How To... Make The Most Of AI

We are still in the earliest days of the AI age, but you can see the beginnings of a transformation that will ultimately touch all industries and every brand. 

Today, it’s digital-native brands exploiting AI, primarily to support basic everyday tasks. Amazon Echo’s personal assistant Alexa is the great example here: you can organise your calendar or order your shopping - though not yet pick up the dry-cleaning. Spotify, meanwhile, uses AI to recommend tunes you haven’t heard before but already love with their “Discover Weekly” service. Both are value-adding, brand extensions that AI has suddenly made possible.

But the important fact to highlight is that AI, as it stands, is still in its infancy. For example, the general rush to use chatbots for customer service channels is fine for very simple tasks and interactions, but it’s not smart enough – yet – for most brand interactions, which need to convey a much richer, and ultimately human, set of values: trust, emotion, intuition and creativity.  

I might hire a car from a chatbot, but I don't think I'd buy one; I might agree a mortgage with a chatbot, but I don't think I'd buy a house from one; I’m happy for Alexa to order my shopping, but I don't want to eat an omelette prepared by AI. Not yet. And perhaps never!

The fear that ‘robots are stealing our jobs’ is currently overblown.  We’re a very long way from that. That being said, there’s no denying that AI is the next big tech disruptor, as transformative as digital has been, and as with digital, all brands will ultimately have to exploit it in some way to stay ahead of the game.  

And, eventually, a huge amount of online services will be powered by AI and based on algorithms. So while AI enables new products and services, it also carries the risk of homogenisation for your brand.  If you outsource your brand experience to robots, who can provide utility but not emotion, how will you differentiate yourself? 

Brand, then, looks to become more important than ever. Your personality, your values, and your beliefs will be what cuts through as everything else becomes indistinguishable.  AI will drive increasing convergence in online experience, based on ruthless exploitation of “neuro-analytics”, but consumers will always prefer services with soul.  

Think of price comparison sites Go Compare, Compare the Market and MoneySupermarket.com.  Commodity services, in essence, but differentiated by heavy and ongoing investment in brand marketing and brand experience.  AI promises to bring a similar dynamic to banking, insurance, transportation and so on. 

Brands should be experimenting with AI while it’s still young in order to radically simplify their digital experience (removing forms etc), or to enable new products and services which add value to consumers. But be aware of the risks further down the road. 

As humans, we’re wired a certain way; we are drawn to personality and we’re delighted by serendipity. AI is a double edged sword and threatens to rob the unpredictability of brand interaction. The opportunity now is to think about how to double down on what sets you apart and what you stand for. It will be your most sustainable competitive advantage long after we’ve trained robots to make breakfast.