Six experts give their views on the statement, ‘Will AI negatively affect human interaction?’. Is AI teaching individuals how to engage with one another in real life, or did smartphones already set this in motion?

Tom Jessen

Nominee for Moderator and Event Host of 2023 and podcaster

“No, I don’t think that AI will particularly affect human interaction because there are many more aspects that play a role in this, such as smartphones and social media.

With all the new technologies, you have to look at what they can do for you. I think AI is still being vaguely discussed. I’d love to see what you can actually get out of it and what you can and cannot do with it at events. Above all, it’s a very useful addition to the boring, repetitive work that we have to perform.

Of course, there’s the risk that if AI continues to develop, it could become a threat, but not to human interaction.

Let me use ChatGPT as an example. Of course, it’s a source of information. I do think that the ‘woke’ filter on it could be adjusted a little less sharply because it provides some degree of censorship. Suppose I ask ChatGPT for ten questions about how AI will influence conferences. I’ll get eight questions that I already came up with myself. However, there are always two that I think are interesting, which touch on a part of the subject you hadn’t yet thought about. With that information, you can get back to producing new topics.

Various AI tools also let you create very slick presentations. AI solves that tedious messing around in PowerPoint or Keynote for you because you can do it very quickly based on a very good prompt. There’s already an AI tool that edits entire podcasts in half a minute with a switch between different images.

If you use it properly, AI actually ensures that you have more time for human interaction. Since you can use AI smartly, it gives you more time to contact stakeholders regarding your event and how you’re going to approach matters. I think that AI has no negative impact on human interaction at all.”

Dr.ir. Erwin Folmer

HAN University of Applied Sciences, Twente

(As of 1 January 2024, responsible for the new professorship in Applied Data Science and AI)

“With the new Applied Data Science and AI professorship, HAN University wants to contribute to making data science easier so that everyone can work with data. In fact, working with data, applying data analysis and understanding the possibilities of AI should probably be part of everyone’s basic skills.

People will not unlearn live mutual interaction as a result of AI. The smartphone has more of an impact on live interaction than AI, so I see little effect for conferences. At most, it could result in conferences and other live events having to focus more on networking and less on sharing knowledge.”

Telma Negreiros

Executive AI Marketing Communication Specialist, Keynote Speaker, and Self Empowerment Trainer

“The question of whether AI will negatively affect human interaction is multifaceted and complex. It’s true that technologies like smartphones and social media have already caused a shift in how we communicate. These devices and platforms can sometimes isolate people, but they also offer new ways to connect across distances and cultures.

AI has the potential to further amplify these trends. On the one hand, AI can help us communicate more efficiently and provide tools that enrich our interactions, such as personalising information even more. On the other hand, an overreliance on AI-driven communication can reduce the quality of our human interactions as it replaces face-to-face contact.

As for conferences, these events are about being together physically. Virtual meetings cannot entirely replace the unique value of direct interaction and networking. However, AI can complement these experiences through, for example, more efficient matchmaking of network opportunities and improved logistics planning.

It’s important to find balance. We can use AI to improve our interactions without undermining our basic personal communication skills. As with any new technology, it’s crucial to carefully consider and manage both the benefits and potential risks.”

Jarno Duursma

Technology expert, publicist and speaker

“You could say that people have been taught in part to connect without smartphones and social media. The younger generation in particular seems less used to connecting in person. Let’s assume that social media and the smartphone have influenced this.

The question is whether the same will happen with AI. And I’ve thought about this for a long time, but I don’t have an answer. You obviously have AI systems that are increasingly able to create good conversations.

Today I spoke to an audience of 750 mortgage advisors at the NBC Conference Centre in Nieuwegein. The exhibition floor had all kinds of stands with people talking about their service or product. Suppose you replace those people with a conversational agent, a speech robot that communicates just as well as a human. I don’t see that happening, because we as people do much more in contact than just exchange words with each other. It’s about likeability. Would I like to work with this person if I bought my mortgage software from them? Second, can I trust this person? Do they know their stuff? Third, can I rely on them? If there are any problems, can I pick up the phone and call them?

