The Friday Five: AI Has Entered the Chat Edition
Artificial Intelligence. AI. Is there any bigger buzzword in the digital landscape at the moment?
From big brands, such as iconic denim company Levi’s, splashing the headlines with plans to use AI to “increase diversity” by supplementing human models with AI-generated ones — much to the chagrin of the internet community — to the technology being used to create viral videos in what can only be described as a visual portmanteau of pop-culture and high-fashion, artificial intelligence is quite literally popping up everywhere.
For some, AI can feel a little scary. Which is understandable. It is new and very much still in its infancy. This begs the question; what’s the responsibility we, humans, have as its creator to “raise” AI as we would caregiving a human child? AI is learning. It’s growing and changing. And right now, it kind of feels like an unsupervised toddler making the rounds about the Internet. While there are potential risks and ethical concerns associated with this technology, there are also many exciting possibilities for its use in fields such as art, advertising, and entertainment.
Here at SCS, we are always innovating, looking for ways to introduce and adapt AI technology into our products and services. In this week’s Friday Five, we dive into this topic and ask the question: As the rest of world begins to embrace and adapt to how AI will change the way we see and interact with the world, what impact should we anticipate AI making in the digital media and marketing community?
How AI is Changing Marketing
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/how-ai-changing-marketing-1234707092/
As AI begins to mimic human intelligence, marketers can continue to be freed up to focus on more of the job responsibilities that got them into the industry in the first place. Like the calculator to the accountant, AI is a tool that digital media marketers and creatives will begin to use to make their job a little easier. Work smarter, not harder. Why not let AI do the heavy lifting? To put it another way: you might be able to lift a heavy box, but a fork-lift does it more effectively and efficiently. Still, that fork-lift needs a human operator.
The End of Marketing or A New Beginning? The Truth About AI
https://martech.org/the-end-of-marketing-or-a-new-beginning-the-truth-about-ai/
The fast-paced evolution of AI has already changed many things about marketing, but there are still several pillars that will stand the test of time—like search engines, content production, data analysis, consumer behavior analysis, thought leadership and branding.
While AI can generate efficiencies in marketing, all artificial intelligence will still require a creative brain for input and guidance, just as much as it needs critical thinking and proper review to maintain the quality and integrity of what it produces.
Artificial intelligence might take your current job, but it may also create a new one that requires the essential skills to operate AI from a marketing and creative point-of-view; skills we marketers and creatives already possess, simply applied to differently.
15 Agency Leaders Share How They’re Tempering Expectations Around AI Advertising
How do we solve problems like… guiding clients away from the (AI) bandwagon?
Well, did the last “next big thing” work? Why or why didn’t it? Taking account of what worked before tackling a new piece of tech is always a struggle. However, it’s important not to simply jump in and jump out without understanding the value, or lack thereof, the last thing provided before moving on to the next. With that in mind, below are few of our favorite responses from the article:
“AI, the metaverse, web3, big data, gamification, influencer marketing, programmatic, mobile advertising … you travel back far enough, and you build up a hefty collection of well-hyped opportunities that seem to be the marketing magic bullet of the day, but then move out of the way for the next hyped-up opportunity. Look in that collection and you’ll find many of those hyped-up opportunities became the marketing bedrock for a brand, but only after testing, interrogation, and alignment to a holistic strategy.”
“A good response is to ask, ’why?’ … probably a few times until you can get an insight into what’s behind the request to jump into this new technological playground. Often it stems from a client team’s desire for their brand to be perceived as innovative, so the medium becomes the message – they want the use of emerging tech to signify that they’re at the cutting edge. But after multiple ‘whys’, you can get to a better brief – one that connects innovation to the brand’s truth and values. Then you can create work which speaks to consumers, and not just the marketing world.”
Using AI to Adjust Your Marketing and Sales in a Volatile World
https://hbr.org/2023/04/using-ai-to-adjust-your-marketing-and-sales-in-a-volatile-world
A common thread across faster-acting agencies is the use of AI models to predict outcomes at various stages of the customer journey. These companies are using AI to predict which customers are likely to churn, while their competitors react after the customers have already left. And when their predictions go off track because of external changes or evolving market conditions, they use that feedback to quickly reorient and redirect their marketing and sales efforts.
Using AI models to predict customer response has translated, in effect, to designing and running various digital experiments that helps these companies respond to market changes faster than their competition. While AI tools are far from infallible, they may very well reshape how we make decisions in functions such as marketing and sales to maintain a competitive advantage.
Will Artificial Intelligence Change the World of Digital Marketing Forever?
In this moment, the most effective tools that use AI can write content, make translations, create images or logos, edit videos, and write strings of code. All these functions are already well-evolved, and many marketers are already using them in their day-to-day.
But what does the future hold? Where will AI go next, and how can we apply it to our marketing in simple, yet effective ways? Automated customer support and sales, content creation, website development and advertisement optimization are the key areas to keep an eye on for the next three-to-five years.
