AI Won’t Replace What cityHUNT Does

Everyone’s talking about what AI might take away. I’d rather talk about what it could give back.

I’ve spent the last 25 years in the live events and team-building industry. I watched COVID bring it to a halt. I saw firsthand what happens when people are cut off from real interaction for too long. Now, as AI accelerates at an incredible pace, I believe we’re at a turning point—but not a negative one. Not if we approach it the right way.

What COVID Took

COVID didn’t just slow down cityHUNT—it stripped away the core of what makes this work meaningful.

You simply can’t recreate a real-world game in a real city through a screen. I experimented with virtual formats, but only the ones I believed in. I wasn’t willing to push out something mediocre just to keep revenue flowing. For me, it was worth waiting until people could get back outside.

That decision came at a cost. Other companies leaned heavily into virtual events and scaled volume. But for me, connection has always been the point—and if it wasn’t real, it wasn’t worth doing.

The Cost of Isolation

What I saw after COVID—and what I still see today—is how disconnected people have become at work.

Teams returned to the office, but something was missing. People didn’t really know each other anymore. Trust had eroded. Relationships hadn’t kept up. You could have a room full of people sitting together and still feel like everyone was miles apart.

That’s not a small issue. Real connection is the foundation of effective teams, and it doesn’t happen over Slack or a Zoom call.

Where AI Comes In

This is where I think the conversation around AI often misses the mark.

The narrative is usually about replacement—jobs lost, human roles diminished, interactions becoming colder. In some cases, maybe that’s true. But that’s not what I’m seeing.

What I’m seeing is AI removing friction. It’s taking over repetitive, low-value tasks and giving people back time and mental space.

At cityHUNT, we’re not reducing people—we’re reducing the busywork. That shift lets us focus more on creativity, better game design, stronger client relationships—the parts that actually matter.

If AI does this at scale, it won’t make us less human. It will give us more room to be human.

The Live Experience Boom

Through communities like the one led by Benjamin Peace Hoffman, I’m constantly learning from people deeply involved in AI. And the more I learn, the more convinced I become of this:

AI won’t trap people behind screens—it will push them away from them.

When people gain time and mental bandwidth, they don’t just sit still. They go out. They travel. They seek experiences. They want something real—something that can’t be replicated through a device.

I recently took my daughter to see Cirque du Soleil, and it completely blew me away. The performance, the atmosphere, the shared presence in the room—it was unforgettable. That kind of experience can’t be simulated.

If anything, AI will increase the demand for moments like that.

Why This Is Good for cityHUNT

Right now, we’re growing faster than we have in years.

Companies are reinvesting in their people. They’re realizing that the answer to disconnection isn’t another meeting or another tool. It’s getting outside, engaging in something real, and creating shared memories.

cityHUNT has always been built around that idea: the best connections happen in real life, in real cities, with no scripts and no screens.

We’ve always called it the antidote to isolation. Today, that idea feels more relevant than ever.

Conclusion

AI isn’t the villain here—and neither is technology.

The real problem has always been isolation. And the solution has always been genuine human connection.

What I’m seeing now—and what I’m building toward—is a future where AI clears the noise so we can focus on what matters: more experiences, more creativity, more time together.

More real life.

If your team is overdue for that kind of connection—something beyond conference rooms and video calls—come find us.

We’ll take you outside.