Key Takeaways From Artificial Intelligence Panel At American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame

Last week, the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony hosted a thought-provoking panel discussion, “Will AI Make our Jobs (or Take our Jobs),” at Universal Mccann in New York City. Moderated by Kerushan Govender, CEO & Founder of Blackfox and Audience and Membership Chair for AMA New York, the panel expressed diverse opinions on the optimal use of artificial intelligence in marketing.

The panel consisted of marketing experts Tessa Burg, CTO of ModOp, David Berkowitz, Founder of AI Marketers Guild, Donnovan Andrews, Global Consulting Principal of Artificial Intelligence at Ogilvy Consulting, and Dan Lowden, CMO of Blackbird.AI (and my father), who shared numerous insightful perspectives on AI’s transformative impact on marketing practices.

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During the discussion, Dan Lowden emphasized the importance of fostering synergy between humans and AI to develop and enhance marketing strategies that optimally serve customer needs and business objectives. Lowden underscored the necessity of harmonizing human ingenuity and AI’s analytical prowess to craft tailored, resonant, and trustworthy marketing experiences that effectively engage target audiences to serve them better.

Another panelist, Tessa Burg, prioritized establishing ethics when using AI to gather customer data, implicitly through behaviors and explicitly through stated preferences. While enhancing customer experience, she strongly recommended AI ethics councils to ensure responsible value creation. Burg highlighted the complex feelings around AI, which is not yet fully embraced but is increasingly indispensable when used thoughtfully and responsibly within a solid ethical framework.

The panel discussion highlighted the immense potential of AI to transform marketing and accentuated the critical importance of human-AI collaboration. Panelists emphasized that while AI can streamline repetitive tasks and provide powerful analytical capabilities, human ingenuity and oversight remain essential. They advocated for an approach focused on strategy and outcomes, using AI as an enabler while prioritizing brand value, ethics, and governance. Key opportunities identified included using AI for data-driven insights into implicit behaviors and explicit preferences to enhance brand experiences. However, it is crucial to mitigate risks related to AI-generating misinformation.

Ultimately, AI was viewed not as a job replacement but as a catalyst for humans to focus on their unique value that machines cannot replicate. Moving forward requires building trust through education, ethical frameworks, and merging human creativity with AI’s computational scale for optimized, impactful marketing strategies.

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Top insights from panelists included the following:

• Embrace AI cautiously to enhance customer experience, ensuring it aligns with brand values and customer needs.
• Increases free time and opportunities for creativity and innovation as AI automates tasks.
• Human-AI collaboration is essential for building trust, addressing AI’s limitations, and ensuring ethical use.
• Exposure to data science and technical fields broadens perspectives on AI’s benefits and capabilities.
• Monitor for AI-generated misinformation that could negatively impact brand reputation and take steps to mitigate this risk.

Leveraging AI to improve the customer experience requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. Human-AI collaboration is vital to building trust while addressing AI’s inherent limitations. Exposure to data science and technical fields can broaden perspectives on AI’s potential benefits and appropriate use cases. A strategic, outcomes-first mindset in organizations is crucial. First, define the desired outcomes, then derive insights and leverage AI as an enabler to achieve those goals. Robust governance, ethics guidelines, and rigorous testing are necessary to mitigate risks like AI hallucinations providing false outputs or spreading misinformation that could undermine the brand’s reputation. AI automates repetitive tasks, freeing up humans’ capacity for creativity and uniquely valuable contributions. 

However, effective real change management involves educating teams to redirect focus from task replacement to emphasizing human values that AI cannot replicate. While AI democratizes access to powerful technologies, understanding best and worst-case scenarios is essential. A balanced approach harnessing AI’s potential under human oversight and a customer-centric ethical framework is vital for successful AI-driven experience enhancement.

Finding the right balance between utilizing AI’s capabilities and preserving human ingenuity is crucial. AI should augment marketing professionals to help them do greater work but not replace them. By developing ethical frameworks, prioritizing brand values, and merging AI’s computational scale with creative strategy, marketers can harness AI’s power to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Understanding AI’s strengths and limitations will allow human-centric marketing that builds trust and drives businesses forward.

‍To learn more about how Blackbird.AI can create synergy, book a demo.