When you first saw ChatGPT trending on Twitter, did you know what it was, or did you assume it was a new form of Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin? Fast-forward a few months and you can hardly go a day without someone bringing it up, whether it’s for the ability to create custom workout plans or because it’s coming for your job.
While the latter seems like a bit of a stretch, Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms like ChatGPT, Google Bard and Bing Chat can be a helpful addition to a marketer’s skillset – but can they actually take the place of a person?
According to Cognizant, “AI marketing is the process of leveraging AI methods and tools such as data models, algorithms and machine learning to produce customer insights that marketers can use to optimize spending, customize content and personalize the customer journey.”
Sounds pretty great, right? There are a lot of positives to incorporating AI into your everyday routine:
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Increased efficiency
Picture this: You’ve just ordered delivery for dinner. Then, you remember, you already had plans for the night. When you are scrambling to cancel before you’re charged, you won’t be interacting with an actual person. Likely, your conversation will be with an AI Chatbot. According to a report published by Salesforce, around 23% of customer organizations currently use chatbots. That number is only on the rise. An additional 31% of customer service organizations reported plans to start using them within the next 18 months. Automating simple tasks like this provides the customer an immediate response and saves the company on labor. It’s a (mostly) win-win.
A recent study by HubSpot found that the average marketer spends a third of their time completing repetitive tasks, such as social media scheduling and management, collecting, organizing and analyzing data, and sending emails. By implementing AI to assist with these repetitive, straightforward tasks, a marketer’s time could be freed up for more creative outlets.
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Hyper-personalization
Have you heard of Snapchat’s new AI chatbot? It functions just like ChatGPT and its alternatives, except for one thing – it knows your exact location. While this might be a little (a lot) unsettling, access to information like this can help marketers avoid generic messaging and target customers more directly. Think of the recommendations Amazon gives you based on your past purchases, the shows Netflix suggests or the TikTok videos that appear on your For You Page – all of these are a form of AI and they do a great job selling their product.
Like with anything, the good comes with the bad. And AI is hardly a perfect system. Here are some reasons to be hesitant to go all-in on AI.
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People don’t like interacting with robots
Remember the somewhat creepy Snapchat AI story? Yeah, people don’t always like interacting with robots or giving their personal information to them. According to a study from Pew Research Center, when asked about the increased use of artificial intelligence in daily life, only 18% of respondents said they were more excited than concerned, while 37% said they were more concerned than excited. A whopping 45% said they were equally concerned and excited. That is a lot of concern.
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Quality can be inconsistent – and incorrect
Interestingly, OpenAI’s chief technology officer has admitted that one of the “core challenges” of improving ChatGPT is that the bot "may make up facts" as it writes sentences. This might not be the best source to help write your client’s latest press release, let alone any piece of worthwhile content.
While ChatGPT won’t generate images for you, there are other AI Chatbots that will and are doing so regardless of copyright laws. Yet another recipe for disaster if you are playing fast and loose with your AI marketing.
Personalization can be appealing. The speed and efficiency can be alluring. But one thing AI cannot do is consistently write good copy, and an important part of any brand is knowing your voice and sticking to it.
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It takes away originality
Customers love a story. It’s how we as marketers and brands connect with them. Unfortunately, storytelling isn’t something AI has quite tackled yet. It can write you a story. Heck, it can even write college papers, but without human intervention, its stilted language and word usage is easily discernible from real human writing. One thing it can do, though, is spark creativity through idea generation.
At the end of the day, AI is not a tool that can wholly replace creative, free-thinking humans. However, it’s definitely a useful tool that can, and should, be utilized to better reach your customers and improve your own workflows.
Want to talk about how AI and chatbots can impact your business. Let’s chat! Contact us today.