The truth about generative AI in marketing

Apparently, AI is kind of a big deal. If you’re a reader of this publication, you’ve probably already experimented with generative AI. Anyone managing a department or company has surely been inundated with demos, platform pitches and partnership proposals for an AI-enabled interface to streamline your business. And if you attended the sweaty circus of Cannes this year, you probably heard AI mentioned on every panel and saw those two letters embedded into every press release with religious fervor. I get it, AI is clearly the biggest disruption to civilization since the industrial revolution over a hundred years ago, and who would argue that early cancer detection, improved air safety or more sustainable supply chains are anything but beneficial for society? So please take what I’m about to say as friendly advice from a self-avowed technophile—not as criticism of AI itself but as a sincere suggestion for anyone talking about AI: Shut up, already. Do I really need Instagram to invite me to “ask Meta AI anything” in the search bar? Does every LinkedIn post need a series of AI-generated prompts along the bottom to suggest questions I might ask? Do I want Microsoft Outlook to offer a rewrite of my email “using AI” when I’m about to hit send? (If you’re not a chatbot, you already know those are rhetorical questions.) The first rule of CX is to make things seamless. That means underlying tech should be invisible. Your iPhone already uses all sorts of AI, from anticipating which apps you’re most likely to need to facial recognition when you take a photo. What Apple doesn’t do is label every photo you’re about to snap with text saying, “faces identified using AI!” Coming from a company known for its seamless user experience, that would be terribly self-conscious and, to use a technical term, lame. (Now that Tim Cook has announced Apple’s partnership with OpenAI, however, our chances for digital restraint may be waning.) Generative AI is undoubtedly a game-changer, so it’s only natural people are talking about what comes next. My beef isn’t with a designer wondering aloud if she should focus on mastering prompts for Midjourney with the same dedication she applied to developing her drafting skills, or with the mid-level managers discussing how to implement some form of AI as part of an ongoing business transformation. My complaint is directed at agencies, companies and brands using the term AI like the corporate equivalent of Botox, injecting it everywhere in a vain attempt to make their companies look younger. (A side prediction: the company formerly known as Facebook will ditch the name Meta and rebrand its corporate headquarters AI-istan.) Like the “cooling crystals” in Colgate’s MaxFresh toothpaste, AI has become a badge—the latest proof point or reason-to-believe for any company wanting to appear innovative and modern. (Incidentally, you can find “white crystals” in other Colgate products and “ActivClean crystals” in Crest Pro-Health toothpaste. Apparently crystals are the AI of dental hygiene.) From a CX standpoint, look at it this way: Say your chatbot becomes more intuitive or your digital voice assistant miraculously makes calling customer support less infuriating. As one of your customers, thank you, I appreciate what you’ve done—but I don’t care how you did it. Ad Age Agency Report 2024 Revenue and analysis for agency companies Click here Alexa and Siri don’t pause mid-answer to remind us they are digital assistants, so why are companies overusing AI, ChatGPT, LLM and all the other acronyms to the point where it sounds like the tech version of McDonald’s etymology for Mc-naming everything? I’d like a McRib sandwich, a McCrispy, one McChicken, a McFlurry on the side with a McCafé coffee to go, please—and tomorrow I’d love to receive a ChatGPT-written text offering me free McNuggets as part of the new and improved rewards program … now powered by AI! Please stop the madness. The fuel behind the frenzy, of course, is money. As economic headwinds continue to batter corporate earnings, being perceived as a tech-forward company boosts the stock price. After all, “a grocery chain powered by AI” sounds a lot sexier to investors than “a bunch of stores selling cereal.” On every company’s odyssey toward profitability, something shiny and new is always the siren calling to investors. That’s why desperate members of the C-suite are saying “Damn the rocks” and jumping in with both feet. AI’s impact on valuations has been remarkable. Nvidia is up astronomically, and the share prices for the triple-A’s—Apple, Alphabet and Amazon—are riding the swells of an AI-powered tsunami. That’s why “AI” is getting slapped onto every site, email and corporate earnings call with all the subtlety of the Supreme logo. Another contributor to the craze of inserting AI into every conversation is the abysmal lack of innovation at companies that slashed their R&D budgets during the last economic downturn. Even the most ardent Silicon Valley evangelist would admit that virtually every tech product launched over the past decade has been underwhelming and overblown ... until generative AI burst onto the scene. Ad Age Small Agency Conference & Awards Join us July 23 & 24 in Boston Learn more here Think about your own company and reflect on how often your managers discussed clients, colleagues or creativity in the last month versus platforms, process and AI. Let’s face it, if saying “AI” at work were a drinking game, everyone would have died of cirrhosis months ago. Breakthrough technology carries social currency and induces FOMO in the business world. But this time around, the buzz has a manic edge, perhaps because so many industries consolidated to the point where margins are squeezed past the breaking point. Once-lucrative categories such as retail, telecom, publishing, marketing and even tech have merged themselves into a losing battle of behemoths. Wouldn’t it be nice if AI was the genie that allowed companies to wish their way out of the mess their megamergers created? Sadly, it’s not—it’s just a tool. An insanely powerful tool that will disrupt and disintermediate, accelerate and amplify. It’s something to study, something to master and perhaps something to fear, but it’s not a substitute for human ingenuity, nor a panacea for every business challenge on your plate. Beyond all the jargon and the hype, those are the things we should be talking about. (And in case you hadn’t guessed, this article was not written using ChatGPT.)

The truth about generative AI in marketing

Featured Stories