A prominent business academic has warned that companies may be ignoring the limitations of AI and damaging relationships with customers as they rush to implement the technology into their core processes and functions.

In response to the acknowledgment by Amazon’s chief executive Andy Jassy that AI will replace jobs at the online retailer,  Henley Business School’s Dr Rodrigo Perez-Vega said that AI still demonstrated limitations when tackling complex tasks.

Perez-Vega, associate professor of marketing at Henley, said that companies need to proceed with caution.

He said: “Recent evaluations consistently show that while AI is very good at pattern recognition and automated processes, it often leads to suboptimal results when confronted with situations requiring genuine creativity, critical judgment, or a deep understanding context-dependent variable.

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“Relying solely on AI for such tasks could lead to suboptimal decisions or even significant errors, undermining the very efficiencies sought by these companies.”

He also warned that there were “emerging indicators of consumer apprehension regarding businesses that prioritise technology over meaningful human interaction”.

Perez-Vega said an over-reliance on automated systems could lead to a perceived lack of empathy and genuine customer care, adding: “This arms race towards AI-enabled automation risks alienating a segment of their consumer base that values human connection in service delivery.”

On Tuesday this week, Jassy told employees that AI was reshaping the global workforce by automating routine and repetitive tasks, and industry leaders expected this to prompt a reduction or transformation of certain roles across industries.

“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Jassy said.

The company was using GenAI across internal operations to enhance efficiency and customer experience, Jassy said.

He added that Amazon was using AI to optimise inventory and forecasting in its fulfillment network, upgrade its customer service chatbot and improve product detail pages.

Tech sector experts said there was nothing new in Amazon’s message. Gil Luria, analyst at investment bank DA Davidson, told Reuters that tech firms had seen that “AI is progressing so fast in improving productivity that the need for hiring will diminish over time.”

“The main roles being enhanced right now are in software development, and that is where we are seeing the most pronounced slowdown in hiring.”

 

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