The State Of Consumer Usage Of Generative AI, 2024

As is usually the case with poorly understood tech that guarantees to alter the world, customers fear about its ethics and human impression, but a overwhelming majority of those skeptics will use (and love) generative AI in 2024, whether or not they realize it or not. Prefer it or not, realize it or not, genAI will seep into folks’s lives seamlessly and invisibly.

How is shopper use of generative AI increasing? Tech firms are embedding genAI capabilities of their platforms and instruments and within the apps and merchandise that individuals use each day: Adobe Photoshop, Google’s Gemini or Circle to Search, Microsoft’s LinkedIn, Samsung’s Galaxy S24, and lots of extra. In November final yr, Forrester predicted that half of worldwide companies will experiment with customer-facing genAI.

Whereas firms race to include AI internally and externally, shopper use of genAI remains to be in its infancy. Customers are apprehensive: Though they see the utility of genAI, they fear about its moral implications. My colleague Audrey Chee-Learn and I simply revealed a brand-new report, The State Of Client Utilization Of Generative AI, 2024, and have been investigating customers’ genAI utilization and attitudes. Listed here are a couple of tendencies to notice:

US customers are forward of these in different nations because of sluggish laws. For genAI, shopper utilization is greater and shopper attitudes are extra constructive within the US than within the UK, France, Germany, or Italy. International locations within the EU are introducing and implementing new guidelines and laws in order that organizations undertake AI know-how in dependable methods, whereas the US doesn’t have any federal laws round customers’ AI utilization. Giant language fashions (LLMs) are additionally primarily based on out there coaching information, and far of that information is in English, inherently making the output of genAI platforms more practical for English-dominant nations.
LLMs dominate genAI utilization, with use centered on search-related duties. Instruments reminiscent of Bing Chat, ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini (previously Bard), OpenAI’s DALL·E, and Snapchat’s AI chatbot dominate utilization, however there are numerous smaller, unbranded native genAI instruments in main platforms that buyers might not attribute to genAI know-how, reminiscent of WhatsApp’s AI stickers or Spotify’s podcast translation.
Customers’ data of genAI will proceed to be disjointed. GenAI use circumstances largely dominate customers’ understanding of it, however most customers haven’t truly used genAI. A big quantity of respondents fall into the “don’t know” class in response to questions on it. Amongst those that declare some understanding, nevertheless, one group is concentrated on the human-imitation nature of the know-how, one other is aimed toward understanding its involvement within the creation of recent data, content material, and information, and a 3rd group relayed unfavorable associations slightly than understanding.
Customers lack belief in genAI’s output high quality and use by firms. Customers lack belief in genAI in two principal methods: 1) the accuracy of the outcomes that the know-how produces and a pair of) the ways in which firms use the know-how and information that buyers enter. Primarily based on Forrester’s December 2023 Client Pulse Survey of on-line adults who had heard of genAI, solely 29% agreed that they might belief data from genAI. Much more important is concern about transparency, with 73% of genAI-aware on-line adults agreeing that firms ought to disclose once they use the know-how to work together with them.
Customers see the utility of genAI however are torn about its potential results. Customers are break up about how genAI will impression the long run. Many recognize its utility. Amongst on-line adults in Forrester’s December 2023 Client Pulse Survey who had heard of genAI, 50% agreed that genAI would make it simpler to seek out data on-line and 43% agreed that genAI would make it simpler to study new issues. There’s much less consensus, although, concerning the know-how’s long-term results: 45% of on-line adults agreed that genAI poses a critical risk to society.

My colleague Jay Pattisall is engaged on a brand new piece of analysis on how manufacturers will leverage genAI and the way they’re actively constructing model AI fashions (keep tuned!). Transferring ahead, manufacturers will have the ability to mechanically create customized content material conversations with customers, as per this glorious cartoon from Tom Fishburne (thanks, Tom, for permitting me to share your cartoon, and for anybody who doesn’t comply with his work, I like to recommend that they check out the Marketoonist):

Shoppers wanting to seek out out extra on customers’ perceptions of genAI and focus on implications for his or her enterprise can learn the total report right here or schedule a steerage session.

We’re additionally engaged on a brand new piece of analysis that appears into how genAI will change relationships with manufacturers and customers. Will manufacturers develop into conversational by means of genAI-powered chatbots? What does that basically imply? Is that this a long-lasting resolution within the type of a private digital assistant — some form of “algorithm of you” — that may work together with manufacturers in your behalf? What are the dangers of name disintermediation?

In case you’re desirous about sharing your standpoint or wish to temporary us on consumer-centric genAI initiatives that you simply’re engaged on, be happy to contact us.