In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), businesses are faced with the challenge of maintaining trust among their customers and employees. The recent failures of AI technology, such as Google’s flawed AI Overviews, have left the public skeptical and wary of the potential risks associated with AI. This article explores how businesses can embrace AI while keeping trust and human values at the core.
The public’s uncertainty and anxiety about AI are evident, as revealed by a UK Government research project that surveyed UK adults on their associations with AI. The top words associated with AI were “scary,” “unsure,” “worry,” and “concern.” This perception is likely fueled by our love of fictional stories where machines often take over, making the idea of machines creating content a new and unsettling concept in reality.
Despite the public’s concerns, businesses are increasingly adopting AI in their operations. According to McKinsey’s State of AI report, 72% of businesses are using AI in at least one business function. However, the report also highlights that inaccuracy is the number one risk associated with using generative AI, emphasizing the importance of trust.
When it comes to brand loyalty, businesses should not assume that humans are as loyal as they think. Research shows that 71% of people switch brands at least once a year, and 70% switch for higher quality. Therefore, businesses need to focus on building trust with their customers to maintain loyalty.
One way to establish trust is to demonstrate competence. Consumers need to feel that a product or service meets the required standards, and businesses should consistently strive to demonstrate their competence. Encouraging customer reviews, both positive and negative, and creating a feedback culture within the team can help businesses learn and improve. AI can also be used to categorize and summarize customer feedback, making it more actionable and enabling competence.
Another way to build trust is by being an authority on your specialist subjects. When a brand is seen as an expert in its field, it builds confidence among prospects and customers. Staying updated on trends in the sector and sharing opinions or leading conversations can help build a personal or business profile. Businesses can also leverage AI to spot opportunities for commenting on industry trends or to analyze big data and identify trends for content stories.
Consistency in delivering experiences is crucial for building trust. Customers find it difficult to trust businesses when the message, service, or product is inconsistent. Businesses like McDonald’s have been successful by providing consistent experiences for their customers. To bring consistency to their approach, businesses can review recent customer feedback and architect a way to ensure consistency. AI can assist in finding opportunities to improve consistency from reviews and present them to the team.
Transparency plays a significant role in building trust. Businesses should have a clear, audience-focused process for transparency that builds trust rather than fear. They should have a plan for “what if” scenarios and share risk assessments with the communications team. AI can support businesses in modeling potential issues from risk assessments and help bring transparency to communications by demonstrating where AI is used and where humans take the lead.
Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) can also help build trust. With the rise of AI-generated content and deepfakes, it’s harder than ever to know what to trust. Encouraging customers to leave reviews and sharing how their feedback has been used to improve can enhance trust. AI can assist in monitoring brand mentions, analyzing feedback, and finding the best way to ask for reviews.
Choosing the right messenger and format for the message is crucial for building trust. The messenger effect focuses on who delivers a message, and businesses should map out who in their organization or network is best suited to deliver specific messages. It’s also essential to consider how the message is delivered, whether through video, written statements, or other formats. AI can help in choosing the right format and person for each message.
Finally, businesses need to demonstrate empathy and authenticity to build trust. Understanding how their audience feels and aligning their business values with what their audience cares about is crucial. AI tools can be trained on company values, but human checks should be in place before content goes public. For live AI interactions, users should be made aware that they’re speaking to AI and offered a way to connect with a human if needed.
In conclusion, businesses can embrace AI while maintaining trust by demonstrating competence, being an authority, delivering consistent experiences, bringing transparency, leveraging UGC, choosing the right messenger and format for the message, and demonstrating empathy and authenticity. By keeping human values at the core, businesses can harness the power of AI without losing trust.
