The Human Touch in an AI World

Written by Lydia Fuller, COO at Acumen Fieldwork.

Over the past couple of years, I've witnessed first hand the seismic shifts reshaping the market research industry, none more so, than Covid. Overnight, the research industry was forced to pivot, to learn new skills and to show its ability to adapt to change, and quickly.

Today we see artificial intelligence dominating headlines and boardroom conversations – everyone has an opinion on it and like Covid, the impact of AI is going to be seen and felt across industries and sectors, we in the world of Market Research are not going to be alone navigating this new world.

For me, 2025 has been the year of embracing AI and new technology, playing with different tools and platforms, understanding how to get the best from it, testing where it can help, where it can save time and where it’s simply not sophisticated enough to … yet. It’s been the year of upskilling myself, joining in the big debates and starting to have a point of view on how we are going to incorporate it into workflows and processes.

What I find particularly interesting is that 2025 has also been the year where I’ve observed a resurgence of face-to-face research. When Covid hit and the world of Qualitative Research moved online, there was a big question mark about the future of face-to-face, and the number of viewing facilities that sadly closed their doors in the subsequent years only supported this feeling.

Yet this year, it’s made a (long, overdue) comeback. Of course, there’s still been lots of online methodologies, but clients are, once again, requesting in-person research and online doesn’t feel the automatic default option. Where it previously felt quite challenging to convince clients as to the value of face to face, to motivate them out of their homes, to get them to want to travel to in-person sessions or to be able to justify the additional venue costs, something feels like it’s changed.

And for me, it’s no surprise that these two, quite polar changes seem to have occurred alongside each other. As the world embraces AI, the need for real, authentic, human connection is stronger than ever. AI is enabling the research industry to move at speed, to process vast datasets, quickly identify patterns and deliver initial findings faster than ever before. However, somewhere within this world of speed and technology has highlighted the need to make sure that the human remains front and centre of why we exist.

Maybe as an antidote to AI, I sense clients wanting to connect with consumers in an authentic way, to see the whites of their eyes, hear the subtle inflections of their voices and observe them as they go about their behaviours, confident in their validity as humans and not bots.

We’ve seen increases in focus groups, ethnography, accompanied shops, observations and intercepts and I see a renewed vigour for client teams choosing to come together to observe research sessions away from the day-to-day distractions of the job. These in-person methods allowing them as a team the time to observe, discuss, debate and move projects forward with consensus, in a way that isn’t so easy to do online.

Looking ahead to 2026 I see we still have a way to go in navigating AI and what it means for our industry, I don’t think anyone quite has the answer just yet, but I feel excited that we have a new tool in our armoury, one that helps speed up our processes and allows us time to focus on where we can add the most value.

We can debate the merits of moderator bots and synthetic participants all we like and I’m sure in this new world, each will have their place. I’m confident that we as an industry will embrace this new technology and adapt and pivot where necessary as we learn more about AI’s capabilities, just as we have done before.

But most importantly, the crux of what we stand for as an industry doesn’t change: connecting with humans, telling their stories, bringing to life their voices and keeping them at the forefront when it comes to decision making.

Share This News