AI Won’t Replace What cityHUNT Does

Everyone’s talking about what AI is going to take away. I want to talk about what I hope it gives back.

I’ve been in the live events and team-building business for 25 years. I watched COVID gut the industry. I’ve seen what happens when people are isolated from each other for too long. And now, watching AI move as fast as it is, I genuinely believe we’re at a turning point, but not the scary kind. At least, not if we do this right.

What COVID Took

COVID didn’t just slow cityHUNT down. It took away the thing that made the work matter. You can’t replicate a real game in a real city over a screen. I tried specific virtual formats, only the ones I truly believed in, but I wasn’t going to put out a mediocre product just to keep revenue moving. I was waiting until we could get outside again.

That cost us. Other companies pushed more volume through virtual events. But I wasn’t willing to go all in on this unless it genuinely connected people. That’s always been the point.

Cost of Isolation

What I saw post-COVID, and what I’m still seeing now, is how disconnected people are at work. Companies are getting back to the office and realizing their teams don’t actually know each other anymore. The relationships aren’t there. The trust isn’t built. People are sitting in the same room and still feeling like strangers.

That’s not a small problem. Connection is the foundation of how teams actually function, and it can’t be built over Slack or a Zoom all-hands.

Where AI Comes In

Here’s where I think people get the AI story wrong. The conversation is always framed as: AI takes jobs, AI replaces people, AI makes things colder and more transactional. Maybe in some places, sure. But that’s not what I’m seeing.

What I’m seeing is AI taking away the busy work, the tasks that slow people down and don’t require a human to do them, and freeing up time for the things that actually matter. At cityHUNT, we’re not cutting people. We’re cutting the friction. We’re spending more time on the creative work, the game design, the client relationships, the special stuff.

My hope for AI is that it does the same thing for people everywhere. Less admin. More presence. More time to actually show up for each other.

The Live Experience Boom

I’m part of an AI community here in Nashville, and I’m learning something new every week from some genuinely brilliant people. But the more I learn, the more convinced I am that AI is going to push people OFF their screens, not further onto them.

When you free up time and mental bandwidth, people don’t just sit there. They go out. They travel. They look for experiences. They want to feel something that doesn’t come through a device. No glass between you and the moment.

I took my daughter to see Cirque du Soleil recently. It completely blew my mind. The set, the performance, the way everyone in that room was fully present and having a shared experience together. That’s not something AI can replicate. And I think as AI grows, people are going to want MORE of that, not less.

Why This Is Good for cityHUNT

We’re growing right now, faster than we’ve grown in years. Companies are investing in their people again. They’re realizing that the antidote to isolation isn’t another team meeting or a digital tool. It’s actually getting outside, playing a game, laughing together, and doing something that has nothing to do with a screen.

cityHUNT has always been built on the idea that the best human connections happen in real life, in cities, with no script and no glass between you. We call it the antidote to isolation. That was always our mission. Right now, it feels more relevant than ever.

Conclusion

AI is not the villain in this story. Neither is technology. The problem has always been isolation, and the solution has always been genuine human connection.

My hope, and what I’m starting to see play out in our business, is that AI takes the tasks off our plates so we can spend more time on the things that actually make us human. More live events. More travel. More creativity. More showing up for each other in real life.

That’s the future I’m building toward with cityHUNT. If your team is overdue for a real connection, one that doesn’t involve a conference room or a video call, come find us. We’ll take you outside.