Will AI Kill off the Moderator?

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, industries across the board are grappling with the potential implications of automation and AI technologies. In qualitative research, the role of the moderator is pivotal - deeply rooted in human interaction and emotional intelligence. But as AI tools become more sophisticated, for example AI usage for voice moderation, the thought has probably crossed your mind, ‘will AI eventually replace the need for a human moderator’?  Or perhaps now is the time for a new era of human-AI collaboration?

AI's Game-Changing Role in Market Research

Market research has not been immune to the recent advancements in AI technology, in fact many of the developments have been game changing for the industry. We can now conduct genuine qual-at-scale, we can deep dive into qualitative learnings in ways never before and we can use AI to assist in our constant battle with data quality. These changes are clearly (and rightly so) being embraced by many in the market research industry. But as AI improves and is adopted at an incredible rate, where does AI moderation end and human moderation take over?

Why Human Empathy Remains Indispensable in Moderation

There is no doubt that AI wins the battle for efficiency but, AI still lacks the human touch - the emotional intelligence that comes with understanding another person. Empathy is critical in market research, especially when moderating: 

• AI cannot fully replicate the intuition that a great moderator has, the ability to read the room (online or in-person) and have the skill to pick up on the unspoken! 
• Body language and what is not said, is just as important (at times even more so) than what people are actually saying.  As moderators, we’ve all witnessed those times when people say ‘yes I like it’, but their face and body language is saying something very different!
• Additionally, moderators (vs AI) excel due to their understanding of cultural nuances, idiomatic expressions and more complex human emotions. The fun usage of projective techniques, like brand personifications or role playing, how would AI probe or follow up on these vital but creative lines of questioning?  Any emotional subtleties and complex feelings expressed during these tasks might be missed or misinterpreted by AI.
• Plus let’s not forget that good moderators are highly adept at creating a safe space for participants and encouraging openness in ways that AI might not be yet able to achieve.

So, while AI is a great technology to embrace, it is no substitute for empathy and the human spirit.

AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement

By leveraging AI’s capabilities in qualitative research, what we can gain is an invaluable resource, a moderator’s digital handyman (or woman - but that’s a whole other article!), that can suggest tags for video clips on the fly, that can provide instant transcripts, conduct simplified interviews 24/7 and be ready to help dive into qualitative analysis after the sessions. Those end of fieldwork ‘quick recaps’ can now be based on what was actually said vs gut feel. 

"With AI, we can now do qualitative interviews at a large scale and crazy fast pace. It's not going to make human interviewers obsolete, but when you put the two together, it takes qual research to a whole new level." - Alfred Wahlforss, founder of Listen Labs

Being able to embrace AI and think of it as a tool, a hybrid model where AI and human moderators can work in tandem to enhance the efficiency and depth of studies will be key to success.

Think of ways in which having any AI moderation can enhance your approaches.  For example, here are some ways we have embraced AI moderation:

• Having a phase of AI moderation prior to conducting more in-depth human moderated sessions.
• Conducting AI moderation as a type of pre-task.
• Using AI moderation to help screen participants in recruitment.

Overall, while AI can augment and enhance many aspects of market research, the unique capabilities of human moderators remain essential. Rather than replacing moderators, AI is more likely to create new opportunities for efficiency and precision in gathering and analyzing data.

AI moderators are not going to replace great human moderators (that skill is here to stay thank goodness), but it will be a fantastic tool that people can be excited about and one that qualitative researchers should embrace.