Why AI Interviews Beat Traditional Surveys for Customer Research

Traditional surveys have been the go-to tool for customer research for decades. But there's a fundamental problem: they don't capture the full picture.

The survey problem

Average survey response rates hover between 5-15%. Of those who respond, most rush through, giving you superficial answers to your carefully crafted questions. Multiple-choice options limit what you can learn, and respondents rarely elaborate in free-text fields.

The result? You end up making product decisions based on incomplete data from a biased sample of your users.

Enter AI-powered interviews

AI conversational interviews solve these problems by creating an experience that feels like talking to a real person. The AI asks one question at a time, listens to the response, and adapts its follow-up questions based on what the respondent says.

This approach yields several advantages:

• Higher completion rates — People enjoy conversations more than filling out forms
• Deeper insights — Adaptive follow-ups dig into the "why" behind answers
• Scale without cost — Run hundreds of interviews simultaneously
• No interviewer bias — Consistent, empathetic conversations every time
• Any language — AI automatically detects and responds in the respondent's language

When to use AI interviews

AI interviews are particularly powerful for:

• Customer discovery — understanding pain points and needs
• Idea validation — testing concepts before building
• Product feedback — gathering qualitative insights on features
• Market research — exploring new segments and opportunities

Getting started

With AskPeople.ai, you can go from research question to live interview in minutes. Define your research goals, let AI generate the interview plan, share a link, and get AI-aggregated insights. It's the fastest path from question to answer.