Why AI needs to be the Voice of the Customer/Consumer/user

AI or Artificial Intelligence or crowd intelligence, is the collection of available wisdom into a consolidated entity.

Now arguably, the main creator of this online wisdom has been the West and therefore the West's interpretation of the world.

But the West has created a concrete jungle for the world called cities which are the overall significance of human civilisation, where villages don't really feature at all.

But the future of human civilisation is the global village.

What do users/consumers really want:

1. Products and services which are harmonious to the world and the environment and their own minds, bodies and souls(e.g. the recent backlash against FMCG MNCs making unhealthy products which are at odds with what people want).
2. Services which are easy to use (for e.g. the Ikea India app has a lot of complaints from users about how it is not easy to navigate, so using AI, it should be easier to use through comprehensive feedback)
3. People who harmonise with their personalities (For e.g. Mark Zuckerberg's new style doesn't seem to vibe with the current techie crowd, maybe because now is when he is actually looking to express himself, so AI can be used for course correction)

Now for a country like India, understanding the voice of the user is more difficult because:

• Each state is like a different country, with different cultures and different expectations from consumers regarding what they want

This is where AI comes in, where irrespective of whether a user is in the rural or urban area, we focus on their micro requirements, as generalisation is a loss both to the consumer and the manufacturer, creating gaps which will then need to be fulfilled by smaller more local business entities.

One interesting case study, is the rise of Blinkit(erstwhile Grofers) and Instamart in India, called Quick Commerce, where like a cloud kitchen, where local kitchens are set up close to the target consumer, here local warehouses are created close to the consumer, viz. Calangute for Instamart and Porvorim for Blinkit in Goa, so the local consumers can be reached in 10 minutes.

This means more micro targeting of consumers, to ensure that inventory is maintained as per demand, as the cost of return of unused inventory would affect overall margins.