When do consumers actually prefer the AI option (and why)?

AI agents are increasingly popular in customer interface. Sometimes they are the only option, others the default one before consumers are escalated to a human agent. One example of AI agents in customer interface that I mention frequently is AI-powered chatbots. Firms may use AI-powered agents to cut costs, because of their superior analytical capability or, even, … Continue reading When do consumers actually prefer the AI option (and why)?

AI in Marketing – slide set from introductory workshop

About a year ago, I delivered an introductory workshop to students of the MSc AI Strategy, about the role of Artificial Intelligence in Marketing. Recently, a colleague (from a different field) was asking me for an overview on this topic, and I shared this slide set with her. She said that it had been really … Continue reading AI in Marketing – slide set from introductory workshop

ChatGPT and university education – the opportunity, the challenge and the breakthrough

Image created using Dall-E Like it or not, ChatGPT and other forms of generative conversational AI are here to stay. Last weekend, John Naughton, writing in the Guardian, compared ChatGPT to Excel*, noting that “[Excel] went from being an intriguing but useful augmentation of human capabilities to being a mundane accessory”. It would never occur to current … Continue reading ChatGPT and university education – the opportunity, the challenge and the breakthrough

This blog is 13 – Spotlight on McCarthy and Boger’s “The open academic” paper

Image generated by Dall-E I published my first blog post, on this blog, thirteen years ago (January 6th, 2010, to be precise). Since then, I have been looking at public life through the lens of digital marketing, information systems and science & technology studies. I have also been writing about what I read and the … Continue reading This blog is 13 – Spotlight on McCarthy and Boger’s “The open academic” paper

December 2022 round-up

I listened to my past self and was very pragmatic about what I would be able to achieve in December. I even booked some time off for the period around Christmas and New Year, so I wouldn’t be tempted to promise others to get something done, then. That was a good decision: less running around and stressing … Continue reading December 2022 round-up

Dear ChatGPT, your answer is convincing but it is a complete fabrication

I have been spending some time exploring ChatGPT, the new AI powered, conversational chatbot, which is attracting a lot of attention for the range and the quality of its output. ChatGPT, by OpenAI, was launched at the end of November. It can do things as diverse as writing letters / e-mails, short answers, long articles … Continue reading Dear ChatGPT, your answer is convincing but it is a complete fabrication

About the wonders and pitfalls of multi-disciplinary research

In my November 2022 round-up post, I mentioned that one of the projects that I am working on, at the moment, brings together researchers from different disciplines, and that this requires some adjustment from all. It is not the first time that I have experienced this adjustment, though – this is very much a feature of … Continue reading About the wonders and pitfalls of multi-disciplinary research

On how algorithms are consequential – example from a newsroom

The paper “Designing What’s News - An Ethnography of a Personalization Algorithm and the Data-Driven (Re)Assembling of the News” is a great illustration of Kranzberg’s First Law of Technology, which states that “Technology is neither good nor bad, nor is it neutral.” In this paper, published in Digital Journalism, Anna Schjøtt Hansen and Jannie Møller Hartley … Continue reading On how algorithms are consequential – example from a newsroom