VERVE – 8 January 2025

Source https://www.addverve.com/inspiration/empathy-in-the-age-of-ai-the-human-connection-in-market-research/

The Human Connection in Market Research

Quite rightly, AI’s capacity for efficiency has raised concerns about losing the human connection in market research. Synthetic samples and AI moderators are already replacing respondents and researchers. In an AI-driven world empathy—the unique ability of humans to connect on a deeper level—faces the threat of being overtaken by algorithms. 

Empathy is more than a feel-good term; it’s a business imperative. It builds authentic connections, fosters loyalty, strengthens reputation, and drives innovation. Brands that truly understand their customers’ emotions, pain points, and aspirations are better positioned to create products and services that resonate. Empathy keeps businesses relevant. 

Traditionally, insights teams have been the custodians of empathy within organisations; bringing a deep understanding of consumer needs into business strategy. But in a world experiencing a loss of human connection, in era where AI can deliver instant answers the question is asked: what will happen to empathy if we remove humans from the loop entirely? 

Humans in the Loop: Why Real People Will Always Matter 

AI beats humans, hands down, at processing large volumes of data and recognising patterns. It is already providing huge efficiency boosts by streamlining research workflows. Beyond process efficiency, AI opens up entirely new forms of insight. Innovations in AI are already enabling us to address many of the knotty challenges our industry has been grappling with in recent years.  

I’m immensely proud to say that Verve Intelligent Personas (VIPs) was voted Innovation of the Year 2024 by AURA, the UK’s largest client-side research association. The AURA award celebrates innovation that is valued by the end users of research, the people who matter the most, and as such highlights the crucial role VIPs play now and in the future of research.  

VIPs are custom audience simulations built using trusted data from real people and generative AI, calibrated to accurately mirror what real people would say. They solve many of the pain points that clients have. For example, they allow static segmentations to become dynamic, for confidential online research to remain exactly that, and for research with hard-to-reach audiences, including B2B, to become dramatically more accessible. In countless scenarios, high-quality simulations are better than average-quality samples.  

We are just getting started with this game-changing potential of AI. However, there are limitations that we should not ignore. Large Language Models tend to homogenise data, flattening nuances and missing the richness and diversity of human behaviour. In a diverse and dynamic world, AI for market research must continuously adapt to remain useful—and this means being trained on new, real-world data. Validated, high quality inputs from authentic real-world sources. It is inescapable that we need real people and carefully curated cultural intelligence to produce effective AI models.  

Equally vital are skilled client-side and agency researchers. They provide the critical context that transforms raw data into meaningful narratives. Their intuition and ability to interpret emotions and motivations are what elevate insights from mere information to actionable strategies. AI lacks the capacity for those “aha!” moments of discovery that drive transformative business decisions. 

As researchers in an AI world, we will need to work even harder to help businesses maintain empathy with consumers, and we will always need real people to build, validate and keep AI models up to date. We very much need humans in the loop.  

A Balanced Eco-System for the Future of Research 

At Verve, we recognise the value of both human and AI-driven insights. That’s why we’ve developed Verve Vero—our Platform for Human Truth and Understanding. Verve Vero bridges the gap between technology and humanity. The award-winning Verve Intelligent Personas sit at the heart of Verve Vero, which integrates proprietary AI with genuine human insight and cultural understanding, to create a complete insight ecosystem. 

Verified respondents take part in high-quality research experiences via brand communities, customer-centricity programmes and CoLab, our market-level community. These interactions generate empathy-driven insights that fuel AI simulations, which, in turn, offer endless possibilities for surveying, idea generation and iterative testing at speed and scale.  

The objective is symbiosis. AI simulations handle repetitive, dull research tasks, freeing up real people to focus on deeper, more creative work. Crucially, our AI simulations are validated by real human responses, ensuring that insights remain rooted in reality. This human touch permeates every stage—creativity, control, empathy, and interpretation—delivering insights that truly resonate. 

Our industry’s greatest assets are people. Respondents, who provide the raw material for insights, and skilled practitioners, who interpret and connect the dots.  

I don’t envision a future where market research is devoid of human input. The future lies in AI-powered ecosystems that not only enhance efficiency but also amplify our ability to understand and empathise. This synergy will enable us to deliver deeper insights, empowering our clients to make more informed and impactful business decisions. And will make our jobs more fun – doing exciting, high-value work that makes our clients and stakeholders shine, not slogging through the dull, process-heavy work. Who wants to be a workhorse!