The perfect present… Merry Christmas, Love AI

As people scramble to wrap up their end-of-year goals and finish their gift shopping before the Christmas break, the last fortnight has been typically manic for businesses and consumers alike. Or has it? With the increasing integration of automation-enabling AI into businesses and our personal lives, this advent may be the first of many to see a reduction in pre-Christmas stress.

A digital reinvention of peace on earth

Christmas is widely regarded as one of the most stressful times of year in Western culture. Statistics gathered by Art Health Solutions found that 25% of people report Christmas-induced mental health issues, with anxiety-related symptoms such as panic attacks and trouble sleeping being cited as common problems. The top reasons for this are loneliness in the face of seasonal social pressures (83%), a short-term peak in stress (81%), and debt from overspending on gifts and festivities (41%). Nevertheless, Christmas has always been a time of hope.

Perhaps this year, this will be felt through the impact of AI.

Arguably, one of the most exciting technological developments in 2023 has been the release of accessible and intuitive GenAI tools to the public. Already, many people have utilised these tools to lighten their workload and speed through their Christmas to-do lists.

For example, ChatGPT is being used to generate Christmas present ideas, and DALL-E 3 generates personalised Christmas cards. According to data made accessible by Cloudflare, these OpenAI-powered tools were the most used GenAI applications of 2023, indicating high demand and appreciation for the creative and generative abilities of AI.

Alongside these two tools, various other GenAI applications have been integrated into a plethora of other Christmas tasks and activities. Examples include generating recipe ideas, movie plots and titles, and Christmas carols. However, reviews of AI-generated Christmas content have so far been mixed (and that’s putting it politely).

In some creative outlets, song and plot-writing in particular, AI has been known to produce some strange and mildly disturbing content. Arguably though, this just adds to the holiday cheer by providing comedic entertainment, as indicated by comments and reactions to AI-generated content on platforms such as Youtube.

Overall, GenAI tools seem to have been positively embraced by the public. With increasing capabilities and accuracy, they show exciting potential to alleviate creative strain, burnout, and boost spirits, especially during high-stress periods such as the build-up to Christmas.

Looking to the future, the widespread application of GenAI tools for people’s day-to-day lives may be instrumental in gaining public support for AI’s integration into business and society. This holds a lot of sway, as Dr. Jonathan Bright points out in an interview with Reema Patel, Research Director at Ipsos.

“You can have your own view on whether these technologies are good or bad. .. but the key point is that once the public have decided they don’t want this, good luck making that technology happen.”

Dr. Jonathan Bright, Head of AI at The Alan Turing Institute

Personalisation in retail

The use of AI to aid users with gift ideas and card designs is not just a Christmas trend. Rather, it is part of a greater trend of personalisation that is driving sales in the retail industry. An Accenture survey in 2018 found that 91% of consumers are more likely to use brands that recall their individual preferences and use this to create personalised products and offer recommendations. A more recent report by Madison Taylor Marketing finds that 71% of consumers now actually expect personalised interactions, with 76% being frustrated when this is not provided.

Why does personalisation have such high appeal? One of the major draws of personalisation is that it is one of the most powerful ways to make someone feel important and cared about. Whether it comes from a brand, or friends and family, personalisation makes us feel special. And this is not just widely perceived and reported, it is a psychological phenomenon with a scientific basis.

A study in the National Library of Medicine found that hearing your name within a conversation draws your attention and is a signal that triggers the brain to focus, an effect that is now referred to as ‘the cocktail party problem’. It is easy to see the huge potential of this effect for marketing and the retail industry (and directly explains why most of us get so many marketing emails addressing us by name every day).

However, before AI was utilised in this area, personalisation was costly and time consuming for businesses. This is why, in the past, personalised products and services were reserved for the celebrities and VIPs of the world.  

So how is AI driving the personalisation trend? The main reason for AI’s utility in this area is its ability to process and retain information from large datasets. This allows retail companies to easily keep track of their customers’ data, such as age, gender, and purchase history. This is then used to produce targeted ads and personalised shopping suggestions. The development of predictive analytics means that AI can not only track and store customers’ data but also make suggestions on what the customer might be likely to do or be attracted to based on the data.

The increased popularity of online shopping is also driving the personalisation trend. E-commerce accounted for approximately 19% of global retail sales in 2020 and has continued to increase since then. This has driven the efficacy of AI in retail since online shopping enables the collection of more data than in-store shopping.

For example, data such as which items a customer clicked on most, and which items are saved or ‘added to cart’ can only be collected from online interactions. The more data AI has access to, the more accurate its predictions, and the more effective its personalisation can be.

While AI’s predictive capacity is an excellent tool for sales and marketing, it has triggered mixed reactions from the public. Although statistics indicate that consumers appreciate a personalised shopping experience, many people dislike the fact that their online activity is constantly being monitored and used for data collection, especially if it is then sold on to third parties.

Indeed, this has been viewed as a violation of privacy and can make people feel powerless and abused, particularly because this data is then utilised to manipulate them into spending money. This sentiment is widespread; a survey in 2019 found that only 17% of respondents thought it was ethical to track online activity.

Fortunately, awareness of this issue and concern over privacy regulations has led introduction of ‘opt-out’ features on most apps and websites, which prevent data collection. Nevertheless, the exchange of data is often still required for access to many online applications and offers. This means that most internet users cannot escape the collection of their data, and businesses use it to draw their attention with targeted ads and personalised offers.

Overall, personalisation can be a great enhancement for consumers when they want to shop. However, it also risks raising the wrath of the public through its overuse in marketing services. Targeted ads, for instance, which hound consumers with increasingly hard-to-resist temptations, are arguably an example of how AI can be used unethically to manipulate people into making choices that are unlikely to benefit them.

A case study: Moonpig greeting cards

Moonpig, an internet-based retailer specializing in greeting cards and gifts, has reported a 300% increase in demand for AI-written birthday cards, and a 150% increase in online searches for video messaging cards. Video messaging cards allow the sender to add another level of personalisation to their card by adding a video.

This can be integrated into both paper cards via a QR code, and added to e-cards. Digital e-cards have been growing in popularity for several years, spurred on by environmental concern for saving paper. Now, with extra options such as adding a personal video and Augmented Reality (AR) features, these may see a further spurt in popularity.

In response to these demands, Moonpig launched an AI-powered ‘Smart Text’ tool which can essentially write personalised messages based on prompts given by the sender. According to James Huppler, VP of Product and Design at the company, not knowing what to write in a greeting card is a common problem that the company has taken upon itself to address.

“Resolving this issue is a great advancement for both us & our customers, and so we are excited to see how people interact with this new feature whether it’s writing a poem to a loved one or even reading out a funny joke for your friend’s birthday, and how we can learn from their behaviours to develop this further.”

James Huppler, VP of Product Design at Moonpig, talking about the company’s motivation to launch the ‘Smart Text’ AI tool

Moonpig’s ‘Smart text’ showcases a positive use of AI for personalisation that benefits the consumer, and its appeal for card senders is certainly relatable. However, being on the receiving end of it might hold less appeal for some. After all, a bot-generated greeting doesn’t quite say ‘I care’ like a handwritten note from the hand of a friend. Nevertheless, the tool undoubtedly has many fruitful applications for card senders, particularly during the busy Christmas period and for those acquaintances that you just can’t think what to say to.