As we’ve all grown accustomed recently, you simply can’t be among a group of market researchers without the topic of AI coming up these days.  This was certainly true at the recent Quirk's Event in Chicago, where AI was a key focus of the sessions. Overall, there was great energy at the event. The exhibit hall was very busy, and the sessions were well organized and attended. Here’s my take on the sessions I attended.

The Sessions 

While much of the focus was on AI, the sessions ranged from the benefits of AI to how it supports humans to the risks involved, in general. More specifically, presenters discussed how AI can support qualitative research at scale and how respondents feel about AI-moderated focus groups and interviews, as well as synthetic respondents. It’s really interesting how AI continues to get better and better, and it’s becoming an option throughout the entire research process. 

Here are some of the standout sessions I attended and how they contributed to the AI conversation: 

1. Adobe  

Session title: “Why being a creative company means creativity in everything – even research.” 

Description: Explore innovative methodologies that go beyond traditional surveys and focus groups, such as storytelling in quantitative studies to bring user journeys to life and fill-in-the-blank exercises that reveal hidden associations. 

My thoughts: My favorite part of this session was how the Adobe presenter drew a parallel between the word “instrument” in research and in music. And my favorite quote was, “a relentless focus on the ‘why;’” great insight! 

2. Nexxt

Session title: “The future of quant is qual!” 

Description: Nexxt sees the true mission of conversational AI to be transforming quantitative surveys. This session offers an insightful exploration into how AI-driven empathy and intelligent interaction are rewriting the rules of survey research. 

My thoughts: We use Inca (Nexxt’s AI tool) and find it very valuable. 

3. UScellular

Session title: “The good, the bad and the ugly of AI from the consumer’s viewpoint.” 

Description: An exploration of what brands need to know about consumer attitudes toward the use of artificial intelligence.  

My thoughts: This session was a great overview of how consumers feel about AI, specifically what attracts them to it and what they are afraid of regarding the technology. 

4. Purpose Brands

Session title: “Modernizing consumer segmentation.” 

Description: Purpose Brands set out to reframe the lens of how they view the consumer’s health and wellness journey. Leveraging modern methodologies like AI interviewing and social narratives, the multi-phased approach was developed to drive business impact. 

My thoughts: I found this to be an interesting use of AI-moderated interviews as data inputs into a segmentation approach.  The inherent qualitative aspect enabled the client to get personas in addition to the segmentation. 

In Conclusion 

As mentioned above, Quirk's Chicago was well attended, and I chatted with a number of people during the course of the event. Most were also impressed by the event, and specific to the topic of AI, there seems to be less and less of a feeling that AI will replace the need for people in our industry. At the same time, there is an interesting concern: if AI is going to be the research assistant, so to speak, what's going to happen to junior researchers?  And how do you become a senior researcher if you can't start as a junior? So, this could potentially disrupt the traditional career path in market research going forward.  To me, that's a very interesting question that needs to be addressed. 

Overall, Quirk's Chicago 2025 was well worth the time, and I look forward to the next one! 

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