Don’t Fear the Boogeyman of Marketing: Artificial Intelligence

Develop your AI skills now to be impossibly good at your job

How do you feel about AI? Last year, I was intimidated. I experimented, but AI was still clunky to use. I’ve tried to learn through listening to podcasts and reading articles. Too passive. To truly grasp AI’s benefits, one needs to use it daily.

So I am.

I also believe writing about a topic helps me understand it better, so here’s my first post about AI. Happy reading!

If you’re in a regulated industry, you may be hesitant to jump into experimenting with artificial intelligence tools. Are you waiting until your company’s C-suite weighs in? Several hurdles exist. Obstacles like data privacy, ethics, and a lack of company-based training.

You may be in the C-suite. A lack of skilled employees who understand AI is also a key factor in postponement. Integrating AI into existing systems is not a simple rollout and move on.

As I talk with marketers, I sense that some are putting AI adoption in their “maybe next year pile.”

Can AI wait?

A philosophy from the book, Litchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin, comes to mind.

Knowing AI can make you indispensable at work

In his book, Seth Godin writes about what makes an employee indispensable. Here’s his list:

1. Providing a unique interface between members of an organization
2. Delivering unique creativity
3. Managing a situation or organization of great complexity
4. Leading customers
5. Inspiring staff
6. Providing deep domain knowledge
7. Possessing a unique talent

Knowing how to use AI would amplify those traits.

One chapter title strikes me as the one to pay attention to now>> What Would Make You Impossibly Good at Your Job? (Pgs. 30-31) Godin writes:

“The competitive advantage the marketplace demands is someone more human, connected, and mature. Someone with passion and energy, capable of seeing things as they are and negotiating multiple priorities as she makes useful decisions without angst. Flexible in the face of change, resilient in the face of confusion.

All of these attributes are choices, not talents, and all of them are available to you.” – Linchpin, by Seth Godin

I think having a competitive advantage in the marketplace means embracing AI. Once you experiment with it, you may see its potential in making you “more human” and increase your ability to be “flexible in the face of change.”

What does an AI expert have to say?

“AI is not just about marketing. AI is everywhere in our lives.” Paul Roetzer

Intro to AI for Marketers

Paul Roetzer, Co-founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute, believes once you understand AI, you’re more likely to use it. And then you’ll see why adopting AI now matters.

I recently attended his webinar, Intro to AI for Marketers.

Paul made a convincing case for AI, and shared proof right away. Here’s one of the first slides. [Paul knows the subject well. This webinar is in its 41st version. (!)]

Intro to AI for Marketers | Marketing AI Institute

Paul acknowledges integrating AI can feel overwhelming. And many professionals feel it. He wants “to inspire you to take action,” That’s why he offers the webinar and other resources. As he says, AI is not going away.

Choose to be curious about AI. And if you’re curious, here’s a way to start.

Start by knowing AI terminology

Paul says you need a foundation of the key terms of artificial intelligence. When you can explain the term to a colleague or friend, then you’ll feel confident to take the next step. I’ve included his definitions wherever possible.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

“AI is the science of making machines smart.” – Demis Hassabis, Co-founder & CEO, Google DeepMind

Words every marketer should know

AI Literacy: AI Literacy is the path to AI mastery. For a marketer, the understanding of what artificial intelligence is, its capabilities, its limitations, and how to apply it.

What do you need to understand about AI to be better in your job? How do you use the technology to be indispensable at work? How can you use AI responsibly and ethically?

Generative AI: (less commonly known as generative artificial intelligence) A type of AI. Started early 2022 and became mass marketed with the release of ChatGPT. ChatGPT stands for generative pretrained transformer.

Its capability is to create (or generate) new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos. Which means a marketing team can create more marketing assets in less time.

Large Language Models (LLMs): The foundation of many generative AI tools. LLMs use deep methods on massive datasets of text and code to then predict and generate content. They’re equipped to translate languages and answer questions in an informative way.

But the way the LLMs work, they can make things up and get information incorrect. They are assistants to writing, not a replacement. OpenAI’s GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) models, which power tools like ChatGPT, is one example.

AI Agents: Paul calls this “the next big thing [in AI].” The companies, Salesforce Dreamforce and HubSpot Breeze™ are talking about AI agents.

Before AI Agents, AI could create an image, write a message, or create an image of a video. Its capability would be output. AI Agents are different. They are able to take action. An AI Agent can follow 10, 15, or 20 steps to execute and complete an action.

Another definition: AI agents refer to a program that is capable of autonomously performing tasks on behalf of a user or another system by designing its workflow and using available tools. (Source)

Multimodal AI: Paul explained AI has entered the phase of multimodal>>AI’s ability to process and understand information from multiple modes, such as text, images, video, and audio.

For example, a multimodal AI tool could analyze an image and generate a word description, translate a speech into another language, or create a video based on a script. In the future, AI increasingly acts more like a helper or an assistant.

An example would be Google’s Gemini.

Responsible AI: Alongside trying AI is using AI responsibly. It may be the reason you’ve been reluctant to use AI tools. One sticky issue is about data –> privacy, how data is used, and who provides it.

Each AI-user is expected to understand the ethical issues around AI tools and aspire to high standards that its used in positive, uplifting ways. Some companies have guidelines on approaching artificial intelligence in their companies.

AI Impact Assessment: Paul recommends management evaluate how AI may affect jobs and tasks within a company. He proposes conducting AI impact assessments now. This audit is for a big picture view of the roles automated or expanded by AI. Company management is responsible for training and upskilling employees who will be affected.

AI-forward Marketer: Paul’s definition is an AI-forward Marketer has these attributes:

• Embraces AI
• Adheres to responsible AI principles
• Applies AI to accelerate efficiency, productivity, creativity, innovation, and performance.

“Your greatest chance to thrive through the disruption and uncertainty ahead is to become AI-forward.” Paul Roetzer

Open Discussion:

1. What AI tool do you use at work?
2. How do you learn about AI tools?

Post your comments below.