If the use of AI is indispensable, how should EC businesses go about it? It seems necessary to draw a line based on the value provided and human resource development. Fracta CEO Kono and Commerce Media CEO Izawa had a discussion.
(Interview / Text: Wada Sumie)
▶This article is the second part. You can read the first part at fracta-journal "AI brings personalization to EC!? - The future of EC as seen from a conversation with ChatGPT."
──Especially for large companies with brick-and-mortar stores, the ability of the EC manager has a big impact on the success or failure of the business. Whether or not they can utilize AI will also make a big difference.
(Izawa) I think that not only the EC industry, but the social structure itself will change. If there is a company that employs people to do tasks that can be replaced by AI, and a company that makes good use of AI and has people guiding the baton like a conductor, the latter will win. There will come a time when the profit structure will not be viable if you employ people.
When technological innovation occurs, new things come out, don't they? For example, when it comes to job advertisements, paper media has become mainstream, but now websites are being used, and owned media and SNS are also being used. First of all, I think that EC malls specializing in generative AI will appear. There haven't been any new malls recently, so I think it's about time. New things will come out from overseas, and cross-border EC may change dramatically.
Cross-border e-commerce has been a big hurdle, as it requires research and responses for each country, such as language, shipping, customs duties, currency, and laws, but AI is good at processing huge amounts of information on this matter, so there is a possibility that it will lower the hurdles. It's like the personalized overseas sales that Mr. Kono mentioned. If that happens, the future of the tool providers that handle each step is a concern. As tools are consolidated and each service has rich functions and the differences disappear, it will ultimately come down to a battle for capital.
(Kono) AI may unify fragmented services. It will be tough for those who do not have their own reference database. For example, gourmet sites have their own databases such as reviews, so they will be connected to ChatGPT via plugins. On the other hand, for example, language translation services, when you get down to it, the answers are the same, so there is a possibility that AI alone can fulfill the role. Services that perform tasks on behalf of others, such as RPA, may become self-made by companies using AI.
-- Putting aside the question of whether there is a conductor who can take the baton, if AI can be utilized, it may be a good time for e-commerce businesses.
(Izawa) I think we will have to face our products more. As we will be able to access our products more than ever before, it will no longer be possible to sell them in a slightly oblique way. I think branding will become even more important in the future. Of course, there will be cases where AI will do the branding. I think we will go back to ramen shops that are thriving because the ramen itself is strong, even though they are not using technology at all at the moment.
On the other hand, I think Web 3.0 will be reconsidered again. When it first became popular, it was too difficult and only a limited number of people could use it. I tried a few things, but if I made a small mistake, I would lose money. With the advent of AI, although it is vague, I think that the time will come when they will intersect and become more widespread. In relation to EC, the problem of reselling digital tickets can be solved by using blockchain.
(Kono) The NFT mechanism itself was revolutionary, but it has become too associated with speculation. Will the current AI continue to penetrate and become a social infrastructure, settling down by the end of 2023? After that, I think the metaverse will come again from 2024 onwards.
--While I understand that we need to make full use of AI since there is a labor shortage, I can't help but feel anxious about whether my job will be lost.
(Izawa) I think AI is like a car navigation system. Before car navigation systems were introduced, people had to memorize the roads or drive while spreading out a paper map. Nowadays, it's rare to see people doing that, and even professional drivers use them as a matter of course. I've been in a taxi with a driver who was adept at using three different navigation systems. I think a professional is someone who can master new things and provide better service than ever before.
In the recent case of EC, the use of AI is a big advantage as it allows us to respond on weekends. It makes a difference if we can respond to customer service inquiries on a first-come, first-served basis and reply to complicated inquiries by saying "We'll respond in a few days." I hope that this will gradually make things easier for the field.
(Kono) We talk about AI as if it were a matter of course, but according to MM Research Institute's "ChatGPT Usage Trend Survey in Japanese and US Companies (as of the end of May 2023)," the usage rate of ChatGPT in Japanese businesses is 7%. The first step will be to raise awareness. Mr. Izawa, what kind of talent do you think will be needed in the coming AI era?
(Izawa) I remember vividly being told in my junior high school days that "the person who becomes a president is the one who can create a 'framework'." Regardless of whether they are president or not, I think that people who can create a system and connect it to value are strong. If you ask an AI a vague question, you will get a vague answer. As Mr. Kono said in his buzzworthy tweet, you need the right instructions to get the right answer. I think it's the kind of talent that can do that.
ChatGPT needs clear and appropriate instructions to get accurate answers, and I've gotten pretty good at giving instructions, but recently someone at work said to me, "Hey, Kono-san, you've gotten better at asking for work, haven't you? You were terrible before lol," and I realized it was me, not Chat-GPT, that was learning. The end.
— Konya / Takanobu Kono, CEO of Fracta & Shopify Evangelist (@TakaKouno) April 19, 2023
(Kono) I think we are moving from an era of specialists to an era of generalists. Since AI can be used to a certain extent, people who can give instructions to AI for a wide range of tasks will be required. Creative and operational specialists will continue to be in demand, but since specialists in simple tasks will be replaced by AI, I think people who can organize will be stronger. If that happens, it will be difficult to educate new employees.
(Izawa) That's exactly what I meant when I said that it will be difficult to develop human resources who can deal with problems. Replacing with AI is better for the profit structure, but I think it is necessary to leave some work like manual labor and educate new employees to have the experience.
Even in the current EC operation agency, it is not impossible for us to do everything, but since that is not the value we provide, we have decided to rely on manpower only for half of the work. For example, Amazon has well-organized and connected data, so I know that one person can handle all of the EC work by making full use of tools and has achieved a great profit margin. However, in the future, I think that value will come from concepts and processes thought up by people. I think that a sense of balance is important when deciding how much AI to use, not just in education.
(Kono) I think we need to properly organize the training system for new employees so that the talent coming in the future doesn't fall into the "training ice age". In terms of creativity, if the score of what a person can create is in the range of 10 to 10,000 points, AI can always get 100 points, but it can't get 10,000 points. I think there will be a demand for creatives that can hit home runs, so I want to make our company one that can create such things.
──Thank you for today!
