Why AI is the high school intern of market research with Alisa Hamilton
October 20, 2026
AI is changing market research across the board, but getting work done faster and cheaper doesn't always mean getting better insights. In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Alisa Hamilton, founder of Harvest Insights, discusses where AI adds value, why quality remains a challenge, and how researchers can use new tools without losing the human judgment that good research depends on. She also explores how AI is making advanced methodologies more accessible, why the next generation of researchers needs a broader set of skills, and why curiosity will continue to play a central role in understanding human behaviour.
In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Stephanie Vance and Molly Strawn-Carreño sit down with Alisa Hamilton, founder of Harvest Insights and a researcher with more than 20 years of experience across qualitative and quantitative research, to discuss what makes the current wave of AI adoption different from previous shifts in the industry.
Alisa explains that researchers are dealing with multiple changes at once, from AI-powered reporting and moderation to new ways of designing studies and analysing data. While these developments create opportunities, they also introduce challenges around quality, methodology, and knowing where AI genuinely adds value. She shares an example of competing pitch decks that looked almost identical because they had been created using the same AI tools, raising questions about how researchers can maintain the originality and strategic thinking clients expect.
The conversation explores where human expertise remains important throughout the research process. Alisa explains why choosing the right questions and methodology at the beginning of a project matters, and why researchers still need to bring nuance and curiosity to the interpretation of findings. She also discusses how AI can help make choice modelling, shelf testing, and realistic test environments more accessible, allowing more teams to conduct rigorous research without the same cost and technical barriers.
Alisa also shares her thoughts on the speed, cost, and quality trade-off, comparing AI to a high school intern who needs detailed instructions and repeated iteration to produce the desired result. As the industry continues to change, she encourages researchers to build a breadth of technical skills while developing the practical experience, critical thinking, and curiosity that make research useful. She also makes the case for moving beyond the traditional divide between qualitative and quantitative research and exploring more creative ways to use AI across methodologies.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why the current AI shift feels different from previous changes in market research
- How AI-generated reports can look polished while lacking originality and distinction
- Why human judgment matters when choosing methodologies and interpreting research findings
- How AI moderation can support a broader research methodology
- Why choice modelling and realistic test environments are becoming more accessible
- Why speed, cost, and quality remain difficult to achieve together
- When training AI is worth the effort and when another approach makes more sense
- Why junior researchers should build breadth across tools while developing practical research skills
- How combining qualitative and quantitative research can lead to better answers
- Why curiosity and the willingness to ask why remain essential to good research
About the Guest:
Alisa Hamilton is the founder of Harvest Insights and a qualitative and quantitative research strategist with more than 20 years of experience in market research. Her work spans research methodology, emerging technologies, data analysis, and the application of AI to research problems. In this episode, Alisa shares her perspective on adopting AI responsibly, making advanced research methods more accessible, and helping researchers adapt to an industry undergoing multiple changes at once. She also discusses the importance of preserving human judgment, developing practical skills, and staying curious about what the data is actually telling us.
Episode Resources:
Episode Resources:
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