Issue #16: Future of A-eye, video creation tutorial, AI audio ads and bionic dogs

Good morning.

The debate rages on in the mainstream press about the future of AI, whether the robots will take over and how many human jobs will be left.

Meanwhile, AI innovators are quietly developing breakthrough tech that could revolutionize the consumer journey.

And you won’t believe your eyes.

Connect ChatGPT to eye-tracking software and it can answer questions about what you’re looking at. Without you telling it what you’re seeing and therefore thinking about.

It literally gets your POV as a data source, and can then generate the information you want.

No need to explain what you think you’re looking at, or to upload an image to go deeper on it. Simply look at it, and ask ChatGPT to tell you all about it.

It’s early-stage research, but the marketing implications could be immense.

Imagine this tech deployed for advertising: consumers see a product they like via an impactful ad, and can instantly discover more information, reviews and where to buy simply by looking at it. No search terms necessary.

It would make the journey from eye-catching ad to checkout even quicker, with no time to lose momentum.

Meanwhile, over at Octopus Energy they’ve discovered customers prefer AI-generated emails over those written by people, according to The Times. Bot-written messages got 80% customer satisfaction while human-written ones scored just 65%.

AI is now doing the work of 250 Octopus staff. But before you ready yourself for the layoffs, those staff have not been made redundant. They’ve been redeployed. Proving that AI can very effectively be used to enhance rather than replace.

Ready to discover how you can do the same?

In today’s issue:

• Whose voice would convince you to spend money?

• How to fit AI into your content marketing strategy

• The receptionist in your pocket

• The challenges of the AI revolution: how people are redefining what’s possible

• What happens when wisdom and AI don’t mix

• Botecelli’s Venus eats pizza by Lake Como and rides a bike through Rome

Let’s dive in.

BIONIC JUICE

We’re now at the stage where not using AI will limit you - but using it indiscriminately isn’t good enough.

Adapting your workflow to make the most of both AI output and your skill set is key.

Whether you use AI to streamline your marketing department or operate an international advertising agency, when you combine the two abilities, your outreach will connect with audiences with unparalleled efficiency.

In a tutorial from expert news and politics journalist Lisa Remillard, you can learn how a pro works with generative AI to create content for more than 2.5 million followers.

With AI-powered video creation tool BigVu in tow, Lisa walks you through how to prompt, edit, optimize and fuel motion content with creativity–short or long form.

Lisa specializes in coaching business owners and entrepreneurs on both video creation and marketing - so whether you’re looking to upgrade your TikTok game, or want to see how a pro uses prompts for ultimate engagement, the skills outlined are applicable across the board.

Now, take that AI-generated, expertly-attuned script - and embed it directly into your content strategy.

How?

This guide is a good place to start on how to seamlessly slot generative AI into your marketing tactics - straight from Samyutha Reddy, the Head of Enterprise Marketing at Jasper.

She talks about how to use ChatBots to gauge angles, summarize viewpoints, adapt content across platforms and translate that handy data into multi-channel strategies.

Reddy’s most worthwhile excerpt, however, is about the pitfalls marketing teams often fall into when shifting to an AI-assisted marketing approach. However, with just a few preventative measures, these mistakes are also easily avoided.

She outlines a fascinating point that I’ve rarely seen mentioned before: the importance of raising content demand at a sustainable pace, despite AI’s assistance, to maintain quality.

The article is full of invaluable pointers that every marketer will benefit from.

LATEST DISCOVERIES

Who’s on your side?

If Nationwide sprang to mind, you’re not alone. Over 92.6% of respondents recognized the iconic Insurance agency’s jingle in a 2020 survey. Impressive, considering it was first used way back in 1960.

Advertising first blessed our ears in the 1920s when the radio went mainstream. That birthed the creation of audio commercials.

From that iconic McDonald’s da-da-da-daa-da to Meow Mix’s infectious “Meow, meow, meow, meow!”, radio paved the way for a whole new approach to branding.

And now, even the airwaves are becoming bionic.

The future of audio advertising was already reaching new heights with the introduction of smart speakers. Now, that personalized technology means that soon you’ll probably be hearing A-list celebs calling your name to sell you a can of Coca-Cola.

Perhaps we’ll even see ads using the voices of your favorite TV characters to really drive that hard sell.

But AI doesn’t stop there. Let’s go from the past right into the present - influencer marketing is next.

PR specialists, social media managers and content creators know a huge percentage of an influencer’s job is emailing and brainstorming. Their leverage comes from the fact that they’re an individual, not a faceless big brand.

It’s that authentic, human connection that keeps their scalability with AI surprisingly sustainable.

The peak of a brand’s advertising is when it truly connects with audiences. That’s where influencers come in.

In a conversation with end-to-end marketing platform Captiv8’s CEO Krishna Subramanian, she shed light on the fine blend of art and science required to nail the perfect partnerships between influencer and brand.

They work with a range of data points that go far beyond the typical considerations: marital status, parental status, allergies, and even the influencer’s make of car all go into facilitating those invaluable connections.

Adapting your skillset to capitalize on that rare sweet spot of art and science will skyrocket your market value.

According to Fiverr’s latest Business Trends Index, the demand for AI expertise has risen by 1000% since January alone. That’s a huge, untapped market for anyone with an aptitude for prompting and a head for marketing.

And it’s not just freelancer platforms that are feeling the buzz. Even world leaders are tapping into AI’s potential to remedy financial insecurities.

Back in March, the UK’s GDP growth was forecast to sink to the bottom of the G20 - second only to Russia.

