I consider myself to be a techtopian when it comes to AI, which basically means that I see a lot of potential with the use of this technology to improve whatever we humans are trying to do with it. You have probably seen a lot of articles, news, and research about how AI will change the world and how we do things in almost any domain. When I discuss this topic with my students, I am aware that we have been in a similar situation 40-50 years ago, when the first computers appeared and the first attempts to make machines do things that would require human intelligence were done.

I believe we’re seeing a second renaissance of AI and its potential. This is mainly underpinned by the technological advancements in computing power and the explosion of data that is now available as our technological devices process data to function, and as we humans express through social media. We have recently published a conceptual paper on how we see AI systems processing all this information to improve customer engagement online. We suggest that a combination of solicited feedback, but also unsolicited forms of customer engagement coming from different sources could feed and improve how AI systems perform their tasks and improve customer-relevant outcomes.

A question that remains unanswered from our paper is how much unsolicited data should these algorithms be fed? And what is the balance between perfecting the AI to satisfy customers and the use of increasingly available data that sometimes customers are not even aware that they are producing? We’re already hearing some discussions about this among policymakers across the globe. Sadly, as we learned from the Cambridge Analytica, relying on self-regulation can lead to perilous paths, and technology tends to advance at a faster pace than policy.

In any case, you can read our full conceptual article if you click in this link. The paper focuses on how AI can be used in the context of marketing to improve online customer engagement. I hope that you enjoy reading it.

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