{"id":9753,"date":"2025-06-23T14:49:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T14:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/?post_type=insight&#038;p=9753"},"modified":"2025-08-11T14:53:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T14:53:31","slug":"the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"The human has returned to the AI conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It seems that every conference is now an AI conference.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was borne out at the summer\u2019s flagship London events &#8211; the inaugural SXSW London and London Tech Week \u2013 where dozens of panels and keynotes were dedicated to the subject. Speakers ranged from those building and deploying AI to those thinking deeply about its societal and cultural impacts. Happily, these aren\u2019t mutually exclusive groups. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve detected a subtle but fundamental change taking place in how AI is being talked about, which has big implications for corporate affairs leaders. Whether or not AI <em>will <\/em>be deployed isn\u2019t up for debate. But the specifics of <em>how, where and why<\/em> it is being applied are now centre stage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This marks a new phase of AI\u2019s dizzying development cycle: politicians<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/prime-minister-sets-out-blueprint-to-turbocharge-ai\"> tell us<\/a> we should \u201cturbocharge\u201d AI and \u201cmainline\u201d the technology into the veins of the nation. Management consultants<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcg.com\/capabilities\/artificial-intelligence\/\"> inform us<\/a> that AI is a \u201cboth a strategic tool and an innovative solution\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What discussion at these conferences showed is how executives are grappling with the trade offs, choices and nuances that adoption brings. It\u2019s no accident that this vibe shift is taking place at the very moment when the role of humans in fine-tuning AI systems \u2014 by giving feedback on the AI\u2019s responses to help it behave more helpfully \u2014 is rapidly gaining more attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only way to successfully navigate a transformative technology like AI is to put people at the heart of the conversation. To borrow a phrase from AI development, this means putting the \u2018human back in the loop\u2019.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At SXSW we heard a fascinating assessment from Klarna\u2019s Sebastian Siemiatowski on the areas where AI has added the most value and conversely, where the company still benefits from a human touch in decision making such as responding to complex, priority customer service issues. OpenAI\u2019s Matt Weaver discussed what AI actually means in software as a service (SaaS), bringing insights directly from the world\u2019s leading AI company as we enter the era of AI agents.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And at London Tech Week, we heard from a panel of leaders including Funding Circle\u2019s Lisa Jacobs and David Buttress of OVO on how they are proactively involving workforces into evolving plans around technology transformation and AI adoption in business processes and operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s emerging here is a more nuanced conversation \u2013 and one that presents some important choices for corporate affairs leaders. It\u2019s been tempting to think that the hardest part of AI is implementation: pick a supplier, integrate the system, inform or train your team. Job done.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But at a time when governments globally have stepped back from AI regulation, assurance and safety, the impetus for businesses and organisations \u2013 whether that\u2019s communications leads, legal teams or boards \u2013 to engage with critical decisions on design, ethics, trust and risk, have only grown.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These decisions \u2013 which ultimately lie with individual companies and organisations rather than with the AI labs &#8211; have critical implications for how AI tools and systems are received by customers and employees. It means confronting the hard questions and grappling with the practical realities of how AI will actually be used \u2014 before problems emerge \u2014 so that the approach can be clearly and confidently communicated to the outside world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This should be seen as a positive: it gives us greater agency on how AI is used and the benefits it brings \u2013 and the opportunity to put humans at the centre. Here, we have choices.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Success will lie with those who make AI adoption an enduring mindset &#8211; a way of building relationships with the audiences that matter most &#8211; rather than as a one off, quick fix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It seems that every conference is now an AI conference.&nbsp; This was borne out at the summer\u2019s flagship London events &#8211; the inaugural SXSW London and London Tech Week \u2013 where dozens of panels and keynotes were dedicated to the subject. Speakers ranged from those building and deploying AI to those thinking deeply about its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9754,"menu_order":0,"template":"","services":[24],"sectors":[124],"class_list":["post-9753","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","services-corporate-communications","sectors-technology"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The human has returned to the AI conversation - Headland International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The human has returned to the AI conversation - Headland International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It seems that every conference is now an AI conference.&nbsp; This was borne out at the summer\u2019s flagship London events &#8211; the inaugural SXSW London and London Tech Week \u2013 where dozens of panels and keynotes were dedicated to the subject. Speakers ranged from those building and deploying AI to those thinking deeply about its [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Headland International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-11T14:53:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/steve-johnson-1FD-E7Ioblw-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"5120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2880\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/\",\"name\":\"The human has returned to the AI conversation - Headland International\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/steve-johnson-1FD-E7Ioblw-unsplash.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-23T14:49:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-11T14:53:31+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/steve-johnson-1FD-E7Ioblw-unsplash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/steve-johnson-1FD-E7Ioblw-unsplash.jpg\",\"width\":5120,\"height\":2880},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Insights\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The human has returned to the AI conversation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/\",\"name\":\"Headland International\",\"description\":\"Specialists in financial and corporate communications, digital communications, sustainability, strategy, insight and planning, public affairs and campaigning.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The human has returned to the AI conversation - Headland International","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The human has returned to the AI conversation - Headland International","og_description":"It seems that every conference is now an AI conference.&nbsp; This was borne out at the summer\u2019s flagship London events &#8211; the inaugural SXSW London and London Tech Week \u2013 where dozens of panels and keynotes were dedicated to the subject. Speakers ranged from those building and deploying AI to those thinking deeply about its [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/","og_site_name":"Headland International","article_modified_time":"2025-08-11T14:53:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":5120,"height":2880,"url":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/steve-johnson-1FD-E7Ioblw-unsplash.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/","name":"The human has returned to the AI conversation - Headland International","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/steve-johnson-1FD-E7Ioblw-unsplash.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-23T14:49:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-11T14:53:31+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/steve-johnson-1FD-E7Ioblw-unsplash.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/steve-johnson-1FD-E7Ioblw-unsplash.jpg","width":5120,"height":2880},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/the-human-has-returned-to-the-ai-conversation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Insights","item":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/insight\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The human has returned to the AI conversation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/","name":"Headland International","description":"Specialists in financial and corporate communications, digital communications, sustainability, strategy, insight and planning, public affairs and campaigning.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/9753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/insight"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/9753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9755,"href":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/9753\/revisions\/9755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"services","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/services?post=9753"},{"taxonomy":"sectors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.headlandconsultancy.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sectors?post=9753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}