ChatGPT was released to the public six months ago and quickly became the fastest application to reach 100 million users. OpenAI reached this milestone in just two months compared to TikTok’s 9 months and Instagram’s 2 ½ years.
The result of this enormous attention is that the world has quickly become aware of the advanced capabilities of generative AI. As of March 2023, 87% of consumers had heard of AI and 61% somewhat understood what generative AI is and how it works.
ChatGPT generates text from text prompts through a chatbot, but that’s not all generative AI can do. The popularity of ChatGPT also brought attention to OpenAI’s image generation tool. DALL-E 2 generates images from text prompts through a chatbot.
Despite the mass attention, AI tools have been around for years.
I first wrote about AI in a 2019 post “Artificial Intelligence And Social Media. How AI Can Improve Your Job Not Steal It.” In it, I talked about how AI was being used in algorithms, automation, machine learning, natural language processing, and image recognition.
That post also talked about how AI was used in chatbots to simulate human conversion, in predictive and prescriptive analytics, and in content generation. Examples included Patern89 which has been using AI to analyze content combinations and placement for optimization since 2016. Another example was Clinch which has used AI for content automation and personalized dynamic ad content across channels for years.
Since ChatGPTs release, there’s been a race to integrate generative AI.
The race began with ChatGPT being added to Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Then Google announced plans to integrate its generative AI Bard into Google search. Other platforms quickly announced integrations with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard such as Salesforce, Hootsuite, HubSpot, and Adobe. Microsoft and Google are even integrating ChaptGPT and Bard into Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace office software for writing, spreadsheets, and slides.
Yet they’re not the only options. Other generative AI tools include Jasper.ai and Copy.ai, for writing, and Midjourney and Stable Diffusion for image generation. Tools like Synthsia generates videos with human avatars and professional voiceovers from text prompts. Other examples of generative AI are summarized below.
AI content generation tool uses:
- Content research/Data collection
- Brainstorming/Idea generation
- Copywriting/Copyediting
- Summarizing/Note taking
- Image (photo/illustration) generation
- Video clip/Podcast clip generation
- Transcript generation/Automated post prep
- Ad/Post variation generation
- Video generation
- Podcast/Voice over generation
- Presentation generation
Generative AI tools come with new skills and considerations.
A new skill with these next gen tools is prompt writing. Prompts are the natural language used to ask a generative AI tool to produce something. More descriptive specific prompts produce better results like prompts that describe the tone of writing or style of an image. Yet be mindful potential of copyright issues with prompts to create text or an image in the style of a famous person without their permission.
A new consideration is the data set from which you train AI. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are trained on data from the open internet. This is what makes it so powerful, but this is also what can lead to copyright issues and sometimes create bias or incorrect results.
Other AI tools like Jasper.ai allow you to train on a specific dataset. For example, a brand could upload all its previous materials to establish a brand voice to write new copy. Adobe’s Firefly draws from Adobe’s stock library and tracks creator images used to ensure copyright compliance.
With the explosion of AI comes limitations and cautions.
Despite the mass adoption, this technology is in its early stages. There hasn’t been a lot of testing. Regulations, laws, and professional standards have yet to be developed. HubSpot suggests the following limitations, cautions, and warnings in using generative AI tools.
Cautions when using generative AI:
- AI can’t conduct original research or analysis.
- AI can get things wrong so you must fact check.
- AI doesn’t have lived experience and human insight.
- AI doesn’t ensure quality, strategy, and nuance.
- AI can contain biases that are not caught by filters.
- AI can have plagiarism and copyright issues.
Despite these cautions, alarm over societal harm, and escalating calls for regulation, the AI race is on. Even while companies, government, and scientists raise concerns, companies continue to integrate AI into mainstream products and services. Below is a sample of what’s been released or announced thus far.
Examples of Early AI Content Generation and Automation Tools in Major Platforms.
| Platform | Tool | Function |
| Hootsuite | OwlyWriter AI | Generates social media captions from URLs in different tone or voice, content ideas from prompts, auto recreation of top posts, and calendar events copy. |
| HubSpot | Content Assistant | Generate copy for blog posts, landing pages, emails and other content from idea to outline and copy generation. |
| ChatSpot | Conversational bot that automates CRM tasks including status updates, managing leads, finding prospects, generating reports, forecasts, and follow-up drafts. | |
| Salesforce | Einstein GPT | Auto-generates sales, service, and marketing tasks, content, targeting, messaging, reporting and personalization across channels. |
| Adobe | Firefly | Generate images, fill, text effects, and recolor from text prompts plus create content, and templates and edit video with simple text prompts – some inside Creative Suite. |
| Sensei GenAI | Automates tasks, optimizes and generates content and content variations across channels in Adobe’s Experience Cloud marketing platform. | |
| Canva | Magic Write | Generates copy, outlines, lists, captions, ideas, and drafts from text prompts. |
| AI Image Generator | Generates images from text prompts and various styles and aspect ratios. | |
| Meta | AI Sandbox | Tools that generate multiple versions of text and backgrounds, plus autocropping creative assets for various ad formats on Facebook and Instagram. |
| Grammarly | GrammarlyGo |
Generates writing and revisions relevant to tone, clarity, length, and task via text prompts in documents, emails, messages, and social media.
|
| Microsoft | Microsoft 365 Copilot | Generates tasks, content, documents, presentations, spreadsheets, emails, reports, summaries, updates across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams via text prompts and Business Chat. |
| Google Workspace Bard | Generate drafts, replies, summaries in Gmail, drafts, summaries, proofs in Docs, images, audio and video in Slides, auto analysis in Sheets, and notes in Meet. |
Do Consumers (Your Customers/Target Audience) Want AI?
Another consideration with artificial intelligence is the value consumers may put on human generated content and transparency in the use of AI. I began this article by saying that 87% of consumers are now aware of AI. In fact, 4 in 5 of them are convinced that it is the future.
Yet knowing something is the future and wanting that future are different things. The same consumer survey reveals that 3 in 5 (60%) are concerned or undecided about that future. What people are most concerned about is that AI will change what it means to be human.
As marketing communications professionals we need to stay up to date with all these technology advancements. We should use the latest tools to improve our profession and results for our business or clients. But we should also ensure that new technology is used responsibly and transparently.
Over 77% of consumers say brands should ensure biases and systems of inequality are not propagated by AI-based applications. Over 70% believe brands should disclose when they use AI to develop products, services, experiences, and content.
You Decide How To Best Use AI.
At its best, AI can help with the mundane, repetitive tasks of social media and digital marketing management. At its best, AI will enable you to focus on higher level strategic thinking. At its best, AI will not replace humans, but enable us to be more human.
It’s been 6 months since generative AI was brought to mainstream awareness. Companies are rushing to integrate this technology into everything they do. While we wait for regulations, laws, and professional standards to catch up, let’s use our own judgment in deciding when, where, and how best to use it.
For my latest insights into AI, I began a blog series in Summer 2024 with
Artificial Intelligence Use: A Framework For Determining What Tasks to Outsource To AI [Template]
This Was Human Created Content!