Arguably, no technological development since the harnessing of the atom has generated the combination of terror and unbridled optimism as artificial intelligence (AI). Are the predictions, positive or negative, just so much hype? Or are they prescient? Or (worst case) understated? And what considerations are we missing in these discussions?
Of course, a crucial distinction between the two technologies noted above are that the potential threats and benefits of nuclear science were always controlled by some larger force. Bombs might rain from the sky, destroying humanity, or we might achieve the dream of cheap, unlimited electrical power. But it was governments or large corporations doing those things to or for us; ordinary people didn’t have personal arsenals or reactors.
AI, on the other hand, is available to everyone through generative tools like ChatGPT for text and Midjourney for AI art, plus a rapidly growing ecosystem of analytics and other tools. It’s personal. Anyone can use AI tools, whether for bad (hacking, porn) or good (analyzing data, writing better emails).
On a broad scale, predictions about the future of what AI will bring range from apocalyptic Terminator-style outcomes to disease- and crime-free utopias. Within the more narrow scope of the marketing profession, AI in marketing may destroy jobs, or it may supplement talent and automate tedious tasks, freeing marketers to focus on higher-value creative tasks. Or most likely, a mixture of both—as well as some unintended and unpredicted outcomes.
Back to nuclear science for a moment:
Worst case scenario: global destruction. Obviously, this hasn’t happened (at least not yet). There has been no Day After and no use of nuclear weapons in conflict since the end of the Second World War. While war certainly hasn’t been abolished, the scope of armed conflicts has been smaller, and no nuclear armed nation has ever been directly invaded.
Best case scenario: limitless, nearly free power. Sadly, no. Although nuclear power accounts for about 10% of electrical generation globally and 18% in the U.S., concerns over safety and the disposition of nuclear waste have prevented more widespread use.
Unforeseen consequences: cancer and related disorders. Although it was known that radiation exposure was dangerous, the early development of nuclear power plants failed to recognize the wider and longer-term risks from radioactive waste, nuclear fallout, or the radius of impact.
So, what are the dangers, potential benefits, and unforeseen outcomes of AI, in marketing specifically? Here’s a quick look at the landscape.
Potential Dangers of AI for Marketing
Who better to ask about the possible dangers of AI than…ChatGPT? With a few very human edits, here’s what the generative AI tool had to say about the dangers of AI in marketing:
Data Privacy Concerns: AI relies heavily on data, and the more data it has, the better it becomes at targeting and personalization. However, collecting and utilizing vast amounts of data raises privacy concerns. Marketers must be vigilant in adhering to data protection regulations (and common sense) to avoid fines and damage to their brand’s reputation.
Algorithmic Bias: AI algorithms can inadvertently perpetuate biases present in training data. In marketing, this can result in biased targeting or recommendations, alienating certain customer groups (Bud Light, anyone?) and damaging a brand’s reputation.
Overreliance on AI: While AI can automate tasks and provide insights, overreliance on AI may lead to a lack of human judgment and creativity. Marketing still requires human insights, creativity, and strategic thinking to connect with customers effectively. In addition, relying bad or incomplete data can lead AI to produce inaccurate predictions.
Loss of Jobs: This is arguably the biggest fear among marketers. Automation through AI in marketing can lead to job displacement, particularly in routine, data-centric roles. Marketers must be prepared to adapt and acquire new skills to stay relevant in an AI-driven industry.
Content Generation Challenges: While AI can generate content quickly, it may lack the creativity, emotional nuance, and authenticity that human-generated content offers. Relying solely on AI for content creation can result in disengaging or inauthentic marketing materials. (This is a huge issue, and kudos to ChatGPT for this level of self reflection.)
Competitive Pressure: As AI becomes more prevalent in marketing, companies that fail to adopt AI may find it challenging to compete with those that leverage its advantages. This can create pressure on businesses to adopt AI, even if they are not fully prepared.
Benefits of AI in Marketing
Since ChatGPT did a reasonably solid job of pointing out the dangers, let’s see what it has to say about the benefits of using AI in marketing (again, human edited).
Enhanced Personalization: AI empowers marketers to analyze vast amounts of customer data to create highly personalized marketing campaigns. This personalization can potentially lead to increased customer engagement and better conversion rates. However, when done wrong, it can also be viewed as downright creepy.
Improved Customer Insights: AI can be used to analyze customer behavior and preferences, providing valuable insights that can inform marketing strategies, customer understanding, and messaging.
Predictive Analytics: AI tools for marketing and sales like Click360 can predict future trends and customer behavior based on historical data and online behavior, enabling marketers to make informed decisions, allocate resources more effectively, and act at the right time.
Automation of Routine Tasks: AI automates repetitive marketing tasks such as email marketing, social media posting, and data analysis, freeing up marketers to focus on more strategic and creative aspects of their work. Through automation, AI can help reduce marketing costs over time, making campaigns more cost-effective.
