May 25, 2017

Forbes Agency Council

PR, media strategy, creative & advertising execs share trends & tips , Forbes

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Even if we are not always aware of it, artificial intelligence is already a big part of our lives, having a major impact on how we live and how we work. From customer service applications to voice-powered assistants such as Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa, there are several examples of AI and automation tools in use today.

As technological advancements continue, AI's role in our lives will only grow bigger. There are even concerns that AI will soon make most human-filled jobs obsolete and ultimately leave millions unemployed. And according to the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, these concerns are not entirely unfounded. In a report put together for the previous U.S. administration, the subcommittee suggests that up to 47% of jobs risk becoming irrelevant because of technological advancement and that 83% of jobs that pay under $20 an hour will most likely be automated within the next few years.

Whether that prediction comes true or not, the fact remains that widespread AI adoption can have multiple benefits for a business and its employees, such as higher quality work, improved reliability, increased and consistent output. Automation of routine tasks can actually help workers spend more time on creative tasks that provide enhanced value to the company and its customers. Below, 15 Forbes Agency Council members discuss ways in which artificial intelligence and automation can actually help workers become better at their jobs in the next few years

1. Give Deeper Insights

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation will transform the job of PR professionals. Tasks such as news monitoring, researching, reporting and building media lists will no longer need to be done manually. AI and predictive analytics will give PR professionals deeper insights into market trends and movements. The combination will help free up mind space so PR can think more strategically, creatively and high-level.   - Chi Zhao, Hokku PR

2. Replace Day-To-Day Low-Level Cognitive Tasks 

AI, automation and machine learning will impact day-to-day tasks considerably in the next five years. The main focus will be on low-level cognitive tasks: scheduling calendar invites, routinely ordering food, determining emails to answer/review/delete based on facts. They'll also be working their way into aiding high-level cognitive tasks: identifying connections, analyzing correlation and assessing conclusions.   - Alan Morte, Three Ventures Technology, Inc.

3. Act As Life's Concierge Service

With the popularity of Alexa, Watson and Einstein, consumer expectation will soon be for tech to act as concierge. Big Data companies now anticipate general real-time needs and provide info (weather, traffic, etc.) but AI's evolution post-purchase to provide highly personalized info means it will soon anticipate my daily individual needs to recommend when, where, and how I accomplish my tasks.   - Elizabeth Poston, Helios Interactive

4. Make Marketing Less Artificial And More Intelligent 

AI will enable companies to develop even deeper relationships with people. Cognitive technology, such as IMB's Watson, enable us to analyze data like unstructured text, audio, images and video. Sensing and processing personality, tone and emotion will help us make even greater personalized recommendations and help companies engage in conversations through chatbots.   - Debbie Williams, SPROUT Content

5. Automate Customer Support 

Using chatbots for automated customer support will save a lot of time. Chatbots that are available 24/7 for customers and can automatically answer your questions, provide recommendations, or direct you to the next step in your workflow can take a lot of weight off your customer support system. Furthermore, bots can gather intelligence on customer needs, engagements and emotions.   - Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

6. Put Great Minds To Good Use 

We often find ourselves and our staff stuck doing mundane tasks. This realistically holds us and our teams back from unleashing our problem-solving skills and our creativity. Jumping on AI and workflow automation will help us clear our plates of tasks including sorting, organizing, responding, or reporting, and will leave us and our teams more time to be productive.   - Ahmad Kareh, Twistlab Marketing

7. Edit Video Content On The Fly 

AI will eventually edit content that we produce in real time, developing an infinite number of variations instantaneously once published. Shots will be switched out, music and sound effects will change on the fly, all dictated by real-time user engagement and personal characteristics of the viewer. We're already creating multiple versions of each video we create – it's time a robot does it for us!   - Chris Carter, Rep Interactive