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Dropkicking Clients’ AI Myths for You, the Creative

18/05/2018
Digital Agency
London, United Kingdom
67
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INFLUENCER: Chris Cavey, business director at Dare, busts some AI misconceptions
Whichever way you slice it, from an insider or outsider perspective, AI is pretty cool. Growing up, we’ve all seen robots in science fiction movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now it’s here, in the real world. Alexa and Google are integrated within families’ day-to-day lives. It’s developing, it’s saving money, and it’s streamlining operations across loads of sectors. 
 
This means AI is becoming viewed as the go-to problem solver. The answer to our clients’ prayers. They want AI, and they want it now. But is it actually integral to all of our clients’ business problems? 
 
Not exactly. Just like any major technological advancement, it’s got its flaws. The potential it offers is very sparkly and yes, AI has and will continue to be a buzzword for years, but it’s still an area misunderstood by many. 
 
It can do wonders for clients, granted. But before they make us dive in and spend all of their marketing budget in an attempt to create the new Skynet, it’s time to dropkick the myths, one at a time, surrounding AI. For you, the creative. The human.
 
XX is using AI solutions, so we have to
So if they jumped off a cliff, your clients would too? They might have a parachute - do your clients? Just because other brands are using AI to further their work, it doesn’t mean it’s right for you or your client. It can be tempting. You could look at the scientists at IBM Research, who worked with 20th Century Fox, feeding information into an AI database to create a film trailer. ‘Yeah, I’ll have some of that.’
 
But they’re scientists and a massive film studio. Your client is probably neither. You have to make them put their numbers hat on - the one they hate wearing. AI depends on data, algorithms, programming and machine learning. In which aspects of the business will it add value? Is it just one small area, or do they have the means, the tech stacks, to spread it across multiple departments?
 
AI is going to make the creative process run quicker and cheaper, straight away
That’s just not how it works. As great as that IBM/20th Century Fox trailer was, it got there by being fed a ludicrous amount of data. It’s not a ‘brain’; it can’t jump to one conclusion and then make another based on a gut feeling, on a whim. It doesn’t have palpable emotional intelligence.
 
And that’s fine. It’s early days. But ultimately, we want AI to marry IQ and EQ. The ideal model will have the know-how to put things together and streamline your clients’ operations, while also having the empathy and nuance to implicitly know what you want as a creative, and - more importantly! - what your clients’ audiences want.
 
But you have to nail IQ before EQ. You have to make sure that this will work across all departments, really - there’s little point siloing this, especially if your clients are going to be investing so much time and money in it. It requires bespoke, tailored programming - will it still function in the context of other teams within your clients’ operations? Because, to work as effectively as possible… it needs to.
 
AI is self-sufficient. I can just leave it to do its thing
No. No no no no no. This isn’t The Matrix (which is good, because who’s got time for another Machine War?). AI technology depends on your clients’ workforce’s skills, policies, governance plans and the systems supporting it. You have to have the right people, the right tech stacks, the right knowledge in place before anyone goes haring off.
 
AI is going to make creativity within marketing way more human, more targeted, more relevant. But it’s not going to be easy. You can’t just get someone to ‘set it up’ then leave it with your clients. We’re carving out the future with this technology, but we can’t be fooled into thinking it can do everything. 
 
That’s where you come in. Burst the bubble, tell your clients what’s realistic, and work from there to build something unique. 
Credits
Work from Dare
ALL THEIR WORK