Using AI to simulate insights
Having built out a whole system for testing my AI app with another AI, I’m intrigued by the idea of using AI for fast, lost-cost user research.
Today I read Chris Silvestri’s article on how artificial intelligence can help you understand what makes people tick
This article covers the concept of "empathy engineering" - using AI to simulate customer personas and gain insights into their needs, preferences, and behaviors. Specifically in the context of evaluating marketing copy.
Despite Chris going for a completely different use case that I did, we both arrived at a method for a faster, more cost-effective alternative to traditional user testing. It’s not meant to replace real user testing, rather it’s supposed to complement it. A product or campaign could go through several rounds of meaningful simulated feedback before it ever needs to go near a real person. And this just mean more bang for your buck when you do arrive at real user feedback, since you’re not wasting anyone’s time on easily avoidable mistakes.
At this point, not simulating your feedback before you put a campaign or product in front of a real people would be like painstakingly organising an interview with someone important only to ask them a silly question you could have Googled in an instant.