Marketable – Ep. 5 – Be Afr*AI*D?

About the episode

This podcast episode of Marketable, hosted by Jeff Barry and Ryan Jones, discusses the impact of AI on marketing, writing, and creative fields, as well as its potential implications for the future.

Agenda

– The rise of AI in marketing and creative fields

– The potential implications of AI on jobs and industries

– The usefulness of AI as a research and writing tool

– The future of AI and its potential impact on society

Takeaways

Takeaway 1: AI is becoming a powerful and useful tool in marketing, but its potential impact on jobs remains uncertain.

The recent advancements in AI have generated both excitement and concern among marketing professionals. In the podcast, Ryan mentioned that they initially felt curious about new technology and started tinkering with Chat GPT 3.5 a few months ago. However, concerns over AI potentially making jobs obsolete also arose. Jeff shared how AI has already shown incredible potential as a research tool and in generating content, but its ability to develop its own voice and style remains to be seen.

Ryan said, “I really approach it more from a place of curiosity, and I want to engage with these tools and play with them.” While they acknowledged the concern surrounding AI taking over jobs, they emphasized the importance of engaging with the technology and exploring its potential. Jeff highlighted the need to be informed about AI and its capabilities, suggesting that marketing professionals should experiment with AI platforms and share their experiences.

Takeaway 2: AI can be a valuable tool for creating content, but it currently lacks the ability to empathize with an audience.

While AI has proven to be useful in generating content, the podcast participants agreed that it still lacks the ability to truly connect with an audience. Ryan explained that AI in its current form is based on predictive language models, which means it doesn’t think or feel like a human writer would. They added, “It has no voice, it has no soul, it has no style.”

Despite these limitations, Ryan acknowledged the potential benefits of AI in helping to overcome the “blank page problem” and providing a starting point for content creation. Jeff emphasized the importance of being informed about AI and engaging with it, concluding, “Whether you can use it or whether you can’t, we need to be informed about it.”

Takeaway 3: The future of AI’s impact on jobs and creativity remains uncertain, but curiosity and engagement are key to staying ahead.

The podcast participants acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding AI’s future capabilities and potential impact on jobs in the marketing industry. Ryan suggested that while it’s natural to feel concerned about AI, it’s essential to remain curious and engage with the technology to understand its potential better.

They also encouraged listeners to share their own experiences and success stories with AI, stating, “We’d love to hear your experiences and maybe we’ll share those in a future installment of Be Afraid? AI?”Jeff agreed, adding, “It is an exciting tool, and we want to hear more about it.”

Insights surfaced

– AI has been making significant advancements in the last few weeks, becoming more present and useful in various industries.

– AI tools like Chat GPT can be extremely useful for research and generating content, although they may not have a unique voice or style yet.

– There is a concern that AI could replace jobs in the creative field, but currently, AI-generated content still requires human input and editing.

– AI tools are becoming more integrated into various platforms, such as Photoshop and Writer.

– Engaging with AI tools and staying informed about their development is crucial for professionals in marketing and creative fields.

Key quotes

1. “We’re at a moment in time that we’re going to look back and say, this is where we really started to feel the presence of AI and also the usefulness of it.” – Jeff

2. “I asked Chat GPT, give me some statistics about how cooking videos are performing on YouTube. And it pulled up these, like, five bullet points with very specific statistics.” – Ryan

3. “It’s got the logic aspect of it, but it has no voice, it has no soul, it has no style.” – Ryan

4. “We might end up in a doomsday hellscape with robot skeletons stomping on our rotting skulls. But on the other hand, we might be at the dawn of a great set of new tools that open things up for us.” – Ryan

5. “We need to be informed about [AI]. And the only way to do that is to experiment with it, give it a shot.” – Ryan

6. “I’d love to hear some success stories. Right now, because like you said, it is in its pubescence. But it’s exciting. It’s an exciting tool and we want to hear more about it.” – Ryan