What’s next for AI and marketing?

Is generative artificial intelligence as important as we thought it was?

That’s the question I keep reading in articles, Substack blog posts, and email newsletters about using generative AI tools like ChatGPT.

Note: generative AI is a subset of artificial intelligence that focuses on predicting words/images/video based on existing data that is fed to machines. This technology has been evolving rapidly in recent years, and its potential applications have become increasingly significant, especially in the field of marketing.

With headlines like “Visual Artists Fight Back Against AI Companies For Repurposing Their Work” (The Press Democrat) and “The Obsession with generative AI is Part of a Broader PR Problem” (PR News), it's understandable that people might have some reservations.

The AI industry also has a lot of pending and current court cases that will determine its future.

The biggest lawsuit I’m looking out for is The New York Times versus OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT). I am also following the Hollywood strikes with SAG and the WGA, with workers asking the studios NOT to use AI to replace writers, actors, etc. (Insider) In September, the WGA ended their strike with their demand that there are protections about the studios using AI to write and edit scripts.

For marketers, the lawsuit that has created the most worry on this topic centers around D.C. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell saying that human beings are an “essential part of a valid copyright claim” (The Verve). This ruling affects marketers considering AI for content creation; any materials generated by AI might not be protected by copyright laws, negating a marketer's ownership of the content they run.

I talked to my friend, Amy Lieberfarb, who works in marketing and communications at Balletto Vineyards in Sebastopol (and who spoke on a panel about AI with me for the Wine Road back in July). She uses generative AI tools, like Jasper. AI (her personal favorite for marketing), because "AI helps our team complete mundane, time-consuming tasks, freeing up time to do other things that need human attention at the winery. This allows us to quickly scale up our marketing efforts without overworking staff members."

The Balletto website and blog showcases how Amy and the Balletto team have used AI to recommend and create content that has increased traffic to the website.

But not all marketers are on board with using AI for content creation just yet. Some argue it takes away the human touch and creativity that makes good content stand out. Others believe that AI-generated content lacks emotion and authenticity.

If you ask ChatGPT to generate an article on a topic like wine and cheese pairings, it may lack nuance, originality, and factual accuracy, which leads to an article people might not want to read. Most importantly, it can't be copyrighted. Regardless of your brand's size, being aware of this is crucial.

But if you go in and write out your ideas, ask generative AI to check the grammar, help with brainstorming, or make sure a blog post is written in your brand voice (with you double-checking facts), then you should be OK.

So what’s next for AI and marketing for North Bay Businesses? No matter what happens with any of the pending lawsuits coming out, generative AI is here to stay. Major players like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, etc., continue to invest in AI technology.

3 top ways marketers can use AI right now

Here’s how you can put AI to work without worrying about copyright issues. These are some top ways marketers can use AI right now, because as I type this, Microsoft and Google are announcing their versions of AI with their platforms. So who knows what is in store for AI in the future.

1. Strategizing: My favorite way to use AI is to help me turn the rambling thoughts in my head into ideas. Sometimes when I have a great idea for a client or my own marketing efforts, I like to go on walks and use Siri to dictate my ideas into the Notes app. In fact, I’m doing it right now with this article. I am then able to go in and clean things up with the use of Grammarly or Jasper AI.

Try it out for yourself after you read this article. Take your phone and go on a walk to get your thoughts out. Then take the words and ask ChatGPT to create an outline of a blog post, presentation, or even a to-do list for the week (ask it to prioritize the tasks and tell you step-by-step how to do each one).

2. Editing: Grammarly Pro is an app I have used for years as a writer. It can help me identify sentences that require editing. Each sentence can be broken down so that I can ensure my intended meaning is communicated and determine if additional information is needed.

In addition to fixing spelling and grammar mistakes, it's important to understand your brand's tone. Occasionally, Grammarly may highlight deliberate sentences in your content as "mistakes." As a result, it's important to consider their recommendations cautiously and read your content aloud to make sure it relays your intended message.

3. A brand voice: Speaking of tone, understanding your brand voice is one of the most important things for any marketer who spends their time creating content. At Balletto Vineyards, Amy and her team harness AI for its data analysis power. “We use it to scour the web and recommend content that our target persona will find helpful. With this, we create better optimized 'active voice' content that wine consumers are eager to engage with. AI also allows us to maintain a consistent brand voice, personality, and tone across all sales channels in order to communicate information.”

Copy and paste your favorite content from your blog, tasting notes, or brochure, and ask ChatGPT to analyze and provide a detailed idea of the brand tone. Take what the AI provided, and any time you utilize AI in the future to help you with content, paste that in with whatever your prompt is; this way, the AI knows how your brand communicates and can produce content that aligns with your brand's voice.

I am not a lawyer, so if AI is something you are interested in and worried about for your brand, connect with a copyright lawyer who can give you better information for what you and your team can do with AI. Even if you’re not using AI, it doesn’t mean someone from your business isn’t, so anything that has to do with AI should be a companywide policy (if you don’t have one, just Google how to create one — it’s important to have something written so that all employees understand what can and cannot be put into something like ChatGPT).