Artificial Intelligence now encompasses endless aspects of our daily lives, including AI-assisted fitness training through apps that mine personal data, provide encouragement, and personalized advice. However, a recent study conducted by Stanford University shows that these services are more efficient when combined with human touch.
The study led by Stanford Graduate School of Business marketing professor Sridhar Narayanan looked at around 65,000 customers using the HealthifyMe app, which offers weight loss plans for people in India.
The subscription-based app offers two types of plans: In one, customers are guided solely by AI, which uses algorithms to suggest goals and changes to diet, as well as fitness regimens. The other plan uses AI combined with human trainers, who can offer more personalized weight loss advice and perhaps an empathetic ear.
Thus, humans in conjunction with AI fared better in Narayanan's study, co-authored with Anuj Kapooropen, an assistant professor of marketing at the Indian Institute of Management, and Puneet Manchandaopen, a professor of marketing at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Along those lines, they found that clients guided by human and AI trainers lost an average of around 5 pounds over three months, while those trained by AI alone lost just under 3 pounds on average.
"The difference is small in absolute terms when averaged across all clients, but very large in relative terms, with weight loss being 74 percent higher for AI consumers plus human trainers," they noted.
Discerning a causal effect wasn't as easy as simply comparing users of the two weight loss plans. Narayanan explained that the randomly chosen users of each plan do not provide comparable starting points as their motivations are not observable.
“People who choose a human plan can be systematically different than those who choose AI trainers; maybe they are more motivated in their willingness to lose weight," he said. "If the AI trainers come out on top, it's possible that the people who find it easier to lose weight will be the ones who choose the technology-only option."
Ultimately, they found that the human interaction had a significant positive effect on weight loss. On average, people using the AI-only solution lost about 1.5 percent of their starting body weight, compared with 2.7 percent for those on AI plus human plans.
The study highlighted that women, older people, and those with a lower starting body mass index were more likely to hire a human trainer and therefore lost more weight. While the clients who chose the human training tended to set higher weight loss goals and recorded their weight and food intake more frequently.
Without speculating why humans make better weight loss coaches, Narayanan noted that some clients may have an underlying need for empathy when trying to lose weight.
To that, he added that customers may also feel more responsible for their actions when they sign up with a live person.
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