The future has arrived…you know, where we live in a mainly virtual world, and robots walk among us? Artificial Intelligence is making its way into every facet of our lives, whether we like it or not. But we’re not here to talk about how robots are taking over the world. We’re here to tell you what you need to know about the growing list of AI tools and what they mean to the marketing world.
As creatives and ethical marketers, we must keep up with the latest advances in digital technology, especially those that directly affect the work we do every day. To be fully transparent, we are still learning (along with everyone else in the industry…and the world) the full impact of AI on the marketing industry and human lives as a whole.
We want our clients and followers to know as much as possible about what AI can and can’t do – so they can make educated decisions about how and when to use it for the best results. And most importantly, we want people to understand why partnering with a creative digital agency is necessary and advantageous to leveraging the full power of this technology.
The AI Tool Everyone’s Talking About
If, somehow, you haven’t heard of ChatGPT yet, it won’t take long for you to catch up. It’s nearly impossible to search the web these days without reading an article or discussing AI and, particularly, ChatGPT’s latest capabilities. In March 2023 alone, this rapidly advancing AI tool by OpenAI has evolved (and erred) in big ways, disrupting the digital world in an unprecedented way.
A Call to Pause AI Development
The official release of ChatGPT-4 on March 14, 2023, even has some tech leaders like Twitter’s CEO, Elon Musk, and Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak, along with thousands of other concerned citizens (including AI experts), demanding a temporary pause on the further development of the technology. The letter has one clear demand:
“…we call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.”
The reasoning behind the sudden call for a period of pause and reflection is identified as follows:
“Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks,[3] and we must ask ourselves: Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization?”
These concerns, while seemingly dramatic, are valid ones that we should be asking. They are also a great reminder that AI is not meant to be an adequate replacement for the human element that is so vital to great marketing campaigns.
What AI Can and Cannot Do
There’s no denying that utilizing AI tools in your marketing efforts can save you significant time and provide additional benefits.
Where AI Excels
There are AI tools out there that can help with reducing the time spent on the many tasks involved in creating any type of marketing campaign. Need help with writing social media posts? Sure, there’s an AI tool for that. Having serious writer’s block and need help writing that perfect intro paragraph? Yes, there’s an AI tool for that, too.
AI tools can save you hours of time doing repetitive and mindless tasks or even help with brainstorming by getting the creative juices flowing for you. And we’re all for anything that makes a business owner’s life easier. If you’re looking for an AI tool to help create funny memes for social media, check out this super fun tool: https://app.supermeme.ai/text-to-meme.
Where AI Falls Short
Where AI falls a bit short starts with the fact that it can only learn what we (humans) tell it to. And OpenAI has admitted transparently that the technology isn’t aware of events after 2021. We’re in 2023, so that’s sort of significant, especially at the rate things have changed and evolved in the AI industry itself in just the past few months – never mind years!
It Can’t Read Your Mind
Another area where AI is lacking is in telling true stories. Sure, AI tools are getting good at sounding human, but they can’t tell the story of how your business started, how it has evolved, and where you want it to go in the future. AI is getting better and better at pretending to be human and mirroring human emotions, but it’s important to remember that it cannot read your mind or tell your story the way you can. Sure, it can make something up, and it might even sound compelling, but it won’t be the truth.
It Doesn’t Know Your Brand Voice
You know what else an AI tool can’t do for you? It can’t write in your authentic brand voice that you’ve spent so much time and money perfecting based on your target audience. Again, it’s getting better at what it can learn from users, but you know your brand voice best as a business owner or marketing director at your firm. You know when it’s okay to joke around with your audience vs. when it’s time to be serious. You know what words your audience expects to see in your copy and the words they would find quite out of place.
Things to Consider When Utilizing AI for Your Marketing
While AI can help you do many things faster, it still requires a human to ensure it’s always creating relevant, meaningful, and appropriate content.
We’re not saying you shouldn’t experiment with AI technology and see all the amazing things it can do. Try them all out, and see what works best for you. Just know that while there are tools out there that can write an entire blog post in about 10 seconds or less; however, there’s quite a bit of additional work required to ensure the quality of that content is high. If you are going to use it, here are a few things to consider:
1.Triple-check any facts AI provides.
Remember, it isn’t programmed to know about events beyond 2021 (at this time), so you’ll need to find backup sources for current events. Do your research! You don’t want to unknowingly push false information into the world.
2.Always check for plagiarism.
If you’re writing any type of long-form content, you’ll want to use plagiarism-checking tools to ensure you aren’t copying other people’s work. If you want to include quotes or copy from other sources, just be sure to cite them appropriately. There are a variety of tools out there that do this. You may want to run your copy through a few of them to be sure you minimize your risk of plagiarism.
3.Monitor AI-generated chats and texts.
It may be tempting to use AI tools that auto-generate chat conversations in an app or mobile phone, but you want to monitor these conversations. If you have chat scripts that are AI-generated, be sure to review them and edit them as needed before pushing them live.
4.Review all AI-generated content to ensure it’s on-brand.
As we mentioned above, you know your brand best. You know who you are targeting and how you want to be perceived. You know which words to use and which words to avoid. You know your brand’s personality and what feelings you want to invoke in those who interact with your brand. The best way to ensure every piece of content you create matches your unique brand voice is to insert your insights, expertise, and experiences into everything you create.
Partner With a Creative Digital Agency to Leverage AI
To ensure you get the most out of any AI tools you use for your marketing efforts, you’ll need to partner with a creative digital agency that understands the advantages and shortfalls of the technology. At Pivot Creative, we understand what AI can and cannot do, and we are constantly exploring the best way to use it to enhance the marketing strategies we develop for our clients.
If you want to partner with a creative team committed to developing ideas, strategies, and campaigns with your goals, visions, and business needs in mind, get in touch today.