AI - Friend or Foe in Marketing?

When it comes to marketing, does AI do more harm than good?

Artificial intelligence (AI) was originally only seen in futuristic fiction novels. And already before the 1950s, programming pioneers began making it possible for computers to reason and interact with the real world.

Fast-forward to 2023, and AI is used in countless fields, able to understand human emotions and predict our behaviours while constantly learning at an immeasurable speed.

The AI Ethical Debate

Discussions remain on whether the precise and customized marketing capabilities of AI might affect consumer choice as a whole. Since all our purchase choices are predicted by AI beforehand, does that take away consumer autonomy? After all, AI has become very skilled at predicting future purchases and even how individuals’ consumer habits will develop over time.

For example, the large retail store Target has become so sophisticated in it's implementation of AI that it knows if female customers are pregnant based on their purchase history. And according to this data, it will recommend items such as diapers and baby formula that customers will require in their upcoming life stage as parents.

Since AI is so efficient and frighteningly accurate at predicting consumer outcomes, people have grown concerned about data and privacy. AI is designed to absorb every single piece of information, learn from it, and store it. Even deleted data that was supposed to go in the trash can be found online and is sometimes resold to businesses.

How data is handled is not always clearly stated, and consumers may question accessibility and autonomy related to the data policies. However, only a small percentage of people will actually read through dozens of pages of complicated legal texts and fully understand the meaning of the policy vocabulary and terms.

Meanwhile, brands and marketers that use AI instead of real people to create blogs, social media posts, newsletters, data filters, and other content may appear cold and unapproachable to customers.

Content composed by AI usually does not credit any authors, so there is no one to relate the work back to.

ChatGPT, for example, can write and create almost anything you prompt it to; however, its current form is distinguishable by its lack of sensitivity to the specified audience. The tool will easily recreate and regenerate standardized texts and desired terminology, but it will not attempt to make emotional connections. In other words, a real human would have to alter the text to be unique and relatable. 

AI in Large-scale Businesses

For larger businesses, certain operations, such as mass-generating standardized replies for customer services, would be near-impossible without AI, and in this way, AI integrations are raising efficiency by almost 40%.

Starbucks has adopted AI tools in many areas of their business, both for cost-efficiency and to create a more personalized consumer experience.

Starbucks not only uses AI for inventory and logistics, but it also compares the sales data of stores around the world to make better localization strategies. Customers using their app are able to personalize their drinks and receive special offerings. As a result, data collected on consumer preferences is being used to create new and localized menu items.

Outlook in Marketing

A dystopian outlook remains, and specific professions such as SEO/SEM specialists, customer service centers, data analysts, and programmers are growing concerned about being replaced by AI in the near future. Even the AI programmers themselves fear being overrun by their own creation. 

Essentially, real human interactions between businesses and consumers are still necessary to establish brand trust and relationships. Ultimately, AI was created with the goal of improving and helping society, rather than replacing and damaging it. Therefore, it is more likely that we will see an entirely new knowledge-based work sector emerge alongside AI.

With any new technology comes fear and doubt. The goal for marketers should be to strive for balance between the human and AI environments by avoiding relying entirely on AI or running scared of its implementation.

Based in Tokyo, An-yal is the leading independent advertising agency for global lifestyle brands in Japan and worldwide. Contact us to get ahead with your integrated marketing and creative needs.