"We tend to overestimate the impact of technology in the
short term and underestimate the effect in the long run"
– Roy Amara, Futurologist.
OpenAI's ChatGPT just celebrated its second birthday. It is
one of the fastest-growing consumer applications in history, and
has generated unprecedented levels of excitement and debate. Two
years on, much of the hype has subsided (thank goodness), and
businesses are getting practical.
Retailers have been using AI for decades. Analysing huge volumes
of data; applying statistics to drive forecasting and
decision-making; automating warehouses; spotting trends;
personalising the customer experience, and much more. And while the
temptation is to believe everything has changed, much hasn't.
Product, price, productivity, service, and brand all remain
critical. AI is not the answer to everything – far from it
– and technology and AI still need to be in service to the
business strategy, rather than the other way round. The
