The AI Awareness Gap: Why 70% of Your Customers Are Clueless
70% of people can't explain what AI is. That's your opportunity.
“Probably well over 70% of the general population cannot in any way articulate to you what AI is.”
That’s Andy Hague, the lead at TechWM, the body driving the tech agenda in the West Midlands. And he’s not talking about some obscure technical concept. He’s talking about the single biggest technology shift of our lifetime.
Seven out of ten people can’t explain it. Can’t describe how it works. Can’t tell you how it might affect their job, their business, or their life.
That’s not a problem. That’s an opportunity
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The Widget-Maker’s Dilemma.
Most small business owners hear “AI” and think one of two things. Either “that’s for big tech companies, not for me” or “I should probably do something about that, but I don’t know what.”
Both responses are understandable. The conversation about AI has been dominated by Silicon Valley jargon, billion-dollar funding rounds, and apocalyptic predictions about robots taking over. None of that speaks to someone running a manufacturing business in Leeds or a marketing agency in Bristol.
But the IMF says 60% of jobs in advanced economies will be affected by AI. That includes your business. And your customers’ businesses. Whether they understand AI or not, it’s coming for the way they work.
The gap between impact and understanding is massive. And the person who fills that gap wins.
Translating geek speak.
I’ve spent 20 years in tech. I know how this industry talks. It loves jargon. It loves acronyms. It loves making simple things sound complicated because it makes the people who understand feel clever.
But jargon doesn’t sell. Clarity sells.
If you can explain what AI means for a plumber, a solicitor, an estate agent, or a restaurant owner, in plain English, without any buzzwords, you become the most valuable person in the room. Not because you know the most about AI. But because you can translate it into something useful.
That’s a skill. And it’s one that very few people have right now.
Education as a marketing strategy.
Here’s where this gets practical.
If 70% of your potential customers don’t understand AI, and you can explain it to them in a way that’s relevant to their specific business, you’ve just done something almost nobody else is doing. You’ve become their trusted guide.
Write a blog post: “What AI actually means for [your industry] in plain English.”
Record a short video: “3 things AI can do for a [type of business] right now, with no tech skills needed.”
Create a checklist: “Is your business ready for AI? 10 questions to ask yourself.”
None of this requires you to be an AI expert. It requires you to be a translator. Someone who can take the complex stuff and make it feel achievable.
The businesses that educate their customers will be the ones those customers trust when it’s time to buy.
The internal communication challenge.
It’s not just your customers who are confused. Your staff are too.
Most employees hear “AI” and think “am I about to be replaced?” That fear is real, and if you don’t address it directly, it’ll fester. People will resist the tools. They’ll sabotage adoption, not deliberately, but through passive avoidance.
Run a simple internal session. Thirty minutes. No slides. Just an honest conversation about what AI means for the business, what it doesn’t mean (nobody’s getting fired), and how the team can start using it to make their own jobs easier.
The goal isn’t to make everyone an AI expert. It’s to make everyone less afraid.
The Practical Bit
This week, write down the top three questions your customers ask you. The ones that come up on every first call, every discovery meeting, every enquiry email.
Now, use ChatGPT to brainstorm how AI could help answer or solve those problems. Don’t use any jargon in your answer. Write it like you’re explaining it to your mum.
That’s your first piece of educational content. Publish it. Share it. You’ve just positioned yourself as the person who makes AI make sense.
In a world of confusion, clarity is a competitive advantage.
Ben
PS: The best marketing isn’t about showing off how clever you are. It’s about making other people feel clever. If you can make a business owner feel like they finally understand AI, they’ll remember you for it. And they’ll come back when they’re ready to do something about it.