Tell me what you would like to see, taste, and experience. I can make all your dreams possible, turning your imagination into reality.
-Nowadays, by a random AI machine-
Is it me, or is AI everywhere? From graphic design to accounting and even video and music making, AI has taken over all aspects of the market, and it seems it is going to be around for a long time, if not forever. What shape it will take is still nebulous, but in the meantime, businesses are starting to reroute AI to a more fluid and time-saving enterprise model.
How small and medium companies capitalize AI?
AI has shown significant influence among massive commercial endeavors in 2023, but its true potential remains unknown; however, it is exciting for a market always looking for novelty and production effectiveness.
Numerous posts about AI subfields such as machine learning, neural networks, language processing, and deep learning were commonly seen on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, embellishing and expanding artists and programming capabilities.
However, how do you think AI will impact marketing in small and medium companies? In fact, will it completely replace human interaction?
Human Hand, Machine Brain
First, we need to consider that using AI will open new ways to explore services and business with customers (particularly B2C or DTC business models), potentially reducing the number of employees a company might need to operate repetitive processes.
Some management ‘gurus’ argue that with AI, there is no longer a need for physical stores and front desk personnel. However, is that an actual limit of AI? Face-to-face tasks require a human to interact with another human. Still, if you think about it, AI allows subdivision of every human process, which means new means or marketability.
After the 2020 pandemic, many consumers realized they preferred and missed human interactions.
Two years ago, the connections that made the customer’s journey valuable showed they were not merely about funnels and digital indicators but also a process that requires proximity and certain levels of empathy.
And, of course, the need for a physical store allows more direct marketing strategies and a better dialogue with consumers.
What the market offers to IA and us today
The US Chamber of Commerce mentions that AI could take care of no creative tasks such as Project Management. This statement might affect some managers, but don’t look at me! I invite you to read the article. They state that some activities require less creativity than others. I personally do not agree with this statement.
First, project management not only requires calculating times, costs, and schedules but also needs to find creative ways to solve problems, such as why Roberto is not checking in on time, Mellisa keeps delivering her tasks late, or Donnie does not send the key visuals on time. Dealing with people is 50% of the project manager’s task, and arguing with an IA can be as productive as watching the grass grow.
We can also claim that AI could carry out accounting operations, but this might also be limited to bookkeeping and reducing errors. It might even propose financial plans and fulfill payment duties.
Small and medium enterprises might need direct advice on what course to action take to reduce unnecessary costs and save money, like when and how to take advantage of new legislation in favor of their product or service category, plan tax strategies, calculate retirement and estate planning, healthcare, among other duties.
Now that I think about it, IA can be as effective as the person who inputs the best questions.
Furthermore, in Customer Services’ case, addressing needs directly to AI bots could be more seducing. Computer scientists are still developing more ground to make AI more efficient in discussing with humans
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, companies are currently looking for communication experts who will have the task of feeding AI bots with proper vocabulary as well as coding and decoding language skills to make machines more human-like and be capable of providing effective services like advising about travel, insurance, and even healthcare plans.
They can also assist with issues concerning technical problems or repair procedures. AI services like AISERA, Help Scout, and other AI alternatives already provide these services.
Here you can find AI services and their links to access them:
AI provides IA Tools: Retail, Financial, Insurance, Hospitality and more solutions:https://aisera.com/
Messaging Platform Generator, Report maker, Customer Data at glance: https://www.helpscout.com/platform/
Adobe’s powerful image generator: https://firefly.adobe.com/
An AI that create artwork using QR codes: https://quickqr.art/
Creates presentations, documents and websites. No coding skills needed: https://gamma.app/
Captures Streaming sessions, identifies great moments and creates captivating video reels. Great for gaming streaming: https://adlab.gg/
AI capable of providing human responses: https://chat.openai.com/
Similar to Chat GPT, Bard is the perfect converstional friend who knows it all: https://google-bard-ai.com/try-bard/
AI designed to assist developers to build Open Source AI. You can even choose your model. Running AI with APIs: https://forefront.ai/
Transcription AI tool to edit video and podcasts. Edit video by text, clone voices, quality sound check, green screen effect creator and more: https://www.descript.com/
AI that help developers autocomplete lines of code, Supports other AI tools like chat GPT-4. Inother words make developers job of creating apps and other projects easy: https://codeium.com/chat
Content Marketing to predict the future.
The future, the ultimate… capital frontier. Marketers have also dreamed about deciphering the future. Making AI capable of predicting buying patterns to match customers’ decisions keeps scientists busy. There is a heavy psychological element to cover in developing more effective AI machines.
However, could this also mean that movies like ‘Her’ will be possible? Developing machines that map the psychological patterns of certain groups of consumers and humans sounds like new ways to make people pay for products that they do not really need, and it gives visions of new legislation coming to protect consumers.
Other Opinions about AI
Some more conservative experts claim that AI in Customer Services might also be capable of helping entrepreneurs create new products and services to fill out niches that humans might overlook due to the extensive data gathering requirements and lack of ‘cognitive computing resources.’
Today, we have apps like HyperWrite and Bard, who can assist marketers on developing marketing content and creative content. I had a great time chatting with Bard for the purpose of reaching its cognitive limits -Don’t judge me- and offered ‘him’ a more complex challenge. Click here to find out what Bard said (click here to check the conversation).
Click here to find out what Bard said
Wall-E or Terminator, what way does AI want to follow?
Let’s be serious about this. In science fiction, we have a list of Ais with a soul, or in other words, a ‘ghost,’ borrowing the denominative from the manga Ghost in the Shell.’ IA characters like Jarvis from Iron Man, Hal 9000 from A Space Odyssey, or KITT from Knight Rider have personalities and ghosts and can develop a bond with their human operators (with a few exceptions, like the evil Skynet).
However, it is necessary to emphasize that the terms scientists use to name the evolution and capabilities of AI are nothing more than well-chosen marketing slogans.
Words like cognitive computing, computer vision, machine learning, neural networks, deep learning, and natural language processing are algorithms and operations in highly variable and complex contexts, but they are in no way signs of a personality or character.
There are no signs of intelligence or ‘cognitive learning’ in AI. Think about a simple statement, a question like this: Is a machine alive or merely turned on? Does it know what is to be hurt because the concept was given to it or because it feels pain? Does a machine know what it means to move, or on the contrary, its concept of space and time differ so much that it needs to ‘learn’ to ‘speak’ by the references provided by its human operators?
In those terms, we need to envision AI as an operative tool, not another human-like creature.
The current moral challenge is about reflecting upon this matter and looking for answers on how we can use it to our advantage without feeling we are being left behind. However, that is also the reason why all IA bots feel the same. And I don’t mean in the services they perform, but in the identity their maker claims them to have.
Remember that in marketing, we talk about brands, and company brands have a soul, at least those who claim to be part of our community. That is why a brand has specific colors, fonts, and jingles, including legal rights and duties. Therefore, if the market starts proposing AI to be taken more seriously, then these ‘identities’ or ‘ghosts’ I mentioned earlier in this article must already be in the sight of developers. If that is the case, we have yet to see a fraction of what AI is capable of, and our caution is much more than speculation.