Artificial Intelligence, is it taking over?

A quick glance through any serious trends reports in the last couple of years, you would have read about ‘robotics’ ‘artificial intelligence’ and how they are changing the world.  And as a side note, how they could one day replace majority of our jobs.  But is that a fact?

Let’s look at the job of a marketing executive.  His/her work comprises of a bundle of tasks.  Therefore, if some tasks can be improved by automation/robotics/AI – it only means that the marketing executive has more time to focus on tasks that are not.  Which inevitably will be more to do with creativity, intuition and judgement.   Yes, there are already melodies and songs created through AI – but we can be sure it will take a while for people to start listening to Robots more than Rihanna.  

A recent report from Dell says 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented yet.  And get ready for the very nature of work to change, the report argues. Rather than people chasing jobs, "work will chase people".  The ‘gig economy’ that’s currently gaining momentum will be the norm.  

But for sure the market place is going to look different in a world run by AI and Robots?  If I don’t have to step out of my home for work, will I still need the same products daily?  How does that impact automobile, fashion industries?  If I have more time on my hands because lot of the tedious time-consuming tasks are automated, will leisure and entertainment become much more important in my life? How does it affect the way I shop?  Do I need to be aware of the brands or will my AI assistant scour through various brands to choose and shop from the ones that most suit my needs?  Will it all be done between the brand’s AI and consumers’ AI devices without any need for personal intervention?

It’s difficult for us in marketing to fully realise the potential these technologies have in the future.  However, one thing is sure.  Human interaction will be dominated by data.  Therefore, it’s important for all brands to adopt technologies that allow for data capturing and intelligence.