Once a signifier of luxury or novelty, custom products and services are now within reach of the everyday consumer, thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence, algorithm-led platforms, and the COVID-era digitisation boom. Today, everyone wants to be the main character of their brand experience.

The mainstreaming of AI is setting a new precedent for how people relate to non-human sources of intelligence. While automation on a consumer level has typically focused on specific tasks like replying to emails or budgeting, it’s now swiftly expanding to a more dynamic range of applications.

Ad-free search engine Neeva has launched a ChatGPT-like AI feature that answers users' questions with conversational text rather than lists of links. With people wanting more personalised experiences, the feature could represent a major paradigm shift in how we use the internet.

DoNotPay looks to save people time and money with a chatbot that removes the back-and-forth with customer service representatives. Responding to a growing willingness from people to trust in – and hand over control to – AI tools to make better decisions amid the cost of living crisis.

For book publishers and authors, marketing is a crucial step in reaching new audiences – but the way people discover titles remains something of an enigma. Tertulia is looking to tackle this problem with an AI-led approach that aims to better serve readers' needs with personalised recommendations.

Algorithms have become central to discovering new music and products online – but are machine-led recommendations always welcome? Canvas8 spoke to Chiara Longoni, an assistant professor at Boston University, to understand how people’s goals impact their willingness to trust AI.