In addition, since Corona, there has been a need for physical meetings. People want to see each other, shake hands, and have a cup of coffee or a beer with bitterballen. People who see one another at a conference every year and talk to each other become attached to one another.

Technically, a lot may be possible, but the power of this industry is bringing people together in a physical space. This sector contributes to increasing mutual cohesion. People’s sense that they belong to something bigger than themselves. As a speaker, I hope to somehow contribute to this. I want to lift people up from their daily lives and thinking patterns. However, that can only be done in a physical space. I’m not convinced that AI could even be a threat to that.

You also hear speakers say to the audience, ‘grab your smartphone’. Then they download an app, ask questions, and stare at their smartphone. You could also say, ‘raise your hand’. It’s just using technology for technology’s sake. That doesn’t bother me at all. If you can grab people’s attention with your voice, they will also be more alert instead of always being distracted by their phone.

All technological gadgets are available in the brand new NBC Conference Centre in Nieuwegein, where I spoke today, except AI. Do we want that? I don’t think so.

AI won’t negatively affect interaction unless companies start pushing software solutions. I think that’s a threat. Companies do this for commercial reasons, not because it would add something.”

Ruben Klerkx

Owner of Creators Company

“I’m fascinated by how groups work together and come up with ideas together. The Creators Company looks into how we build relationships using conversation design and interaction design. How do we have conversations, and how can we use them to increase our influence?

In addition to many wonderful things, the smartphone and social media have also negatively affected human interaction. For example, more and more people are finding it very difficult to have a ‘normal’ phone conversation with each other or to speak to someone directly.

AI is interesting because it greatly streamlines processes and removes all kinds of hiccups from online interaction. AI can definitely improve interaction. But what are you actually improving? What if you’re optimising a B-version and forget that there is also an A-version? You must always continue to monitor it as well.

When it comes to conferences and events, the question is whether people will continue to use such a place to visit each other. This is a bit of a swear word among event organisers, but I see that they also focus a lot on improving the B-version.

One of the B-versions within events is communication, as it’s often one-way communication. A lot of information is sent. For example, we will look at whether we can get better keynote speakers. Can we make the person who is transmitting do it better? Would it be better if they just told their story? That needs to happen, but maybe we all already know that the real value is not so much in the information transfer between speakers and listeners but much more in the interpersonal contacts during an event and the information shared between participants.

In this regard, AI could help by investigating how we can bring more topics to the table that people are actually interested in and can use. Or how we can use AI to streamline such an event experience.

And how do we get the right people to attend our event, and how can we reach them? There are roughly two types of event attendees. One comes for networking, and the other for information and content. Organisers are often unaware that the latter group is not particularly keen on break-out rooms or workshop sessions where they have to talk or interact with others.

A good AI example I’ve seen is that people could answer a set of questions on their mobile phones upon arrival. Based on these questions, a colour code was provided, making it clear what the visitors’ individual interests were and how they preferred to take in those interests. The visitors then received a name sticker that they could wear during the event. There was even the option of not being disturbed during the event, which made it ‘safer’ for that group to attend.”

Remy Gieling

Co-founder of AI Group & The Automation Group

“I disagree. Paradoxically, AI will make sure that all companies, organisations and processes ultimately become much more human. Since AI will take over increasingly more of our chores, we’ll all have more time for human contact. The demand to physically meet our colleagues and clients will only increase. Moreover, AI is not a magic box and definitely not a silver bullet, like people think it is. It’s a new digital hammer in the problem-solving toolbox.

One problem you could have with an event is that you quickly forget what a speaker has said or what you’ve learnt at a workshop. If an AI assistant listens to the sessions, a chatbot will later be able to remind you of specific examples or knowledge shared during the session. Lastly, people are crazy about people. We feel emotions with someone, and that’s why we want to listen to them. We don’t feel like this about computers. Look at chess: a supercomputer won over a human in 1997. Still, we would rather watch two people playing chess than two supercomputers.

Some digital avatars will surely have something to say, but after a few experiments, we predict that this gimmick will be abandoned because people like to learn from other people. What’s the ultimate added value of a conference? Serendipity. Chance encounters you hadn’t planned in advance. Fortunately, technology isn’t needed for this.”