Between damning forecasts and a huge cost of living spike, the UK’s financial insecurity would have usually amounted to recession. In any case, now would not be the time to launch your dream start-up.

But that’s not been the case. In fact, a record number of businesses are opening across the country.

Maybe that’s why Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, just announced a $120M fund for an AI taskforce.

It just goes to show that the only way to position yourself for success in this constantly evolving landscape is to embrace AI.

The UK isn't the only country going automated. Italy is also making strides with their latest tourism campaign. Taking a cue from VisitDenmark, Italy is using AI to promote their iconic tourist attractions and entice international visitors to the country.

The campaign paints Botecelli’s Venus as a modern-day influencer, getting up to your usual Italian vacation essentials: eating pizza by Lake Como, riding a bike through Rome’s cobbled streets, and strolling down the canals of Venice in trendy designer clothes.

AI in marketing: often genius, but can sometimes become disastrous.

A few weeks ago, Snapchat launched their latest initiative: MyAI. Initially, it was just for Snapchat+ users, the app’s subscription-only service (an interesting move on a platform dominated by teenagers who don’t have credit cards, but I digress).

They recently rolled out the feature to their global audience. But maybe they should have waited a bit longer.

Within days of launch, users took to social media to gripe about the feature, labeling it “useless” and “invasive”. Snapchat saw a huge spike in 1-star reviews.

Not a good look.

They’re one of many companies who immediately jumped to cramming AI into their platform, instead of considering why and how they should use it–if at all.

But improper use of AI can do more damage than a bit of bad PR.

The Editor-in-Chief at Die Aktuelle, a German woman’s magazine, was fired after publishing an AI-generated interview with Michael Schumacher.

The piece appeared on the magazine’s front cover with the headline, “Michael Schumacher, the first interview”. For context, Schumacher is a legendary racing car driver who hasn’t appeared in public since a serious brain injury in 2013.

And, although the piece was upfront about its use of AI, the consequent fallout proves that blindly diving in the deep end with emergent technology can be harmful.

Discernment and wisdom are the essential sidekicks to AI.

Funding:

$50M: Weaviate's AI-native vector database simplifies vector data management, making generating, storing, and searching embedding vectors and their corresponding objects for AI developers a breeze.

$12M: Dexter Energy secures €10.5M to help energy companies manage their short-term trading activities more effectively with the help of AI, streamlining the process and reducing risk.

$6M: A whole new audience for AI: Companion is working on an AI that detects and responds to dogs' emotional and physical needs, providing real-time insights to owners.

BIONIC TOOLKIT

Dread waking up to thirteen missed calls and hundreds of emails first thing on Monday - or any day, really?

Especially when most of them are simple queries that you probably already address on your site.

If only there was a way to get those questions answered by a clued-up assistant who could provide round-the-clock customer service without the costly overheads.

There’s an AI for that…

🤖 My AI Front Desk is a virtual receptionist software that uses AI to automate scheduling and Q&A over the phone. It can handle complex questions, schedule appointments, and answer inquiries even after hours.

The Front Desk is accessible via SMS, phone call or email, making it a convenient and efficient way to provide top-notch customer service.

Their service even comes with free setup and integration support, various forwarding options for call centers, and integrations with CRM tools for lead generation.

🤖 Do you love to sing, but often get concerned calls from your neighbors during your shower soprano sessions? Want to make music, but just can’t get the grasp of the guitar?

That’s where Boomy comes in.

Boomy allows users to create original songs in seconds without any prior music-making experience. A powerful multi-modal AI can generate customizable tracks, beats and even lyrics based on the user’s preferences.

Now, you can finally turn that poem you wrote into a sonata - without butchering it with shoddy piano skills.

The easy UI and straightforward text-to-result prompting method generate catchy melodies in minutes, with a fantastic customization suite that allows you to make each tune your own.

You can even publish songs on Boomy’s very own streaming platform, where fellow users can tune in and give feedback on your creations. And, if you discover an affinity for mixing, you can even monetize your top tracks.

So, get started, explore your untapped creativity through music and see your marketing genius evolve along with it.

🤖 Meditation has been scientifically proven to reduce anxiety, improve focus, enhance sleep and regulate emotions. If that sounds good, why not automate it?

Ogimi Labs is using AI to drive mindfulness and mental wellbeing with personalized, guided meditations.

The app works as a Chrome extension, perfect for anyone with a hectic workday to step back, take a breather, and enjoy a few moments of stillness. The personalized structure slots around each user’s routine perfectly, with a variety of different meditations for every user.

A built-in tool tracks meditation streaks and provides points, allowing users to compare their practice against friends and fellow Ogimi meditators - inspiration to invest a little more time in your mental health.

THE LAST BYTE

 Are you the type of person to run away from a challenge or toward it?

The AI revolution is a perfect litmus test.

People like Chet Bliss are showing how it’s done. Back in September 2022, he set himself the, ahem, modest goal of creating 100,000 images using AI image creation tool, Midjourney.

Yes, that is the right number of zeros.

He reached his target in just 8 months. That’s an average of 12,500 images per month.

And it’s no surprise that AI whisperer, Ethan Mollick, set himself a challenge, too. He wanted to find out exactly how much he could achieve using AI to create a marketing campaign–in 30 minutes. And what it achieved was spectacular.

It:

• did market research

• created a positioning document

• wrote an email campaign

• created a website

• created a logo and “hero shot” graphic

• made a social media campaign for multiple platforms

• scripted and created a video

And if you’re wondering how he did it, you can find out here.

Are you ready to take on your own AI challenge? You may just surprise yourself with what you can achieve. Let me know how you get on.

See you next week,
Sam Woods
Editor