The AI controversy

You may have heard some interesting things about artificial intelligence (AI) over the past month or so as two of the tech world’s biggest personalities, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, engaged in a public spat on the subject. Zuckerberg is a devout AI optimist, and stated during a Facebook Live chat that “AI is going to make our lives better.” Musk, meanwhile, has called it the “biggest existential threat” to humanity.

We won’t know which of the two visionaries harbours a more accurate view of the future for some time, but for now, digital marketing agencies are happily leveraging AI and machine learning to deliver better results for their clients. Here’s what artificial intelligence means for you.

In a Forbes article, Forrester VP and principal analyst Joe Stanhope called digital marketing “an ideal environment for AI to strut its stuff,” due to the technology’s ability to process large amounts of data and make informed decisions, which allows digital marketing agencies to invest in programmatic ad buys and hyper-specific ad targeting. Marketers often say their goal is to reach the right consumer with the right message at the right time; by accessing and carefully analyzing vast troves of user data, artificial intelligence will get us closer than ever to this goal.

Chatbots are another AI-powered innovation that could significantly benefit brands, but they’re also fueling some of the recent negative media attention. Last week, a number of news outlets reported that two Facebook chatbots invented a “secret language” and communicated with each other. In reality, this was part of the company’s ongoing efforts to produce bots that can interact with users and solve basic problems. Together with superior data analysis and ad-targeting, chatbots and other AI innovations can significantly improve the quality of marketing that users receive.

As a Premier Google Partner All-Star Agency with access to valuable insights on Google’s preferred practices, the team at GrowthEngine Media works hard to stay on top of the latest innovations in the field, including artificial intelligence. Digital marketing agencies in North America and around the world believe that AI can help bring customers more relevant and appropriate advertising, leading to a better online experience.

 

Image credit: Gerd Leonhard/Flickr