Ten Years of Sharenting: How are the kids doing?

This week marks ten years since I sat on a panel about sharenting - the practice of parents sharing content about their children online - at a blogging event. The panel was hosted by Monika Roozen, then known for her blog Mum on the Brink, and my talk back then focused on how the data and metadata shared by parents … Continue reading Ten Years of Sharenting: How are the kids doing?

New paper: How features, resources and task demands shape digital wellbeing (or why digital technology helps some people some times, but not everybody all of the time)

We know from personal experience that digital technology can shape our wellbeing. On the one hand, it offers speed, convenience, and greater access to services. On the other hand, it can feel cold, confusing, or even overwhelming — especially for people facing challenging life circumstances. What’s less clear, however, is why the same technology can … Continue reading New paper: How features, resources and task demands shape digital wellbeing (or why digital technology helps some people some times, but not everybody all of the time)

When things go wrong we forgive AI more easily than humans; but empathy saves the day

As AI agents increasingly handle customer service interactions, it's natural to ask: How do users respond when a service failure is caused by an AI agent versus a human one? A study by Yibo Xie, Zelin Tong, and Zhuorong Wu explored just that. Through a series of experiments, where participants were asked to imagine that … Continue reading When things go wrong we forgive AI more easily than humans; but empathy saves the day

How Purchase Certainty Shapes Our Trust in AI Advice

AI is becoming a common part of online shopping, but are there times when we still prefer human judgement? Research suggests that the answer depends on both the nature of the product and the customer’s certainty about what they want. Some time ago, I reviewed a paper by Fei Jin and Xiaodan Zhang examining when customers would accept … Continue reading How Purchase Certainty Shapes Our Trust in AI Advice

Chocolates vs phones: When is AI more persuasive than humans?

With growing interest in AI-based service agents, an increasing number of studies are comparing how users perceive interactions with AI versus human agents. Yaqi Chen, Haizhong Wang, Sally Rao Hill and Binglian Li examined user assessment of adverts created by a generative AI agent vs a human one. The details for this paper are: Chen, … Continue reading Chocolates vs phones: When is AI more persuasive than humans?

AI, Sales, and Strategy: Insights from the 15gifts Panel Discussion

Last month, I had the pleasure of joining executives from Verizon, GSMA, and Artefact in London for a panel discussion hosted by Humara and 15gifts, exploring the evolving role of AI agents in sales. Our conversation covered industry pressures, internal resourcing, the nuances of AI in “closed box” vs “open box” problems, and how users … Continue reading AI, Sales, and Strategy: Insights from the 15gifts Panel Discussion

Understanding (some) emotional roadblocks to AI adoption

When we consider the reasons supporting or hindering adoption of AI, there might be a tendency to focus on rational aspects, namely the trade-off between benefits such as time-savings or enhanced performance, on the one hand, and costs such as learning effort or the consequence of mistakes, on the other. But we are also emotional … Continue reading Understanding (some) emotional roadblocks to AI adoption

Why Women Must Engage with Generative AI (and How to Get Started)

Study after study after study shows that fewer women than men are using generative AI. Image source The reasons for this AI gender gap are numerous and, to be frank, are not new. Some of the causes mentioned in the emerging literature are: Lack of exposure to generative AI in the workplace: There is still a difference in … Continue reading Why Women Must Engage with Generative AI (and How to Get Started)

When Do Customers Trust AI-recommendations?

The question of when customers will welcome vs reject an AI recommendation is important from both a practical and a conceptual perspective. From the practical perspective, the answer to this question will inform investment in AI recommendation systems (where to invest, risks faced, AI-system features…). From a conceptual one, the answer reveals the boundary conditions … Continue reading When Do Customers Trust AI-recommendations?

New paper: Forced vs Voluntary Chatbot Use: How It Shapes Customer Satisfaction and Blame

As chatbots become an integral part of customer service, mistakes remain inevitable. Whether it’s a failure to understand the customer’s intent or an error in executing an order, such failures raise a key question: Who do customers blame— themselves or the company? Blame attribution shapes customers’ subsequent behaviour. For instance, if I think that I received … Continue reading New paper: Forced vs Voluntary Chatbot Use: How It Shapes Customer Satisfaction and Blame