From the viral AI Barbie filter on social media to the rise of AI-powered chatbots, we live in a world now where artificial intelligence (AI) has a tangible presence in our lives. AI is here to stay, but will it fully replace authentic human interactions in our day-to-day business lives? That remains to be seen.
We all crave authenticity and need human interaction – ask any psychologist. Or just remember how cooped up we felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, who hasn’t been frustrated by the online customer service chatbots? My approach is to ask to “talk to a rep” immediately to bypass generic, annoying questions. Sometimes, humans just want to vent to a real person, to feel heard, and then to find a solution to their problem.
These truths mean that, in a world where we will undoubtedly continue to use AI tools, we can’t lose our authenticity, whether on a personal or brand/company level. Overuse and misuse of AI tools without human oversight can most certainly erode brand trust.
AI is evolving and will continue to evolve, so these comments may be outdated in a year or two, but we need to remain cautious as we explore various AI tools. Be careful about placing too much trust in AI tools. Take the Google Performance Max campaign type, for example. You essentially plug in a little bit of information about your promotional goals, and it generates an entire campaign which includes messaging, targeting, bidding, and more. It is almost impossible to see what your ad is saying, what it looks like, or even where it is appearing to potential customers. I don’t know about you, but I want to control how my brand or company is portrayed. Yes, these campaigns can still produce results, but are these results coming at the expense of my brand authenticity?
It is an exciting time in the business and marketing world with the rise of artificial intelligence. I believe it will allow us to do more things and more quickly, but the guiding hand of strategic marketing experts is a priority. There is no such thing as “set it and forget it” when it comes to marketing…even with AI.
