Any new technology brings with it a mixture of excitement and trepidation, both among its users and those worried that it may disrupt or diminish their lives. The current Exhibit A of that would of course be AI. With the caveat that this observation is purely anecdotal, based on conversations and sessions at our three Quirk’s Events so far this year it seems like the general perception of AI is moving away from trepidation and more toward, if not enthusiasm, at least an acknowledgement of its potential benefits.
The findings from a Market Research Institute International (MRII) study released in April echo this mood. For its second annual global study, AI in Focus 2025: How Market Researchers Are Embracing and Adapting to Generative AI, MRII intereviewed 426 researchers around the globe, a mix of agency/vendor respondents and corporate insights workers, and found a marked increase in AI tool utilization across both environments.
Currently, MRII found, 62 percent of survey participants report that they or their team members employ AI technologies in their professional activities, a significant increase from the previous year's figure of 40 percent. Particularly striking is the growth observed among corporate researchers, who indicated a 37 percentage point increase in AI adoption, narrowing the previously substantial gap with their agency counterparts from the prior year, when agency-based researchers exhibited twice the rate of AI utilization compared to corporate researchers.
A few other observations, as taken from the MRII press release on the study results: 77% say they feel very or mostly favorable about AI in relation to their job and company; 71% believe AI will improve their job in the coming years. And, majorities are aware of issues such as potential bias in AI algorithms (72%), data privacy and security concerns (69%), increased dependence on AI at the expense of human judgment (63%) and ethical concerns (60%). Potential job reductions due to automation are seen as a concern to 46%, up 8 points from last year – the largest increase of any item.
Exciting to see
At least at this point, some of the AI hype certainly feels justified. Among my other duties here at Quirk’s is moderating our Quirk’s Virtual Sessions and our June batch (https://www.quirks.com/articles/type/sponsored-video) focused on DIY tools and platforms and I have to say it was exciting to see the speed, depth and quality of the outputs generated by the AI-driven data dives conducted during some of the session demonstrations.
Circling back to the mood at our Quirk’s Events, much of the AI fatigue among client-side researchers was less about AI itself or its threats and more about the desperate lengths to which some vendors are going to trumpet their seat on the AI bandwagon. After not being able to put my finger on it, I finally realized that some of the AI-hawking reminded me of being at industry conferences decades ago during the rise of the internet and witnessing the mania with which vendors and agencies were rushing to add “.com” to the end of their product or company names – in many cases, only to quietly remove them after the bubble burst. (I’m not predicting the same kind of crash for AI!)
So, where does all this leave us? I’m no expert on Gartner’s hype cycle framework (though I do love its nomenclature!) but I feel like we’re out of the “trough of disillusionment” and on the “slope of enlightenment,” perhaps with the “plateau of productivity” in the distance?
If that’s the case, then this quote from a researcher in our Q Report (“Q Report respondents opine on AI, pain points and future plans”) does a nice job of capturing the current feeling:
“If you’re spitting out rote tracking reports every quarter/month/etc., then AI absolutely puts your team/role at risk. But if your team is trying to synthesize and elevate a blend of primary, secondary, cultural trends, behavioral data, etc., into actionable insights for specific business needs/decisions, I think AI elevates that type of team/role. Insights and MR roles are likely going to have to evolve, but on balance, I think AI will elevate the industry. None of us got into MR/insights because we loved doing those big tracking reports! I think AI will free up many insights professionals to do more of what many of us love about being in insights – telling deep, human stories with data that will impact our respective businesses.”