AI needs to be marketed by its potential to improve our lives, rather than its technological prowess.

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• Unlike the mobile phone when most people instantly recognised its benefits (both personal as well as professional), conversely, the benefits of AI remain elusive to many despite their interaction with AI, including when they’re not even aware of it.

• Many people still regard AI as a niche tool for select industries or, a gimmick for tech enthusiasts - to be filed in the IDGAX folder joining Crypto, Dropshipping, Metaverse, NFTs, AR and VR. Too many people have far more pressing issues to deal with on planet earth. 

• Reality is, contrary to what legacy or tech media, social media or Silicon Valley will have us all believe, few people outside certain echo chambers seem to care about or even understand AI or it’s impact on their every-day lives.

Marketing AI as a productivity tool is not the flex AI enthusiasts think it is

• Let’s look at how AI is often being marketed as a productivity tool. According to a Gallup study, in the USA only 33% of employees are motivated at work, in Europe, only 10%, with the UK lagging behind with only 8% motivated at work. Therefore, marketing AI tools as game changers because they increase efficiency and productivity is not the flex many AI enthusiasts think it is. People’s priorities have changed especially post lockdowns. So why, oh why, oh why, do AI developers and marketers continually focus on productivity & efficiency when the benefits of AI span far more than work, including areas which are more of a priority for many?

• In the UK for example, we have an ageing population with many now finding themselves in the sandwich generation – those caring for their children as well as parents. If only there were also loud voices educating people on the role AI could play both in terms of assisting elderly parents to live independently at home, as well as AI tools being used as home health & safety gadgets. 

• It has also been reported that Britain is facing a loneliness epidemic where 50% of adults (over 25 million people), reported feeling lonely occasionally, sometimes, often or always [Campaign to End Loneliness (2022)]. In addition to professional support, how about AI Agents (subject to ethical & regulatory standards), as companions/life coaches?

AI can be a game changer in terms of life-saving diagnostics and even regenerative medicine.

• In addition to social care, we can also turn to the health sector where AI can be a game changer in terms of life-saving diagnostics (detecting cancer years before the human eye can) and even in regenerative medicine.

• In the UK, despite the government in 2020 introducing an opt-out system, organ donations have continued to fall. This is worrying given that only a small percentage of organs can be re-used (transplantation) and some demographics suffer more because of lack of donations due to religious and/or, cultural reasons. AI could, one day, play a role in assisting medical, science, tech, ethics experts & more, to restore the function of damaged or diseased tissues and organs.

• Another example, according to a study published on 18 February 2021 in JAMA Cardiology, nurses with no training in ultrasound were able to acquire diagnostic-quality echocardiography images thanks to the guidance of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based software application.

In terms of labour retention, AI could play an important role throughout the employee life cycle

• In education, training & recruitment, AI can give more people access to, as well as transform, teaching & learning - perhaps eliminating the need for university/college degrees when often, many jobs don’t even require these. In terms of labour retention, AI could play an important role throughout the employee life cycle including recruitment stage where ghosting from both employers and candidates now seems to be the norm. According to the job site Indeed (Dec 2023), about 78% of job seekers said they'd ghosted a prospective employer and according to People Management (May 2024), 92% of people have been ghosted during the job application process by recruiters. And then we have the large numbers of new recruits who quit within 90 days of starting their new job. For such candidates, perhaps immersive training could have gone a long way in terms of preparing, as well as helping them experience the reality of the jobs they are applying for. This is where AI and VR can really come into play in terms of everyday life problems. 

Despite AI’s potential to revolutionise our lives, its perceived impact on everyday life has yet to resonate with the general public.

• AI can also play a big part in other sectors including: logistics, financial services, agriculture, manufacturing, weather forecasting, climate management and more. And yet, many in tech & AI will have us believe that people’s current priorities are: finding life on Mars, listening to books in the voices of comedians or, generating videos of fictional characters. Yes, there are markets for said gadgets and products but is this really the priority of 7bn people? Is it any wonder that many people still see AI as just another fad?

