As a communications professional, it’s been wonderful to watch and incorporate into practice innovative new technologies. Technology certainly has changed my profession over the last 20 years.

Interestingly, as I was reading about consumer trends surrounding AI and digital technologies in 2020, the common theme underpinning projections is a resurrection of the human experience—getting back to basics, nostalgic marketing, and refreshed retail (GlobalWebIndex report on Consumer Trends in 2020 globalwebindex.com/reports/trends-2020).

For me, innovation and technology (e.g., computers, Internet, social media, and AI) are effective and essential components of any business, communications or marketing strategy. We must evolve and take advantage of them.

But I have also always firmly held that the foundation of successful communication and business relies upon face-to-face interaction—only this type of contact has the power to create the real and enduring relationships which shape business outcomes, form company and community cultures, and engage people in meaningful ways.

The message: as we advance technologically, we must also maintain and encourage greater personal interaction.

Interestingly, you can see this revival of the human experience nowadays in the skills employers are requiring of the next generation of employees, namely: interpersonal skills and the social conventions needed to conduct business, emotional intelligence, critical thinking and reasoning, and navigating or resolving conflict.

Technological innovation and adoption today is clearly a natural part of the human experience, but so is the remastering and regaining our capacity to experience simply ‘being human’.