At the Marketing AI Institute, we read dozens of articles on artificial intelligence every week to uncover the most valuable ones for our subscribers (become a subscriber today), and we curate them for you here. We call it 3 Links in 3 Minutes. Enjoy!
The Year of AI
Gartner estimates global business value derived from artificial intelligence will increase 70 percent this year to a total of $1.2 trillion. Yes, you read that correctly: trillion.
What’s more, Gartner predicts AI business value will reach $3.9 trillion by 2022.
John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner, elaborates, "AI promises to be the most disruptive class of technologies during the next 10 years due to advances in computational power, volume, velocity and variety of data, as well as advances in deep neural networks (DNNs).”
To measure this, Gartner assesses AI-derived business value across all the enterprise vertical sectors Gartner covers. The three sources of business value include customer experience (the positive or negative effects on indirect cost), new revenue, and cost reduction incurred in keeping up with new demand.
Lovelock explains the direction Gartner sees AI products going, “One of the biggest aggregate sources for AI-enhanced products and services acquired by enterprises between 2017 and 2022 will be niche solutions that address one need very well. Business executives will drive investment in these products, sourced from thousands of narrowly focused, specialist suppliers with specific AI-enhanced applications."
Sergey Brin’s AI Warning
The week, The Verge shared news of Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s warning against today’s “technology renaissance.” According to Brin, this renaissance is a result of the current boom in artificial intelligence.
“The new spring in artificial intelligence is the most significant development in computing in my lifetime. Every month, there are stunning new applications and transformative new techniques. Such powerful tools also bring with them new questions and responsibilities.”
Brin touches on the ways Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is utilizing AI (Google Photos, Google Translate, Waymo’s self-driving cars, and more), as well as the problems AI poses. He specifically mentions how AI will affect employment, the challenges of creating unbiased and transparent algorithms, and how it can be used to manipulate people.
Brin’s full annual Founder’s Letter can be read here.
Read This Before Investing in AI
We’re all aware of the popularity of artificial intelligence in the marketing space. But before investing company resources into AI, Element Three recommends asking yourself these four questions.
First, is your data ready for AI? For an AI system to be the most effective, it needs loads of clean and accurate data that actually answers the question your AI is working on.
Second, are the AI solutions you’re vetting utilizing technology to its full potential? “AI solutions” are a dime a dozen today. Investigate how AI and machine learning are actually being applied before purchasing.
Third, how easily will your marketing stack integrate with these AI tools? Take a closer look at how each solution integrates with your current marketing stack and prepare a detailed plan for implementing.
Fourth, are there more immediate opportunities available to provide ROI? Can your business benefit from a quick win like lead nurturing with marketing automation or paid and programmatic advertising?
Ashley Sams
Ashley Sams is director of marketing at Ready North. She joined the agency in 2017 with a background in marketing, specifically for higher education and social media. Ashley is a 2015 graduate of The University of Mount Union where she earned a degree in marketing.