A Manifesto for the Ethical Use of AI in Market Research
Or how to use AI with losing your soul
Everyone’s talking about AI, but there’s a lot of confusion about exactly how AI will improve market research. Here’s my manifesto for how we should be using it: smartly, ethically, and always with purpose.
1. AI Should Enhance, Not Replace, Human-Centric Insights
The core purpose of market research is to uncover fresh consumer behaviors, attitudes, and reactions. AI, trained only on existing data, cannot discover the new; it can only enhance what already exists. Researchers must ensure that consumers remain at the heart of all insights.
2. AI Should Empower, Not Replace, Researchers
AI is a tool—not a substitute—for the skilled professionals who craft the narratives and insights that guide marketers. Researchers are responsible for ensuring that findings are accurate, ethical, and actionable. AI serves to accelerate and deepen their insights but must never take over this critical responsibility.
3. AI Will Eliminate Inequitable Shortcuts
Traditional constraints on time and budget have often forced researchers to make compromises, such as excluding underrepresented groups or foregoing necessary translations. AI will remove these barriers by making tasks like survey translation, inclusivity, and large-scale fielding both accessible and affordable.
4. AI Will Increase the Demand for Consumer Insights
The pace of business and societal change is accelerating, and AI will only heighten this velocity. With faster cycles of innovation, businesses will require more frequent and detailed consumer insights to adapt effectively and responsibly.
5. AI Will Amplify Budgets
Market research budgets will go further with AI. Tasks like manual programming, re-fielding surveys, and coding open-ended responses—once time-consuming and expensive—will be streamlined, allowing researchers to focus resources on strategic goals rather than operational constraints.
6. AI Will Enable Unprecedented Depth of Research
AI will transform the complexity of research into an opportunity, not a hurdle. Researchers will be able to adapt surveys in real time, test intricate hypotheses, and analyze data at scales previously unimaginable. AI will allow us to ask the hard questions and find the nuanced answers.
7. AI Will Extend the Reach of Market Research
Smaller companies and startups, historically excluded from robust market research due to cost or speed barriers, will gain access to the same depth and quality of insights as larger brands. AI will level the playing field, enabling businesses of all sizes to make data-driven decisions.
Commitment to Ethics and Progress
By adhering to these principles, we ensure that AI becomes a force for good in market research—one that amplifies human insight, promotes inclusivity, and empowers businesses to understand and serve their consumers better than ever before. Let us embrace AI as a partner in progress, not a replacement for the human creativity and curiosity that define our field.
