What Will Happen to Marketing in the Age of AI? | Jessica Apotheker | TED

Summary

The speaker argues that the coming AI productivity revolution requires companies to strategically build left-brain analytic capabilities while protecting right-brain creative talent. She advises growing data science teams to create predictive models and upskill all employees to use them. However, companies must also nurture their most innovative thinkers, reskilling them to use AI for inspiration while avoiding fully automating idea generation, which risks losing diversity and differentiation. In closing, she tells marketers to choose between specializing in analytics or creativity based on their strengths.

Takeaways

• 😲 Generative AI is the next big productivity revolution that will be embedded in organizations
• 😃 ChatGPT can already improve marketing right-brain performance by 40%
• 😬 Without steering, productivity gains may just lead to more marketing content instead of less work
• 😊 More personalized marketing content is a productive outcome for consumers
• 😟 But content overload is a risk that reduces divergence of ideas
• 🤔 To benefit, marketing teams need to grow a 'left-AI brain' - get good at using predictive AI
• 😀 Building internal teams to create predictive models and tools creates a virtuous feedback loop
• 🙅‍♂️ Don't just train models on your existing data or you may get stuck in your territory
• 😎 Identify and protect your most creative marketers - the true artists and innovators
• 💪 Every marketer should choose to specialize in creative or analytics/data skills

Q & A

What was the promise of early word processors and spreadsheets in terms of productivity?

Their promise was that we would spend much less time on tasks like writing, creating slides, and performing calculations, giving us more free time.

Why hasn't the promise of more free time due to technology come true?

Instead of freeing up our time, new technologies have enabled us to create even more content and process even more data, keeping us just as busy.

How will generative AI transform marketing activities?

It will automate many creative and analytical marketing tasks, with the potential to improve marketing productivity by 50% or more.

What are two possible outcomes if marketers are given more free time due to generative AI?

They could create more personalized content for consumers or lead to content overload by creating too much low-quality content.

What does it mean for marketing to "grow a left-AI brain"?

It means strategically building teams skilled in using predictive AI tools to guide data-driven decision making across the marketing organization.

Why can training AI only on a company's existing data be risky?

It can trap brands in their current territory and make them less able to market successfully to new demographics or identify important future trends.

How can over-reliance on generative AI reduce divergence of ideas?

By generating similar ideas over and over, it can stifle innovation and prevent truly novel ideas from emerging.

What types of marketers should focus on cultivating creative skills versus analytical skills with AI?

Very creative marketers should avoid overusing AI to generate ideas and instead focus on human-centric innovation. Analytical marketers should develop AI and data skills.

Why does the speaker advise choosing between the right brain and left brain?

AI will automate many left-brained analytical tasks, so creative right-brained marketers should cultivate distinctly human skills while left-brained analysts should focus on AI.

What were some key recommendations from the speaker for seizing generative AI's productivity benefits?

Growing specialized AI/data teams, forming outside data partnerships, identifying and protecting innovators while upskilling mainstream employees, and choosing analytical vs creative focus.