August is the most popular month of the year to move residences. According to Architectural Digest, 80% of moves in the US occur between April and September, with August being the peak. Concurrently, 80% of corporate leaders are feeling bullish about the power of artificial intelligence, and the same amount (81%) of consumers want full transparency about how companies are using AI. These two seemingly separate dynamics are both “hot” in the market today. It got me thinking about how they relate to each other.
We could approach a big move by asking AI where we should live. This would take a few moments, maybe only seconds, but would the answers be right for us? Pretty unlikely. Instead, when preparing to relocate, we factor in our desired housing type, location, size, budget, and other essential criteria. We may consult online tools, a real estate agent or friends that live in our desired neighborhood. What is most helpful is to adopt a focused approach, with specific predefined parameters in mind.
AI in Marketing: Navigating the Landscape
As it pertains to AI, a similar approach is warranted. If we want to make the most of what this exciting technology has to offer, we need to implement guardrails, including:
- an ingoing point of view
- a sense of what we seek to create
- curation of choices toward a strong outcome
Said another way, if we are making an important choice or developing a point of view and we rely on AI to do all or most of the work for us, we will end up with answers – without assurance that these answers are on strategy or accurate. As one AI expert recently explained to me,
“AI does not currently have quality control. It can provide a great deal of information very quickly, but it does not know if it is correct, and it does not signal that it’s not. Humans must bring the discernment and the boundaries.”
This is because AI is not a source of information, it is ALL the sources of information, in aggregate. And when we are aggregating, we get more than we want or need and must curate.
Noetic’s Approach to AI
To walk the talk here, I used AI to make this article smarter and better. At Noetic, we use AI to increase our efficiency, improve our productivity and enhance our output. Yet AI is troublesome if not managed closely for its lack of context, inability to deliver tone and personality and its total lack of knowing accurate from inaccurate. We appreciate its power and possibilities, and stay vigilant to guard against inaccuracies.
As an organization, we study AI in all its relevance for our internal use and for our clients. We are committed to 100% transparency in its use and 100% responsibility in its lack of abuse. This is a fascinating journey that can make our work of strengthening brands and the people who build them even stronger – if we stay in a learning state and use Generative AI with guardrails.
We would love to hear how you are leveraging AI in your organization. Reach out with your thoughts.