Artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous.
It’s understandable. AI can perform in seconds a task that might take a person hours to complete. AI is fast, impartial, and tireless. It doesn’t require breaks, praise, or even a salary. The appeal is intoxicating.
In response, companies around the world are moving quickly to incorporate AI into their operations—some might say too quickly. In their haste to adopt the technology and increase revenues, these companies are losing sight of the human cost in terms of displacement and lost jobs.
According to research conducted by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas and reported by CBS News, companies have announced nearly 50,000 AI-related job cuts so far in 2026. While this number represents less than 17% of all layoffs this year, there are more to come. In fact, 99% of CEOs are planning layoffs over the next two years, citing AI as the reason. Worst-case scenarios suggest up to 300 million jobs may be lost to AI by 2030.
A backlash is naturally inevitable. Most of those impacted by this trend are junior and entry-level roles, leaving new college grads and those just embarking on their careers disaffected. Unsurprisingly, recent polling by Gallup reveals that Gen Z’s enthusiasm about AI is waning, dropping from 36% to just 22% over the past year. Likewise, hopefulness fell from 27% to 18% during the same period, while anger about the current situation rose nine points to 31%.
Perhaps more ominous, opinions about AI fell further among daily users (excitement down 18 points, hopefulness down 11 points) than among non-users. Even esteemed institutions such as CalTech are now asking “Can we trust artificial intelligence?”
Coupled with the realization that AI can’t always be trusted and every response needs to be fact checked, it appears the bloom is off the artificial intelligence rose—or at least it’s starting to evaporate.
A Different Approach
It’s naïve to think the AI genie can be put back in the bottle; the technology is here to stay, like it or not. What’s needed is a strategy that embraces the promise and strength of AI without threatening job growth or business expansion.
OnFulfillment has developed such an approach: one that recognizes the inherent value of artificial intelligence while recognizing it’s most effective when coupled with a different type of AI: actual interaction.
We call it a “responsible adoption” of AI—leveraging the technology as a powerful tool that our existing workforce can use to improved and enhance the level of services they provide to our customers.
At the core of this philosophy is the acknowledgement that while AI is highly effective at helping us all become more productive, it will never be an adequate replacement for human interaction. For instance, while it makes sense to use AI to improve and accelerate the development and performance of our software portal, we will never utilize the technology to automate high-touch activities such as customer service, account management, or new client onboarding.
Where We Use Artificial Intelligence and Where We Don’t
This is not to say that the use of artificial intelligence won’t occasionally overlap with the application of actual human interaction. However, as we’ll show, those instances will merely serve to enhance the user experience—without replacing the person who is critical to the process.
So where do we unabashedly employ artificial intelligence? Anywhere it can improve our team’s productivity or enhance their capabilities. Developing software, writing code, researching complex topics, or compiling data when speed is of the essence? Absolutely.
Where is artificial intelligence off limits at OnFulfillment? Anywhere it could be used to reduce our workforce. We are firm believers that AI is an impersonal tool that could never replace the actual human interaction. While we could most certainly reduce costs by replacing staff with virtual AI-driven agents, it would be antithetical to our business model of providing personal service to our valued customers. We’ve all experienced the frustration of dealing with a chat bot or other automated voice that pretends to be a real person but leaves you feeling cold. OnFulfillment knows our customers want to speak to a live person they actually know and with whom they’ve developed a trusting relationship. That’s what we intend to offer—always.
In fact, since the introduction of usable AI, we have not laid off a single employee at OnFulfillment. Over the past year, we have actually hired several new customer service reps and account managers to support our continued growth. Clearly, the personal approach resonates with customers seeking comprehensive marketing fulfillment, event management, printing, shipping, and storage services, and OnFulfillment is reaping the benefits.
How Artificial Intelligence Enhances Actual Interaction
This is where artificial intelligence and actual interaction overlap.
We’ve been training our customer service representatives to use artificial intelligence in ways that will make them more productive—for instance by running more efficient, detailed, and informative reports more quickly, or by accelerating order entry and processing.
By using artificial intelligence to analyze usage and inventory trends, our team members will be able to provide their customers with significant insights into what they should be ordering or reordering and when, or to suggest new product ideas for their online stores based on emerging trends and existing users’ purchasing history. In other words, our staff is using AI to anticipate and answer questions before the customer has a chance to ask them, resulting in better and more efficient service.
AI and the Future
Of course, this could all change in the future. AI will continue to evolve and improve over time, like all technology does. It will grow more human-like, more powerful, more effective.
One thing it will never change, however, is people’s desire for real human interaction. OnFulfillment is committed to delivering that personal touch by harnessing the best that artificial intelligence and actual interaction have to offer.
