Unsettling Aura of AI
The buzz around AI is palpable. It elicits a mix of emotions – excitement, dread, confusion.
On one hand, there’s promise in cost savings and streamlining redundancies. Organizations are embracing technology like ChatGPT for content creation and procedural documentation, benefitting from AI’s evolving intelligence. The horizon is rich with potential for businesses to leverage such innovations.
However, from the outset, a disquieting sensation has lingered.
Conversations with friends in the marketing sphere painted a picture of fear regarding their professional futures. Will graphic designers lose work to AI-generated logos? Will copywriters be replaced by ChatGPT? The unease among creatives is understandable. Can our skillsets be so effortlessly supplanted?
Copyright Conundrum
Consider recent events like the actors’ strike or the lawsuit spearheaded by Sarah Silverman against ChatGPT. Whenever AI is mentioned, copyright worries surface. Today’s headlines detail apprehensions about AI manipulating elections through deepfakes, underscoring the pervasive uncertainty in utilizing AI technology. A pivotal concern revolves around who steers its course. With scarce regulation and boundless potential, how can we discern its appropriate applications? What verges on cringeworthy (cue AI-generated LinkedIn profile pictures), and what is deemed acceptable?
A jarring revelation was the emergence of AI influencers on Instagram. Indistinguishable from humans, these digital avatars secure lucrative brand endorsements for products like apparel and cosmetics. This surreal facet of AI resonated deeply with me, exuding a sense of subterfuge and, frankly, indolence.
Celebrating Authenticity
As a steadfast advocate for authenticity, AI appears diametrically opposed to my core values. Employing ChatGPT for content creation feels akin to having a friend complete my assignments. Tasking AI with graphic design seems like a disservice to the myriad talented creatives I admire. Yet, grappling with my reservations, I pondered: am I akin to my parents who dismissed emails and the internet as passing trends?
In a bid to avert becoming a relic of technology, I confronted myself with a pivotal inquiry, one I extend to you:
How can AI be wielded in harmony with our values?
Reflecting on queries such as whether I would engage with content crafted by ChatGPT users, my response was resolute – no. Thus, I assume responsibility for all my content creation. How about AI fabricating my portraits? Once more, the answer was negative, leading me to enlist a photographer for unfiltered visuals.
Embracing Innovation
In both professional and personal realms, I treasure creativity, authenticity, quality, and enjoyment. Aligning with these principles, the path forward becomes unequivocal.
AI serves as a wellspring of inspiration for me. When confronted with writer’s block on headlines or brand messaging, I leverage AI to unearth synonymous terms or alternative phrasings for experimentation. This practice not only entertains me but harmonizes with my creative ethos. Moreover, I relish the whimsical application of technology in societal commentary, exemplified by McDonald’s MCD Brazil’s ingenious campaign where ChatGPT was tasked to anoint the world’s most iconic burger, adorning outdoor billboards in São Paulo, sparking a playful rivalry with Burger King. Such inventive melding of trendsetting technology with brand marketing is a delightful approach.
Upholding Human Connection
As we navigate this realm rife with uncertainties – a perpetual state for entrepreneurs and marketers – I assume the mantle of a keen observer. I scrutinize, discern what resonates with me, and ascertain which applications align with my brand amidst technological evolution.
AI, I believe, possesses the capacity to illuminate both our finest and darkest qualities. For entrepreneurs contending with scarce resources, the implications of AI are vast and transformative. Yet, let us not lose sight of our core objective – engaging with humans, a nuanced species characterized by intricate emotions, conflicting priorities, and, above all, heart – an essence that eludes replication by AI.
In the arena of AI integration, triumph befalls the brands that infuse technology in concert with their values, elucidating their ethos. While a dollar store employing AI influencers and ChatGPT directives might elicit no surprise, envisioning Louis Vuitton traversing a similar route would evoke a markedly different narrative.
Discover your optimal approach, but steadfastly safeguard your principles.
The original article “AI is the Antithesis of Authenticity — But There’s Hope. Here’s How We Can Align Our Human Values with AI.” was first published on MarketBeat.