Avoid these AI bugaboos as Halloween draws near

Artificial intelligence can be scary, but with proper planning and oversight retailers can banish any lurking hobgoblins to the shadows of the tech landscape.

Every year at Halloween time, I like to publish a seasonally themed column about the figurative monsters that loom in the dark corners of retail technology initiatives. In that spirit of fall holiday fun, this year I’m shedding light some of the "evil spirits" retailers need to exorcise from their AI deployments.

Mind flayer 

The mind flayer is a mythical creature that originated in the classic Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and entered modern pop culture by being featured prominently in the Netflix series Stranger Things. It can control the minds of others, generally for nefarious purposes, and lives in dark, shadowy realms overlooked by most humans.

Retailers run the risk of unleashing AI mind flayers when they simply deploy AI solutions in critical enterprise areas and then sit back assuming everything is taken care of. While AI is a powerful tool for collecting and analyzing vast sums of data and then correlating it for predictive decision-making, it is not a replacement for human judgment or critical thinking.

While the rise of next-gen AI models like agentic AI, which analyzes massive amounts of data in near-real-time and can then automatically taking action based on the results, it may be tempting for retailers to set up an AI agent and then put things on autopilot.

[READ MORE: How agentic AI is finding its place in retail] 

This is acceptable for lower-level tasks. For example, an agentic AI pricing solution could adjust prices based on factors specific to a local store or an agentic AI chatbot could automatically issue a customer refund up to a certain dollar amount.

But AI should never make higher-level or mission-critical decisions without direct human input, insight and approval. Stranger Things fans know what happens to those who give in to the mental control of the Mind Flayer, and it isn’t pretty.

Doppleganger

Dopplegangers are creatures from German folklore (like Krampus) that can assume the shape and appearance of an unassuming person. Retailers run the risk of creating AI dopplegangers when they simply duplicate the efforts of human employees with AI solutions, rather than complementing or augmenting those workflows.

A prime example would be a retailer that provided shoppers in the store with access to an AI customer service tool or app, while also allowing them to ask human associates for assistance. 

The logical next step would be to also equip associates with the same AI capability so that customers have seamless access to the same level of service while greatly increasing human employees’ effectiveness and efficiency. 

This strategy, which has enabled teams comprised of human chess players working with computers to beat both human and computer opponents working alone, has been dubbed "racing with the machine" by MIT professor Erik Brynjolfsson.

However, retailers avoiding the dreaded doppleganger with their AI activities would be wise to heed the advice of industry expert Bob Phibbs, CEO of The Retail Doctor and founder of SalesRX, who warns against turning associates into "digital servants" feeling constant pressure from alerts, demands, and digital surveillance.

Vampires

Many tech industry observers postulate the AI market is currently in a bubble, with too many companies producing a glut of hastily developed AI solutions that nobody really needs. 

Bubbles are common in technology (see e-commerce circa 2001 or video games in the mid-1980s), but I won’t speculate whether one currently exits. I will say that in an era when almost every solution provider touts the AI capabilities of its products, there is a real risk of inviting an AI vampire into your enterprise.

AI vampires are solutions that users deploy simply because they offer the promise of AI functionality, without ensuring they deliver solid ROI and fill a specific business need. As a result, these solutions drain resources and computing power that would otherwise be dedicated to the health of the enterprise, acting like the vampire of Eastern European legend.

Retailers who have seen the 1980s horror-comedy smash The Lost Boys know that a vampire cannot enter your home without an invitation. To keep AI vampires at bay, carefully vet any AI solution, and also thoroughly evaluate your enterprise needs and only implement AI applications if and when they precisely meet those needs.