More (and longer) reviews don’t mean better customer insight. The opposite could be true.

One of the biggest claims of AI is that it helps people express themselves more clearly.

And, hey … new research suggests that’s exactly what’s happening.

When ChatGPT became available, people started writing more reviews, longer reviews, and more subjective ones.

For one- and two-star reviews, the language also became more emotionally extreme. 

At first glance, that sounds like awesome news for product teams.

Way more customer feedback means so many more opportunities to improve, right?

Well, there is a trade-off.

One of the things I value most about reading customer reviews is how they subtly reveal the human being behind the keyboard.

A rushed parent writes differently than a retired engineer.

A demanding perfectionist leaves clues that someone more easygoing never could.

The wording often tells me as much about the customer’s expectations as it does about the product itself.

Between the lines is where the gold lies.

Those human fingerprints can help uncover the real problem.

AI may preserve the facts while polishing away some of that individuality.

Ironically, this study also found that AI-assisted reviews became more emotional, not less.

That’s the opposite of what you might expect.

Rather than producing detached, clinical prose, AI seems to help people amplify what they’re feeling. 

For the team behind a product, that could make crummy days even worse.

A frustrated customer is no longer limited by their capability to write. They can now produce a polished, persuasive critique in seconds.

One of the ideas I explore in I Need That is that understanding customers requires looking beyond what they say, to WHY they say it.

AI doesn’t change that.

Reviews will continue to be one of the richest sources of customer insight, but they shouldn’t be your only source.

Buyer interviews, observation, support conversations, and usability testing still reveal insights even the most eloquent AI-assisted review never will.

As AI helps customers communicate more effectively, the job of product marketers may get a bit harder.

We’ll spend less time deciphering reviews…

…and more time trying to understand the humans behind them.

If you’d like help creating and marketing products people feel compelled to buy, the product marketing consultants at Graphos Product can help.