• AI has the potential to revolutionise our lives and yet its perceived impact on everyday life has yet to resonate with the general public. Contrast this to mobile phones which have penetrated all parts of the world (54% of the global population own mobile phones (GSMA, 2023)), including communities living in areas that are not even on electricity grids.

• For billions of people including the so called “unbanked”, mobile phones are now their banks and provide them with savings and current accounts enabling them to send as well as receive money. They are also able to receive SMS notifications for jobs, find out market prices for their products in real time, receive notifications about healthcare appointments and so much more. Many people would be lost without their mobile phones. So why the difference?

Inclusivity (or the lack of) is at the heart of this issue

• Initially, mobile phones were seen as a symbol of yuppie excess however, over time, as mobile phones became more affordable and accessible, they lost this image and became a common tool for communication for people from all walks of life -  from the delivery driver having instant contact with their supervisor at base, the farmer receiving calls or SMS notifications about market prices or weather warnings all while out in the field tending to their crops/livestock. The entrepreneur who even while driving from client to client, is still reachable, schools being able to contact parents instantly etc etc etc. Everyone has found their own use case(s) – with some morphing into core services now offered by mobile phone operators. Who says Inclusion is bad for business?

This could render some AI tools dangerous, ineffective or irrelevant in some parts of the world including ironically, the same regions that are expected to grow rapidly over the coming years.

• And yet, turn to AI and you see a disconnect - where most tools are not inclusive nor are the models sustainable. Inclusivity (or lack of) is at the heart of this issue. AI relies on huge amounts of electricity which could soon affect grids, computer chips which few companies can supply and, unlike the mobile phone, most AI tools require internet access. In addition, AI is often developed without considering diverse data sets or real life applications. This could render some AI tools dangerous, ineffective or irrelevant in some parts of the world including ironically, the very same regions that are expected to grow rapidly over the coming years (new markets, employees etc).

• For AI companies to survive and grow, they need to make the case (and there are tonnes in addition to the above), as to why we all need AI. Productivity and efficiency may work for B2B marketing but for wide-spread adoption like mobile phones to begin, AI advocates must prioritise inclusive design to make AI tools more accessible and relevant to most people.

• To ensure that AI is adopted widely across diverse populations, AI developers, investors and leadership need to ensure first of all, that trust is built & maintained and that tools are designed with inclusion right from the start

• Many of us have watched videos of AI enabled tech (facial recognition, medical devices, hand washing devices etc), which fail to work or which provide incorrect information about people belonging to mostly marginalised communities as a result of their voices (read data), not being included as part of the machine learning process. We’ve had situations where facial recognition doesn’t even recognise middle aged women or, women without makeup?

• So, to ensure that AI is adopted widely across diverse populations, AI developers, investors and leadership need to ensure first of all, that trust is built & maintained and that tools are designed with inclusion right from the start. Otherwise, companies risk launching systems designed to serve only the needs of a certain subset.

• AI can become a transformative force that improves lives across the globe, rather than a niche technology limited to select groups. But for this to happen quickly, AI developers & investors need to start using inclusive data sets and to focus on real life problems. Only then will more people outside the echo chambers begin using AI not just as a fun tool, but an important tool which they cannot live without and one they are willing to pay for  - just like their mobile phones.

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ABOUT ME - I'm a Consultant specialising in ‘Inclusive Leadership’ advising C-Level executives, leaders, and those in succession, on navigating the dynamic intersection of leadership, technology and inclusivity. I am especially interested in exploring the impact of AI in the workplace. I offer tailored guidance on cultivating diverse and equitable teams while harnessing the power of emerging technologies including AI. At the core of my approach is my EQ+CQ=DQ leadership programme which focuses on building and developing Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Cultural Intelligence (CQ), recognising these as fundamental pillars in navigating the transformative and evolving environments shaped by changing (social, economic) trends & AI. I have 15+ years of experience in global recruitment, Executive Search & Coaching. Additionally, I am the co-founder of two tech startups: a digital recruitment platform; and a geocode system tailored for emerging markets.  If you wish to reach out to me, feel free to do so on LinkedIn

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