Quick question - was this blog written by AI or by a human? 

That question is its own answer in a way - AI couldn’t give a thousand monkeys with typewriters who wrote this blog. 

This blog aside, AI is everywhere in marketing and advertising, with a recent Forrester report finding that 91% of U.S. ad agencies are using or exploring generative AI.

AI is now deployed to create everything from product descriptions and social media posts to videos, images and audio content. It’s not just content creation - AI also helps create personalised content, using machine learning and data analytics to assess user behaviour, preferences and interactions, delivering tailored messages that engage customers on a deeper level. Gone are the days of generic mass marketing and ‘throwing enough spaghetti at the wall until some sticks’ - AI lets you create individualised campaigns that really hit home.

And let’s cut to the chase - AI can produce a wide range of content faster than any human team, often in just seconds. With tools like generative AI models, marketers can input a few prompts and receive fully fleshed-out content, ready to be shared across platforms. AI is constantly there, constantly evolving - the bare minimum is an internet connection. It doesn’t need to hot desk, it doesn’t take sick days, AI won’t stop, and it absolutely can not be reasoned with (Terminator quote for those wondering why I’ve gone off track). 

AI has swiftly moved from a futuristic concept to a foundational tool that is often the first port of call for those in the marketing and advertising industries. There’s virtually nothing it can’t help with. And, bewilderingly, it’s done all this in just two years!
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AI in Design

One of the most portentous uses of AI is in design - design skills take years to learn and adapt, while AI platforms can now provide human-aping design in minutes with a few clear prompts. Want a fully formed promo video for your car advert? No problem. Want AI to develop your next Nike trainer? Sure, here you go. 

AI tools are now embedded and integrated into most major design platforms. Where do you draw the line between AI helping a designer and AI simply doing it all for you? Hollywood is already feeling this impact, with Paramount and Pixar cutting 15% of its workforce. Tough times in Tinseltown. 

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Concerns About AI in Marketing

As with any revolutionary technology, using AI in marketing and advertising comes with its own set of concerns.

One of the main concerns surrounds the accuracy and quality of AI-generated content. AI relies on the strength of its dataset, which means that if the info it’s fed is incomplete or biased, the resulting content may be simply plain wrong or fail to resonate with diverse audiences. As we all know, this is a big red flag for marketing, where a brand’s messaging needs to be finely tuned and able to work across geographical and cultural contexts. For example, an AI model trained predominantly on Western data might struggle to produce relevant content for markets in Asia or Africa. The internet is littered with AI howlers including the Viral Willy Wonka Experience, this marketing horror show image and especially this man who sued an airline company using ChatGPT as his lawyer. Reader, it did not end well. 

Then there is the issue of AI-generated "deep fakes" and misinformation. AI can create realistic fake videos, images and even voices, opening up a dark, dark door to potential misuse. Who is responsible for policing this new wave of deep fakes - will the EU AI Act and the incoming UK version have an impact? And who sets the ethical guidelines for their creation and use? As technology advances, more robust legislation is likely to follow, but for now, accountability and regulation remain in the eye of the beholder. 

The question of human touch is also a topic of debate. Can AI fully replace human creativity, intuition and emotional intelligence? While AI can replicate tasks and generate content, it still lacks the ‘je nais se quois’ of human experience. 

Many marketers wonder whether relying too heavily on AI could strip marketing of its soul. Maybe we should unionise like the Writers Guild of America. Their 11,500 members went on strike last year, citing a number of concerns, including the rising role of AI and ChatGPT. They succeeded, with AI no longer allowed to write or rewrite “literary material” while AI-generated writing cannot be source material.

Without this injunction, we may be sleepwalking towards a fully virtual, AI-driven reality. 

Fakebook founder Zuckerberg recently said “Every part of what we do is going to get changed in some way [by AI]. [For example] feeds are going to go from - you know, it was already friend content, and now it’s largely creators. In the future, a lot of it is going to be AI-generated.”

Wall-to-wall AI influencer content - that’s one way to get rid of your audience. But snark aside, as AI-generated content becomes more sophisticated, will we reach a point where most online experiences, from customer service interactions to social media posts, are entirely artificial? What happens when we no longer need humans to curate our digital lives? 
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Conclusion

AI is undeniably transforming the marketing industry. It’s faster, more cost-effective and has the potential to revolutionise how brands interact with their customers. However, it also comes with its challenges, from ethical concerns to job losses in the industry. As AI technology advances, marketers and businesses must navigate these complexities, ensuring they balance innovation and maintaining the human touch that remains at the heart of marketing.

In the same way we have organic food, maybe there’ll be a market for ‘old-fashioned’ marketing and advertising that’s free of AI. Or perhaps all AI content will require a logo or designation to show that it’s AI-generated. 

However we address it, the future of marketing is AI-driven, but we must shape that future responsibly. 

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