At Quirks NYC, Discuss Co-Founder Jim Longo joined industry legend and Executive Chairman of i-Genie.AI Stan Sthanunathan to explore how AI is reshaping qualitative research. This second post in our “Shatter Assumptions” series focuses on a shared truth: speed is powerful, but only if it’s paired with strategic thinking.
“With AI, be warned: speed kills.” Jim Longo, Co-Founder, Discuss
The gift (and trap) of instant results
AI can launch a study today, identify patterns tomorrow, and have a deck ready before everyone else has finished their coffee. It feels like a superpower until fast turns into rash. When qual results arrive as easily as a DoorDash order, it’s tempting to jump straight from finding to greenlighting without asking the deeper questions.
As Jim explained it on stage, automation “speed[s] up the data collection process,” but the win is what comes next: using those extra days and weeks “to consult and think strategically.”
Patterns aren’t people
AI-led research organizes data beautifully, but it misses things a trained human ear and eye will catch:
- The hesitation before someone says, “It’s fine.”
- The moment they light up talking about something unrelated to your guide.
- A subtle shift in tone that changes the meaning entirely.
Stan’s reminder: without human intimacy, “simple numbers do not tell you the truth.”
How one company took AI-led qual, then talked to humans, and changed direction
Jim relayed a story about how a company planned to launch a new feature solely based on AI-led research. The consumer feedback was glowing: so easy to use. But when the company took time to run a few live interviews to supplement this finding, a sharper truth emerged. Yes, the feature was easy to use, but it solved nothing that mattered to the consumers. No behavior change. No business impact. Without that human check, the pretty but pointless feature might have sailed into production.
The 70% rule
We’re all tempted to let machines make research easier – and we should. But as Stan warned, the danger is completely flipping the equation, or “insourcing process and outsourcing thinking.” The researcher’s job is to add value in detecting subtle human cues that AI can’t fully perceive or interpret.
Jim is candid: today’s AI gets you about 70% of the way. The last 30% – the part that transforms interesting into game-changing – comes from human oversight. That’s where empathy, context, and business savvy turn raw findings into confident decisions.
Using speed for depth
While it may seem like the real win is shaving tons of time off field work, it’s actually about how you use the time you get back. Here’s what you can do with that time:
- Front‑load discovery. Use AI to sweep wide: recruit, moderate at scale, and cluster themes. Then resist the reflex to ship.
- Interrogate the pattern. Pull a handful of participants into live conversation. Ask what the algorithm can’t: Why now? What would you give up? What’s the trade‑off?
- Decide in context. Bring in commercial reality: segments, constraints, readiness. Your strategy team will thank you.
As Stan puts it, layer human intelligence on top of artificial intelligence and you get augmented intelligence.
How Discuss helps you slow down to speed up
With more than a million sessions in nearly 130 countries under our belt Discuss builds in both velocity and depth.
Run in‑depth, AI‑led interviews at survey speed, then pivot seamlessly into human-led conversations the moment your gut says there’s more here. Same platform, no handoffs, full context. That’s how customers turn AI’s velocity into better decisions, not just faster ones.
The takeaway
We all wish we had more space to think, challenge, and refine our work. Now that AI give us that space, use it wisely. Stan says it best: “If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu.” Protect your seat.
In the third Shatter Assumptions post, we’ll explore why AI should stand for augmented intelligence.
Watch Stan & Jim’s full Quirks NYC talk for more on turning AI’s speed into better decisions →