Application of Artificial Intelligence in Marketing

In subsequent years, a wide variety of early promises and claims about AI had been made overstating the technology's capabilities at the time. One example comes from economist Herbert Simon, who predicted AI would be able to beat a human at the game of chess within ten years from 1957. This seemingly simple task took an additional 40 years past Simon's claim to accomplish. Years of unfulfilled promises had put the development of AI on hold as people treated it as a fringe technology. These early claims stemmed from a lack of advanced computing technology. AI was practically useless and regarded as a fringe technology for decades since the advanced implementation of it was nearly impossible. However, recent advancements in computing technology have allowed AI to resurface into the burgeoning industry it is today. Specifically, rapid innovation in graphics processing units (GPUs), lowered costs for computing technologies, increased access to massive amounts of data, and a heightened level of interest amongst companies and investors across many industries have led to galvanization of AI's potential. However, the current state of AI is a separate subject in comparison to the GAI depicted in science fiction movies. The idea of having an artificially created intelligent being or software that can interact with the world akin to how humans do is far from reality as of 2018.

AI in marketing today is unanimously narrow AI. As such, the form of AI covered in this paper is this narrow AI that often operates behind the scenes. Narrow AI implies applications that are incredibly efficient and effective at performing tasks within one domain of knowledge. There are plenty of examples of this in our daily lives, from voice recognition capabilities behind Siri to recommended products on Amazon and many more. Examples of narrow AI are now integrated so seamlessly into our lives that many fail to register the presence of them. This misconception is evident in the fact only 29% of respondents of a recent study on consumer awareness of AI reported having used the technology before. With many examples of AI operating in the background of the majority of modern technology (e. g. , smartphones, computers, TVs, etc. ), there is apparently a disconnect between what people think AI is and how it is applied in day-to-day life. Despite this disconnect, an astonishing 98% of marketing leaders say they expect to see benefits from using AI.

Marketers' interest in AI is pronounced, which makes the task of achieving a well-rounded understanding of what the technology has to offer evermore critical before marketers are forced to play catch-up. Only 28% out of the 98 % mentioned above of excited marketing leaders feel confident using AI. Perhaps even worse, only 10% of them are currently using the technology to its full extent. Work must be done to close the gap between hype and implementation of AI to actualize its benefits day-to-day and prepare for a vastly changed marketing landscape. Despite this disconnect, an astonishing 98% of marketing leaders say they expect to see benefits from using AI.