The job market: thinking outside the ‘bots’

x Sponsored content on Research Live and in Impact magazine is editorially independent.
Find out more about advertising and sponsorship.

Humans aired on Channel 4 last year, telling the story of an ordinary suburban family that recruits a ‘synth’ – a human-like robot –  to help around the house. The trailer for the programme prompted viewers to inquire where they could purchase such a robot. Demand was high, expectations higher – and, I suspect, disappointment higher still when viewers realised the trailer was simply for a fictional drama.

But hiring an automaton to help with domestic chores is no longer a dream; you can buy robots to mow your lawn nowadays. But they are not just replacing gardeners – they are allegedly set to replace a host of white-collar workers too. So will every formulaic role eventually become robot fodder?

Much has been written lately about machine learning and its benefits in market research – primarily that a machine, without any agenda, may identify trends and behaviours that the human analyst may not. It can sift through far more data than a human and trace gaps in the process based on the trends it has already identified. It can then reveal patterns, make forecasts and influence decisions – even make better judgements, perhaps.

Where does that leave the researcher of the future, and does it spell the end for market research professionals who could be relegated to the back office while bots do all the clever analytics? Thankfully not. Machine learning lacks one invaluable quality – robots aren’t human.  

Researchers all have something unique; they have their own bank of experience and expertise upon which to base their interpretation of results. A human analyst’s innate bias is a good thing, even if it does narrow the parameters. Insights cannot be gleaned from pure logic alone, and computers don’t rule us.

We need researchers to assess the social, cultural and economic situations, something a machine will never be able to do as well as humans can. Possessing and understanding the nuances of human motivation, desires, rewards, emotions, humour and sometimes even egos equips us with skills that machines will never have.  

Machine learning lays out the bigger picture – the biggest and broadest picture possible – but it is our human qualities that allow us to make the best decisions, independent from an operational analysis or statistical forecast. The best decisions are not always made on data without room for interpretation, so we can all take comfort that a robot will not be replacing market research professionals any time soon, if ever – but it can work alongside you. 

Around 90% of decisions made in major commercial organisations are operational in nature, so you can see why people are getting so excited – machine learning’s potential to increase efficiency is huge. But understanding an audience that consists of you and me – each with our own wonderful and unique set of illogical, emotional quirks – is something quite different. 

Robots are there to help, to ease some of the heavy work, leaving the researcher of the future free to create, innovate and drive real-time change. So embrace the robot, and remember – robots don’t kill employees, people do.

If you are going for a new job soon, ask your prospective employer how they are approaching machine learning. This will give you an indication of how progressive they are. Companies that relish change will adapt to the new realities we face in our industry. Those that can’t, won’t – so you might want to work elsewhere.

Sinead Hasson (@SineadH) is the founder and managing director of recruitment consultancy Hasson Associates