đ¤ Oh Look, Another B2B Organisation Talking About A.IâŚ
Everyone on LinkedIn at the moment is obsessing over A.I. Like, worryingly so. When I say âworryinglyâ, I mean it in a very literal, macro sense, but not in the way of âitâs going to destroy us allâ. I mean it in the same way you might worry about your friend whoâs drinking too much coffee and youâre not quite sure how to tell them to slow down because itâs clearly making them more anxious, but theyâre super fixated on what it does.Â
Recently, Morning Brew/Good Work made a video entitled âIs A.I. Overhyped?â. Itâs a funny video, one that also has some legitimate journalism within it, featuring interviews with Alex Konrad, Senior Editor at Forbes; Jason Abaluck, Professor of Economics at Yale University; and Kyla Scanlon, Financial Educator, Author, and Creator. By the end, the general consensus to the question was âYes andâ or âNo butâ.
In the video, Scanlon says that there is too much money being put into A.I. when we have much more serious issues to sort out and that, all AI is, is yet another thing to replace Crypto in the hype cycle. On the other hand, Abaluck says that the companies receiving funding for their A.I. projects probably, on average, do deserve it.Â
Before we get into the real meat and potatoes of this article, Iâd like to briefly shift perspectives, just to cover all bases. Phil Rowley, Head of Futures at Omnicom Media Group, UK, made a post on LinkedIn with this photo front and centre:
People seem keen to swap AI âpromptsâ â digital provocations that will elicit weird and wonderful outputs from our newfound Generative AI tools,â he wrote. But donât forget, it can also work the other way round: Generative AI is just as likely to prompt us. Its results can trigger associations and memories and make connections that force us to push our creativity further. Our ideas fuel AI, but in turn, its ideas fuel our ideas.
He encourages the reader to look at the photo he posted, claiming that it inspires him to think of a backstory to accompany it. He ends the post saying âRemember itâs Human x Machine. Not Human v Machine.â
Iâd like you to keep that in mind as we move forward. Stew on it. How do you feel about that?
đ The Opportunities of AI in B2B
Forrester Research Inc. recently released a report entitled âGenerative AI Ignites Change in B2B Contentâ. In it, it says that 65% of B2B marketersâ companies are investigating, experimenting with, or already using A.I. to plan and produce content. This is due to A.I.âs ability to help marketers to think beyond personalisation and help repackage content so it meets the customersâ needs.
A.I. also helps access and analyse new data, summarising it in ways that can help to simplify a marketerâs job. It can be used to prompt and make the process easier. Forrester encourages B2B marketers to use A.I. to differentiate themselves from the competition by creating unique content that showcases customer experiences, as well as perspectives based on their companyâs data or offerings.
But (and itâs a big but), if everyone is using AI then⌠doesnât it kind of lose its value?
đ The Problems With AI
The hype is honestly the main problem with A.I. Even before Morning Brewâs video, it was getting unbearable even for the likes of us at SaaS Marketer. B2B marketers canât help themselves; they find something like A.I. or Crypto and they rinse it for all its worth whilst itâs still in its infancy, convincing the general public that it is the future, that it is going to change the world, that people need to get with the times (for those who have read Akira: ring any bells?). Eventually it will burn and exhaust itself. Itâs a tiring cycle, one that breeds fatigue and polarisation; maybe the industry wants that, itâs betting on it. But my god, isnât that sad?Â
Donât get it twisted, I have no doubt whatsoever that it likely will be the future, but is it not a bit early to be making such claims? Should we not put our efforts into the unification of people and the healing of the climate? I know I know, thatâs not a very B2B, venture capitalist, entrepreneurial mindset, but⌠look at the state of the world for a second.
Look at it. Seriously.
Now look me in the eyes and tell me, with confidence, that our B2B obsession with A.I. and LinkedIn hype is making any of it better. A.I. isnât going to fill that gaping hole, kids.Â
Trust me. Not much ever does.
Sam Hollis is a Writer for Fame, SaaS Marketer, as well as his own fictional short stories. He lives and works in Birmingham with his three cats and his dog (way too many pets, if you ask us)