Optimized Advertising: AI-powered tools can analyze ad performance in real-time and adjust bidding, targeting, and ad content to maximize ROI in online advertising campaigns. It can also segment audiences based on different characteristics, helping to deliver marketing messages to the most relevant groups, which can increase conversion rates, and help automate A/B testing.
Chatbots and Virtual Assistants: AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants can provide instant customer support and engagement, improving the overall customer experience (well, yes, except when chatbots go wrong and “hallucinate”).
Content Generation: AI can generate content at scale (nope! See “Content Generation Challenges” above). However, it can help marketers create blog posts, product descriptions, and social media updates more efficiently.
Fraud Detection: AI can identify and prevent fraudulent activities, such as click fraud in online advertising, saving marketing budgets from wasteful spending (except when it “detects” false positives).
Competitive Advantage: Companies that effectively leverage AI in their marketing strategies can gain a competitive edge by staying ahead of trends, reaching customers more effectively, and improving their overall marketing ROI.
Scalability and Cross-Channel Integration: AI-powered tools can easily scale to handle large volumes of data and marketing tasks, making them suitable for businesses of all sizes. They can also help retailers streamline marketing efforts across different channels, helping to deliver consistent messaging and a seamless customer experience.
Unforeseen Outcomes
Okay, that’s enough ChatGPT for one blog post. Back to full human mode.
Unpredictable events are, by definition, unpredictable. But one significant potential risk that even ChatGPT failed to note is the impact on consumer trust. And marketing already has some trust issues among buyers.
According to Harvard Business Review, “more than 80% (of consumers) consider trust a deciding factor in their buying decisions, despite the fact that only 34% trust the brands they use.” And according to Marketing Charts, recommendations from friends, family, or business peers is the most trusted source (78%) of information for buying decisions, followed closely by real user reviews (70%).
But only about half of buyers trust company websites and blogs, and just a third trust advertising.
Adding AI into that environment could make matters even worse. Deepfakes now provide those with modest skill the ability to produce video of virtually anyone saying anything, such as Barack Obama saying “Killmonger was right” or Donald Trump reading a story about reindeer and stolen elections (okay, this one’s a bit dodgy).
Of course, no one would ever create a deepfake or modify a real video to impact brand perception. Just as no one would ever exaggerate product capabilities, promise future features that never get built, or misrepresent a competitor’s capabilities. Nope, never happens.
It doesn’t take going to the level of deepfakes to erode consumer trust, however. Even using ChatGPT or commercial AI tools to create content (rather than merely assisting in the creation of it) is a form of dishonesty. It’s being done today by agencies promising impossibly cheap “writing” services, and runs the risk of making brand content even less trustworthy.
What Marketing Leaders Need to Keep in Mind: HI, CI, and GI
Given its multiple compelling benefits, there’s no question about if marketers will increase their use of AI tools. But how they use these tools, and to what extent they rely upon them, matters a great deal. Here are three crucial considerations marketing leaders need to keep in mind as they implement and utilize AI technology.
Human interaction (HI)
As AI automates more individual tasks like sending emails and analyzing data, communication skills (effective HI) will become more important than ever. Managers must help employees develop and improve their communication and collaboration skills, for many reasons including getting the most strategic value AI and putting effective guardrails on its use.
Creative inspiration (CI)
Generative AI can do perform some impressive tasks, from finding patterns in large data sets to telling jokes and writing rap songs about Elon Musk (not very good rap, but rhyming verse nonetheless).
But AI by its nature can’t really create anything new. The only reason AI art tools can “create” something like artwork in the style of Picasso is because Pablo Picasso created that style of art in the first place.
Generative AI has been described as a stochastic parrot; large language models mimic what they’ve learned from ingesting massive amounts of data to stitch together answers based on probability, without any reference to meaning.
Only people can be creative. AI may free up some of their time or serve as a useful tool in bringing a vision into being, but human creativity is the essential first ingredient.
Genuine integrity (GI)
In a world of deep fakes and the ability of AI to “write” anything from term papers to blog posts, integrity will be more crucial than ever. You can only trust the output to the extent you can trust the humans originating the input.
There are unethical dollar-store-level “content agencies” offering to write everything from ads and marketing email copy to web pages and blog posts. They promise “high quality” writing at impossibly low prices. When you see such an offer, run—do not walk—away.
As recently reported by Search Engine Journal, “Using automation or AI strictly to manipulate rankings in search results is considered a violation of Google’s spam policies.” Just as Google once rewarded, but now penalizes the use of tactics like link farms, it’s likely to do the same with AI-generated content.
Businesses that today fall for cheap content creation will face the same fate as those that in past fell for those “1,000 backlinks for just $14.95!” offers. Their websites will be banned from search, and they’ll need to invest with a reputable agency or consultant to help them undo the damage.
The bottom line is that while AI offers great promise to improve both efficiency and effectiveness in marketing, like nuclear reactor fuel, it has to be handled carefully. Human communication and collaboration, creativity, and integrity will be indispensable elements in making the best and safest use of the power of AI in marketing.