Great Talks: pleading for humanity in the digital age
In this digital age, where AI is evolving faster than we can keep up, humanity is more crucial than ever. Personal attention and storytelling—these are essential ingredients for building meaningful relationships and trust. That human connection mustn’t be overlooked or sacrificed to AI. For this reason, we invited a select group to gather around our campfire.
We need to talk!
How personal is communication in the age of artificial intelligence? In the first edition of Great Talks, experts at the intersection of artificial and human intelligence—and everything in between—started this conversation.
How intelligent is Artificial Intelligence?
Tony Bosma, trendwatcher and founder of Extend Limits, had the task of setting the scene. What kind of era are we truly in? How rapidly are we heading toward a fully digital society—or are we already living in one?
Sometimes shocking, often intriguing. Through trends, headlines, and eye-opening facts, Tony guided his Great Talks companions through the developments surrounding artificial intelligence—or, as he prefers to call it, *machine comprehension*. After all, how “intelligent” is it, really?
Recruitment: hunt or attract?
Even recruitment – an industry that’s all about people, you’d think – is being reshaped by the unstoppable rise of AI and shifts in the labor market. Caroline Pols, founder of UP Recruitment Marketing Automation, noticed that in response to these changes, recruiters… stuck to more of the same.
Posting more job openings, deploying more recruiters, and using more tools to repeatedly reach out to candidates. Caroline approaches things differently with Recruitment Marketing Automation. During Great Talks, she spoke about the art of attracting new candidates rather than chasing them. When your brand establishes a strong Employer Brand, the right candidates will be drawn to you naturally. Focusing on the core of your brand – your unique identity and the ‘why’ behind what you do – is essential in modern recruitment.
The humanity behind brands
In our plea for humanity, the word ‘brand’ came up frequently. A logo, a company name, the range of products or services offered – yes, but branding is fundamentally about people. Robert Louer, Head of Global Branding at Bostik, understands this as no other. At the Great Talks campfire, he introduced a compelling topic: how do you make brands more human? Because a strong brand is so much more than a logo, a name, or a product. A strong brand evokes emotion and connection, creating something we want to be part of. And yes, emotion is at the heart of humanity – a drive that artificial intelligence still will take a long time to understand.
Human superpower or prey to AI?
To close our case for humanity, gr8 colleagues Michiel and Robin took a deep-dive into the phenomenon of storytelling. Storytelling is ingrained in every person; we do it naturally—it’s how our brains work. But what, exactly, makes a story? And if every story follows similar components, wouldn’t AI be able to do the same? Technically, yes. But what if we relied solely on AI for the next 30 years? What if, over the coming decades, we just kept reprocessing the same data without the addition of human creativity?
Collaborate with AI to create the most captivating stories, but always keep striving for human creativity—original, groundbreaking concepts. Because otherwise, what would we have left to talk about?
Together, the speakers delivered an inspiring afternoon and an exciting kickoff to Great Talks. And this is only the beginning! There is so much more we can – no, we must – talk about. And that’s something machines can’t do for us. That’s something between us, as people.