Generative AI: catching the train before it leaves the station

Many of us in the creative industries are a little jittery about generative artificial intelligence (AI) — and not unreasonably so: according to a recent report from Goldman Sachs Research, around 300 million full-time jobs could be impacted by automation.

And yet in its 2023 Future of Work report, based on a survey of over 800 global companies, the World Economic Forum found that employers ranked analytical and creative thinking as the top skills they needed from workers — both very human capabilities that advertising, PR and marketing specialists have in spades. 

So who is right about what the future of content looks like? Will we be usurped by ingenious robots? Or can we find ways to work alongside them? Your intrepid distillers attended two related events to find out more. 

The Debating Group, which connects marketers, politicians, journalists and the public to argue hot topics in marketing, hosted an event at the UK House of Commons on May 24 with a challenging proposal: “Artificial intelligence is less threatening to public relations and marketing practitioners than the lack of professional development across both industries.

Holding the line

For Jenny Field, the internal communications specialist and former president of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), who proposed the motion, it all comes down to training and upholding trust. When it comes to emerging technologies like AI, she said, “There’s an important line between influence and manipulation. We have to be aware of that line. How can we be aware that we’re not crossing that line if we’re using tools that are programmed by unprofessional people?”

Opposing her in the debate, Accenture digital marketing expert and Managing Director Amir Malik suggested AI posed “an existential threat to professional standards”. Referencing the existing reach of targeted online marketing, he observed, “advertising through digital channels has outpaced our ethics and we are playing catch-up, but generative AI is way more disruptive. It’s a real threat to how we organise our businesses, our society; our children’s future.”

So what can we do to counter that disruption and take advantage of what AI has to offer?

For a start, said the debate audience, you need senior-level expertise ready to sense-check anything that generative AI produces, because it is factually unreliable. You also need to understand where AI stops and human influence begins – it is, after all, a tool that still needs people.

As Chris Walker, Head of Public Affairs at the Advertising Association, put it: “You still have to have a creative mind. You could tell it to make a Lukozade ad, and it would make a Lukozade ad — but it wouldn’t necessarily be a good Lukozade ad.”

Beware of bicycle face

At the Sprinklr CX Connect London event the following day, Adam Quartermaine, GVP of Sprinklr EMEA, picked up on a theme that had already run through the House of Commons debate: those that are using AI will replace those who aren’t.

Quartermaine drew parallels between anxiety about AI with the Victorian notion of “bicycle face”,  a fabricated phenomenon designed to prevent women from travelling too far afield. This was a view echoed by the audience at The Debating Society event, who agreed that AI “has got a PR problem.”

And yet like the bicycle, Quartermaine suggested, AI has a democratising effect, thanks to its low cost and its ability to offer widespread access to synthesised information. “There is risk,” he conceded, “but there’s an opportunity on the horizon.”

In talks focusing on the scope of the prize offered by AI, speakers highlighted the cost and productivity benefits it could generate, particularly for customer service and engagement. Eva Bojtos, Head of Social Media at John Lewis, showcased the way the company was using AI for conversational commerce — increasing conversations with customers using improved content and optimised chatbots with 91% accuracy in following customer intent.

“When brands lean into it, rather than fear it, that’s where the power could be,” said Bojtos. 

John Lewis is just one of many brands building on Open AI, which has an ongoing partnership with Sprinklr and projects with companies from across the tech, financial services and FMCG sectors.

“I’ve been selling cool tech for 20 years, and I’ve never been in the middle of a tornado like this,” said Adam Goldberg, Head of Azure Open AI - GTM at ChatGPT developer Open AI.

Against a backdrop in which the founding developers of AI are warning of the risks of a technology that is unregulated, untamed and evolving at speed, one key message emerged: we need to keep up, or risk losing out. “Today’s AI tools can’t replace human minds completely, but they can approximate a lot,” said Dr Mike Katell, an Ethics Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute, during The Debating Society event. “The way to stay ahead is to join Team AI.”

Or as Open AI’s Goldberg put it: “This is happening right now. It is here and it’s going to be here, so figure out what it means for your brand.”