Do We Trust AI More Than Each Other?

My current inability to earn a living from writing (I blame the algorithms) means I must also spend time completing research surveys online. There is a positive side to this however, as it often brings my attention to important topics and gives me something to write about when I’m all out of ideas.

One study this morning; valued at £0.15 for two minutes of my time (more than I get for my writing!) poised a very simple scenario and question:

Pretend you work in a department store. One lucky customer is to receive a special gift for their loyalty. In order to choose the gift however, the customers previous purchases in store are to be examined to see what would be most appropriate. If a human carried out this task, how much would you trust them to choose the right gift?

It then gave me the choice to tick a box ranging from not at all to very much. My choice was immediate. I had made my £0.15 and was ready to move on to the next exciting survey :(

But then I paused and began to think a bit harder about my answer. It started to make me feel a bit disturbed, or perhaps eve a little bit scared. Because the answer I had chosen was: not at all.

Now, before any store assistants start sending me hateful comments, I think you all do a wonderful job; especially in the cosmetics and lingerie department. But when it comes to picking the right gift for one customer based on their previous purchases, my mind could only think of one solution ...

AI could do it better!

This is because as humans, we tend to pick things based on our own personal biases. It wouldn’t matter whether the customer had bought umpteen bottles of Christian Dior perfume in the past or a fine selection of Burberry scarves. If the store assistant had a penchant for Britney Spears eau de toilette and a Palmolive soap-on-a-rope, then the customer would no doubt love it too!

But my instinctive decision to choose AI over human is not to be taken lightly. For it was only a few months ago I considered AI to be completely worthless. I had no desire to use it, and certainly had no desire to learn anything about it. But somehow, between then and now, AI seems to have become part of my everyday life. AI has for all intents and purposes, evolved me!

I have spoken to Copilot many times this morning. First we had a conversation about my cheese addiction and how I could curb it, then it helped me select a company stock to trade on Wall Street. Between us both, we have manged to throw out a block of blue veined Stilton for the birds and made £10 profit on Unilever. No humans involved!

My biggest concern is that our reliance on AI will continue to evolve and we will forget what it means to be human. Our ability to think, our flaws and our imperfections are all a very important part of who we are. They give us something to aim for and keep us striving forwards. If we continue to let ourselves be evolved by AI, then what exactly will we become?

I will now let you ponder this important existential question while I go outside into the garden and rescue my lovely blue cheese. Oh God! What have I done!

Thanks for reading.

* *

Originally published at Do We Trust AI More Than Each Other? | by Simon Aylward | Never Stop Writing | Jul, 2026 | Medium