AI – just a buzz or flavor of the season?

Does AI make the complex simple? Or make the complex more complex? Does AI have any role in helping or aiding the branding process? Or shall we make it inclusive by stating – does AI help in the overall marketing and sales process? Is AI part of the larger digital fad sweeping across the communication industry as an asset for optics and loud audio, rather than helping real time applications?

Questions like these are more puzzles… For for you will find votaries on both sides of the AI argument. Yes, it is the in thing vs. it is all really a load of mumbo jumbo understood by just a few data nerds.

We think it has relevance and the intelligent know when and where to use it. Rather than get carried away by some fancy explanation of a remotely operating algorithm. You are not a Google right. To be that ubiquitous master of all search algorithms.

You are a B2B business which is confronting basic questions of who is my customer, what are their expectations, how do I deliver the services, how do I help my customer make a smarter choice …?

Into this scenario comes the AI conundrum. To unravel its relevance or otherwise, one needs to view it from the lens of a rationalist. Not a naysayer or as a sceptic but an evaluator.

What is AI?

Today AI seems to be a part of our everyday life. How has this been possible? From the large amounts of data that we are able to collect today and also the exponential growth of computing power. Let’s not forget that computers tend to be more accurate than humans. We quote from IBM,

“In computer science, the term artificial intelligence (AI) refers to any human-like intelligence exhibited by a computer, robot, or other machine. In popular usage, artificial intelligence refers to the ability of a computer or machine to mimic the capabilities of the human mind—learning from examples and experience, recognizing objects, understanding and responding to language, making decisions, solving problems—and combining these and other capabilities to perform functions a human might perform, such as greeting a hotel guest or driving a car.”

AI is dependent on data. And data has patterns. Once these patterns are recognised and established data scientists and the AI experts can actually embark upon a patterning exercise where they are training the computers to classify the data according to the pattern. The pattern is then given nomenclature and as more data feeds the isolated and pattern in question, the more accurate the whole exercise becomes in predicting behaviour. Once that is known to the collector of data and the patternmaker, the mining of insights and behavioural patterns are done. These in turn aid the decision making. That is a simplified explanation of AI at work.

Some AI jargon explained

Diving deeper into what is AI:

Start with the entire universe of computing technology. This is the AI sphere.

This means anything that can be driven by logic, coded and instructed with logic or a language, learns from a language by ingesting and digesting large amounts of data and then moves closer to behaving like humans by mimicking and imitating the neural networks in the human body and brain. So if you are thinking of free willed robot or a semi humanoid maybe that’s what we will end up with in a few decades!

When the applications or set of computers driven by a certain logic learn by itself it is machine learning. So when the machine learns it grows in its intelligence, ingests more and more data and actually reprograms itself to perform the assigned task with greater accuracy.

When the machine starts teaching itself without human intervention then it goes into the state of deep learning.

When does AI work?

When decisions are based on a robust foundation of data is where AI comes into play in the right earnest. Marketing enablement of sales, digital campaign management are the broad areas that AI can work for you.

If you want a DevOps philosophy to your brand management, then yes AI works for you. You would be aware that the DevOps model ensures that you do not view Development and Operations as a separate stack but as a continuing process of iterative development and decision making. Agility and collaboration are the key principles underlying the DevOps method. You could bring in these into the management of the brand.

Netflix and Amazon today suggest films to watch or products to buy thanks to AI.  With so much of fate being collected in the customer journey leading from searches before the intent sets in to the intent stage and the final decision, the data that is being collected on a large scale lends itself to patterning and a real time understanding of the behavior with AI in tow. What this means is agility that ensures laser sharp decision making and personalization of offerings, communication campaigns, emails and more to a degree that was not hitherto experienced.

Enablement with large amounts of data is where AI works.

Some common applications of AI

• STT (speech to text). Example – dictation software.
• NLP (natural language processing). Example – digital assistants like Alexa and Siri, chat bots
• Image recognition and emotional quotients. Examples – facial recognition, image analysis, emotion analysis while watching images, behaviors while driving and more
• Real time online recommendations based on past activity and activity of likeminded users and other related factors
• Household robots
• Stock trading
• Virus and spam preventions

AI and B2B – branding and enablement dimensions

Some areas you can use are:

• Understanding internet behavior
• Creation of relevant content
• Managing digital advertising campaigns
• Chat bots and other intelligent interventions that use NLP
• Managing the customer lead nurturing journey/relationships
• Campaign evaluation
• Channel management

As a closing thought, the B2B space that you operate in, brand and branding will always be critical to determining the overall perception. It will remain in a pre-eminent position. How well the business absorbs the digital aspects of AI into the branding and enablement framework is the look out. So, stay rooted…

Author : Raj Mohan Tella. August 17, 2021