaining emotional intelligence.
The future is AI-powered, but it is also very human, and you will be prepared to stride in both worlds.