What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence has been a buzzword for some time now, but what does it actually mean? And does it have any relevance to marketing?

What is AI and how is it used?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the development of machines that are programmed to work and think like humans; including tasks such as learning and problem-solving. It is an extensive branch of computer science and the continued developments in the field, including progressions in machine learning and deep learning, have allowed for applications in a variety of industries. AI systems are dynamic, as they get smarter the more data analysed. They learn from experience and become increasingly capable and autonomous.

Lets Take a Look at the Numbers...

126

Billion is AI’s expected market revenue by 2025

54

Percentage level of growth expected in 2021

24

Billion on funding for AI start-ups in 2019

26.1

The percentage contribution to China’s GDP in 2030

50

Billion is North America’s expected AI revenue in 2025

455

Million the projected revenue of the chatbot market

What industries is
AI best suited too?

AI is becoming more mainstream and its applications are prevalent in a large number of industries. This will become more apparent as further developments are made in this field of technology and data collection. There are certain industries that have already successfully employed artificial intelligence in their operations.

Social Media

AI is used to develop platforms’ algorithms, which filter through content and provide users with a personalised selection of posts.

Cybersecurity

Analyses data from cyber-attacks and recognises patterns; providing threat detection and better responses compared to traditional approaches.

Government

Virtual assistants or chatbots are able to answer questions, direct requests to the appropriate area and for filling out forms.

Global Health Bodies

Benefited from the use of AI during the global pandemic, through the development of new ways for information to be collected, aggregated and worked with.

Sales

AI powered bots can handle a number of tasks; such as starting conversations, providing information and guiding customers through each touchpoint.

So... What Applications Does This Have For Marketing?

AI has the ability to transform marketing in a number of ways, especially through the use of tools to manage data and customer profiles. This highlights the best ways to communicate with potential customers and ensure targeted and tailored messages are delivered at the correct stage in the customer journey through automation. AI has applications in every stage of the customer journey, from aiding the creation of more relevant content to gathering insights, all enhancing the user experience. The development of a chatbot can aid marketers. This can provide efficient communication with customers, as well as personalisation, in order to assess customer and business preferences.

In Industry Examples

AI has applications that can help to inform brands on how to approach their marketing strategies. There are a number of examples of how brands have successfully implemented this that can be used for inspiration.

B2B Examples

• Service Max uses AI to predict the customer journey, allowing upgraded demonstrations displays to potential customers.

• Artesian develops insight-driven engagements; understanding potential customers and providing direction on targeting.

• VMware streamline and accelerate its content creation; providing efficient delivery of content to potential customers which allows for greater reach.

B2C Examples

• Starbucks used AI to serve personalised recommendations to customers through predictive analytics. This was supported by data collection through their loyalty card and app.

• Sephora used a chatbot to create a quiz about product preferences, aiding customers with their purchase decisions. This provides an interactive method of data collection whilst delivering personalised recommendations.

What are the Key Trends in AI?

Employee Effectiveness

Employee's time is spent completing higher-value tasks that cannot yet be computerised; allowing for improvements to a number of business functions.

More Valuable Specialisation

Specific categories of unstructured data can be converted into a valuable and structured data set. AI uses this to become effective and perform tasks more accurately.

Data Insights

Real-data insights can be uncovered to provide an understanding about ad wording and creatives; improving overall performance.

Customer Experience

By utilising new data collection methods, brands are able to deliver an improved customer experience; increasing customer loyalty and improving brand reputation.

What Developments are Taking Place in the Industry?

Day-to-day Operations

It will be increasingly more common for AI to be used in the day-to-day operations of businesses. This will include the monitoring and refining of a number of business processes.

AI and Human Cooperation

As data becomes more accurate and available, AI can develop faster. This can improved AI and human cooperation and allow humans to focus on the skills that AI cannot yet achieve.

AI-Powered Technology

More devices will be AI-powered, allowing for developments in other forms of technology, including augmented reality, virtual reality, the cloud and Internet of Things.

Create New Visual Effects

AI can create new visual effects; improving music video, film and video game quality and user experience. This can aid the creative development in campaigns.

Who are the Key Players?

IBM

With a market share of over 9% by creating conversational AI assistances, AI-powered tools, software that delivers health care insights and managing customer life-cycles.

Nvidia Corp.

Developments in AI are formed around their graphics processing unit which powers areas including autonomous vehicles, high-performance gaming and cloud computing.

Alphabet

Google use AI and deep learning to automate functions including search results, speech recognition, ad pricing and personal assistant software.

Amazon

They are leaders in AI. Their key capabilities include forecasting, product demand, optimising logistics and making improvements to the Amazon Alexa virtual assistant.

Twilio

Cloud-based programming that allows voice, video and messaging features to be built into apps. Predicted 45% compound annual profit growth over the next 5 years.

Microsoft

Azure, a cloud computing service that uses AI-driven tools. OpenAI, developed in 2019 with an initial $1 billion investment, is designed to do anything human intelligence can.

Salesforce

Bonobo AI delivers automated analysis of communications. Partnering with Einstein: detects unseen patterns, delivers sales leads and predicts best performing copy.

Alteryx

Products allow data scientists and analytical professionals to collaborate with each other to discover data-based insights and deploy new machine learning code.

What are the tech leaders
saying about AI?

“‘I have exposure to the most cutting edge AI, and I think people should be concerned by it’”
Elon MuskFounder of Tesla

“‘I think that AI is going to unlock a huge amount of positive things, whether that’s helping to identify and cure diseases, to help cars drive more safely, to help keep our communities safe’”
Mark ZuckerbergFounder of Facebook

“‘Let’s stop freaking out about artificial intelligence’”
Eric SchmidtFormer CEO of Google

“‘I would argue that perhaps the most productive debate we can have isn’t one of good versus evil: The debate should be about the values instilled in people and institutions creating this technology’”
Satya NadellaCEO of Microsoft

“‘The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race… it would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate.’”
Stephen HawkingPhysicist, Cosmologist, and Author

“‘I think autonomous weapons are extremely scary’”
Jeff BezosFounder, CEO and President of Amazon

So, what do you think?

AI is a fast developing technology and by exploring the phenomenon further it is clear it’s going to have wide reaching applications for the majority of industries. At Beach, we are interested in the new technology that is shaking this ever changing industry. This will have a big impact on B2B marketing and we can’t wait to see where it goes.

What are your thoughts?