Engaging with AI

Are you even NOT wondering what AI means for engagement?

I’m thinking about it, experimenting with it. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Humans already find engaging with “AI” fairly normal

We spend so much of our time already engaging with things that are “AI” in a mild way. We are absolutely fine receiving a delivery update from Amazon, which we understand was not sent by a human.

We are also somewhat OK using AI in many ways — voice-to-text, emoji, automated chatbots, phone trees, welcome emails. Whether polite and conversational or direct and operational, we seem to have a fairly OK grasp with it.

2. It’s when it’s MASKED that it’s an issue

You know when you get a marketing email acting like it was written specifically to you, but they got something obvious wrong that only you would know — and “the jig is up.”

When such an email comes from someone you don’t know, it’s fine. When it comes from someone you know but it’s clearly mass, it’s also fine. But when AI is used by someone you know, pretending to be authentic, but it’s not — then we have an issue.

3. The issue is with dignity

If you do not give me the dignity of a human response, but “pawn it off” to your AI, then what am I worth to you?