You Ask, AI Listens

Brands are using public content to understand how their products are perceived.

- Josh Condon

CHATGPT AND OTHER large-language artificial-intelligence (AI) models remain a source of fascination due to the uncanny way they can mimic human speech, but data-savvy companies are already using AI to help shape the products you buy—not by talking, but by listening.

Consider every time you’ve tossed an annoyed @ on Twitter complaining about the concierge service at your vacation villa rental or griped to a chatbot about a confusing user interface. Ditto blowing up a sneaker brand’s comments section pleading for a new colourway or taking to a watch forum to debate the design merits of an overlooked vintage model. Each of these seemingly off-the-cuff interactions is, in fact, incredibly rich with data points—a trove of unvarnished opinions, desires and ideas, proffered by engaged consumers who often believe they’re just talking among themselves.