Be Water, My Friend – AI and How It Will Affect You

I have written about how we are adapting to use solutions provided that are powered by AI at Brandcore, now I am going to discuss how it looks like as a creative in the field.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is undoubtedly going to change the way we live and work, and it’s only going to become more prevalent in the future. As a layperson, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure of how AI will affect you personally. Here are a few ways you can prepare for the changes that are coming, in short, as Bruce Lee said, “Be water, my friend” even if we are now dealing with a massive teapot and the pressure is higher than ever before :-

1. Be open to change :

AI is a disruptive technology, meaning it has the potential to fundamentally change the way we work and live. This can be both exciting and scary, but it’s important to be open to the changes that are coming. Don’t hold on to romantic ideals about what your job was or what experience you had. An example would be a photographer holding on to using film for his work even as the world moved to digital. There are examples of photographers who are still able to survive, but these are usually very good at what they do, or excellent at marketing to the niche market. In actual fact, 99% of professional film photographers would disappear if they cannot change their ways.

Those who are willing to learn new skills and adapt to new technologies survive to fight for another day.

2. Be more efficient :

As AI becomes more prevalent, it’s likely that your work scope will change. In the short run, you’re competing against humans with AI in your own field, not AI directly. It’s important to be more efficient at using AI tools and learning, and adapting fast.

As tools start to get built, there will be transitional gaps that professionals can fill. For example, tools like Midjourney can produce work, but it’s up to professionals to adapt and make it something that serves their clients’ needs. This means being adaptable, creative, and always looking for ways to improve your skills.

Some Photoshop work had to be done to adapt an image generated by Midjourney

3. Be one step ahead :

Try to predict how AI will affect your industry, and be proactive about adapting.

Some industries will disappear completely, and it’s important to pivot quickly before that happens. Look at the example of Blockbuster Video, which was completely destroyed by the rise of streaming services like Netflix. However, some companies, like Kodak, were able to adapt and pivot while phasing out their old products. They moved from film to digital cameras, and now they’re involved in a variety of industries like printing, packaging, and functional printing.

In conclusion, AI is going to change the world as we know it, but it doesn’t have to be a scary thing. By being open to change, being more efficient, and being one step ahead, you can prepare yourself for the future and thrive in a world where AI is everywhere.

Will we survive in the long run? We are looking at global trends, and only time will tell, but in the meantime, we best move fast to stay in the game.


3 Ways Generative AI Can Be Applied To Your Marketing

So I’ve shared a bit about my philosophy when using Generative AI like ChatGPT, Dall-E and Midjourney. Companies across different industries are harnessing its power to improve their business processes. Here are three ways that generative AI can take your marketing strategy to the next level :

Source: Rethink Ideas

  1. AI-Generated Visuals

With the help of marketing agency Rethink Ideas, Heinz launched what they described as “the first-ever ad campaign with visuals generated entirely by artificial intelligence.” Using the AI image generator DALL-E 2, the agency noticed that prompts related to ketchup frequently produced results that look just like bottles of Heinz. By encouraging consumers to share their own AI prompts for ketchup-based imagery, the campaign resulted in unique and creative visuals that captured the essence of the brand.

  1. Personalized Content

Generative AI can help you create personalized content for your audience. With the ability to analyze vast amounts of data, generative AI can create personalized ads, emails, and social media posts that cater to the interests and preferences of individual customers. This not only increases engagement but also improves customer satisfaction and loyalty.

One quick example is putting the following prompt :

  1. Product Recommendations

By using generative AI to analyze customer data, you can provide personalized product recommendations that cater to the needs and preferences of your audience. This not only increases the chances of a sale but also improves the overall customer experience.

Similar to the example above, you can provide customer data for ChatGPT to analyse. There will be new plugins that would be catered to these tasks, no doubt, but these are what you can do immediately now with ChatGPT.

So have you started playing with the technology yet?

For now, just by using AI-generated visuals, personalized content and product recommendations, one can create a marketing strategy that’s not only effective but also tailored to your customers’ needs and preferences.

But as a caveat, one should always apply some common sense and bring your own business experience in understanding what is generated. ChatGPT is known to be inaccurate and would ‘hallucinate’, i.e. make up things when it doesn’t have the data, and still sound extremely confident. So it is prudent to do a bit of follow up research to check what it comes up with.

Even a simple Google search would do wonders.