Marketers should be thinking about how their brands can benefit by influencing AI, writes Jean-Paul Edwards, director of strategy and product development at OMD EMEA.

There is a sense of a new cycle beginning. Social and mobile that dominated the first half of this decade is maturing from the exciting untested opportunity to scale, significance and commercial stability. So we need a new next big thing. One area that is rapidly evolving from the lab into our everyday lives is artificial intelligence (AI).

However, while we should begin scanning for opportunities in AI for brands, we are right at the beginning of the AI cycle, and a long way from the humanoid robots you might expect from sci-fi films.

In reality, we are at the stage where global technology platforms are introducing a suite of technologies associated with AI, from machine learning to natural language processing and machine vision, to a range of their services. Most of these platforms rely on advertising as their primary income stream so our thoughts should follow this technology.

In the marketing world, it is SEO teams that are best placed to engage with AI and attempt to influence them for marketing gain, because SEO experts already deal with search algorithms. Moving forward, SEO teams must be reinvented and receive more investment in the AI age, and be more embedded in marketing and business strategy. They will also need to be thought of more as production teams.  

Evolution of AI

Today, AI is very narrow and focused on learning how to do specific tasks; however the skills are becoming more generalised and tangible. We are starting to see things such as Amy from x.ai, for instance, a virtual PA who can organise meetings; and Facebook M which is being taught to cancel your cable subscription.

As a result, AIs may well end up talking to other AIs built by brands rather than people, with all of the day-to-day interaction being taken away from human experience.

“One thing that’s set to drive growth in AI is access to machine-learning algorithm”

In the shorter term, in 2016, we can expect to see a number of clever upgrades to services we already use – basically invisible AI. This will include short, informative messages being sent directly to our mobile devices that we appreciate but don’t think about much, such as ‘I turned the heating off you won’t be back all day’, ‘I found this coupon for that product you are buying’, or ‘don’t rush your flight is delayed’.

From these micro-moment services built on accessible data, there will be requests for access to deeper, more personal data sets that will enable more advanced high value services such as an energy spend optimiser or an AI grocery shopper.

One thing that’s set to drive growth in AI is access to machine-learning algorithms. Google’s opening up of a single server version of TensorFlow will allow more people to access the technology and encourage more creative uses to be thought up; the most valuable of which will most likely only be solvable with cloud scale computing which remains under the global platform’s control.

Consumers and AI

Marketers will need to play a role in educating consumers about the benefits of AI in their daily lives. At present, consumers see AI as being related to sci-fi and physical machines. However, AI is really just about tools and computers having their own narrow intelligence.

Progress will come from proving AI’s utility and building consumer trust. This is what drives the uptake of all new technology beyond the earliest of adopters. Most of us will be happy to accept forms of AI as long as the benefits outweigh the perceived risks. Think what problems a machine learning algorithm can solve; can it make the queue to the call centre shorter? Can it optimise store design? Can it make for a better web experience or search engine optimisation?

“What are the ethical issues of parents relinquishing their child’s diet, or even education, to a machine? None of these questions are easy to answer”

There’s a strong chance AI will disrupt our lives in the mid-term. For example, as AI evolves we could be able to outsource our diet to the likes of Siri.

Perhaps we wouldn’t be happy relinquishing this control; but how would this standpoint change, for instance, when people become parents and artificial assistants can guide our diet so that it better protects us? What are the ethical issues of parents relinquishing their child’s diet, or even education, to a machine? None of these questions are easy to answer.

AI is set to see big developments over the coming years. It’s up to marketers to keep up with the latest trends and innovate around these questions. Marketers should think how their brands can benefit by influencing AI yet also adding value to consumers in their daily lives.