How was ChatGPT able to gain over two million users within two months? And this despite the fact that the fears surrounding artificial intelligence are still very present. One answer is that the chatbot is easily and simply accessible to everyone. There is therefore low-threshold access to the new technology and people can have their first experiences. "Personal experiences influence all other factors," says Patrick Planing, Professor of Business Psychology at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences. It is important that people come into contact with the product in some way, can try it out and thus experience the technology. "But timing also plays a key role," adds Patrick Planing. The AI Act, the first AI law, and the associated regulation of the new technology could be a driver for its social acceptance. This is because regulation enables a social consensus on how the technology is used.

"Thinking about people in the system also helps with product development," says Meret Ernst, Vice President of the Swiss Design Association. Human-centred design is essential. In addition to purely subjective characteristics such as "likeability", it is also important that the product serves people. Prototyping offers a suitable way to visualise the "new" world, the product, and to make it tangible and thus experienceable. Technology assessment is another way of making a technology tangible. In Switzerland, the TA-Swiss foundation provides a sound basis on the topics of biotechnology & medicine, digitalisation & society and energy & environment and examines the potential impact of new technologies: it weighs up the opportunities they offer, but also the risks they pose.

"If we want acceptance tomorrow, we have to create the basis for it today," adds Helmut Ruhl, CEO of AMAG Group AG, and puts it in a nutshell: "It needs a good breeding ground and the time must be ripe. The example of the Segway shows how it doesn't work, says Patrick Planing. Firstly, the time was not yet ripe for an electrically powered means of transport in 1999 and secondly, the marketing was poor. Although inventor Dean Kamen teamed up with big names such as Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and John Doerr, he was unable to market his nebulous announcement into a hit. The expectations fuelled, such as "entire cities will be built around this machine" and "major impact on multi-billion dollar industries" could not be fulfilled with the unveiling of a simple, single-axis device. The Segway never got beyond a niche product.

This example reveals the hurdle or chasm that every innovation has to overcome. The term "chasm" was coined by Geoffrey A. Moore with his concept "Crossing the Chasm". This refers to the transition from the early phase of product development and the first group of customers (early adopters) to the broad masses (mainstream customers). "The chasm is a make-or-break moment for any new technology." Quote from Marc Andreessen, Co-Founder of Andreessen Horowitz. It's about a smart marketing strategy based on a deep understanding of how to influence mainstream customers. Even if the marketing for the Segway didn't work, it laid the foundation for cities to be flooded with electric scooters today.

It takes staying power, people who realise crazy ideas, good lobbyists in politics and a shared vision of what the future could look like. This is also shown by the example of e-mobility, to come back to our host for the evening. In 1899, Ferdinand Porsche developed an electric car for his former employer Lohner-Werke. After electric cars flourished at the turn of the twentieth century, cheap petrol and the long range of petrol engines led to the breakthrough of combustion engines. After a long dry spell, several car manufacturers rediscovered electromobility in the 1990s. Tesla, new batteries, fast charging, the climate debate and CO2 targets then brought about the breakthrough for e-mobility. The breeding ground is there, the time is ripe. After more than a hundred years, e-mobility is a technology that is accepted by society.

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The speakers
Helmut Ruhl, CEO of AMAG Group AG and host of the evening, discussed the central question together with Meret Ernst, Vice President of the Swiss Design Association, and Patrick Planing, Professor of Business Psychology at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences. Monika Schärer moderated the evening. You can find out more about the speakers here.

Meet-up
Together with our platinum partners, we organise the annual Meet-up event series. Together with experts, we shed light on a topic and invite representatives from business, science, politics and society to discuss relevant issues in dialogue. Are you interested in taking part in an upcoming event? Then send us an e-mail.

Further information
Link TA-Swiss Foundation
Book tip: Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore