Intelligence (AI) had a breakthrough year in 2016, not only with machine learning, but with public awareness as well. And it's only going to continue. This year, most marketers believe consumers are ready for the technology.
AI IN A NUTSHELL
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next, logical step in computing: a program that can figure out things for itself. It's a program that can reprogram itself.
The Three Ds of Artificial Intelligence
The shorthand for remembering what's special about AI is that it can detect, deliberate, and develop– all on its own.
Detect
Artificial intelligence can discover which elements or attributes in a bunch of data are the most predictive. Even when there is a massive amount of data made up of lots of different kinds of data, AI can identify the most revealing characteristics, figuring out which to pay attention to and which to ignore.
Deliberate
AI can infer rules about the data, from that data, and weigh the most predictive attributes against each other to answer a question or make a recommendation. It can ponder the relevance of each and reach a conclusion.
Develop
AI can grow and mature with each iteration. It can alter its opinion about the environment as well as how it evaluates that environment based on new information or the results of experimentation. It can program itself.
An individual's search terms are more important than her location, which is more important than her age (detect). When people use six or more words in a search, their propensity to purchase is so high that a discount is counterproductive (deliberate). Once it is noted that women under the age of 24 are not likely to purchase, regardless of words in a search, an experiment can be run to offer them free shipping (develop).
THIS IS YOUR MARKETING ON AI
The tools are not supernatural. They are not beyond the understanding of mortals. You owe it to yourself to understand how they are about to rock your world.
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.
The companion website for Artificial Intelligence for Marketing: Practical Applications can be found at: AI4Marketing.com.
Acknowledgments
I am forever grateful to the many people who have blogged, tweeted, published videos on, and answered my questions about artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Specifically, thanks go to Barry Levine, Bob Page, Brent Dykes, Brian Solis, Christopher Berry, Dan McCarthy, Dave Smith, David Raab, Dean Abbott, Dennis Mortensen, Doc Searls, Eric Siegel, Gary Angel, Himanshu Sharma, Ian Thomas, Kaj van de Loo, Mark Gibbs, Matt Gershoff, Matthew Todd, Michael Rappa, Michael Wu, Michelle Street, Pat LaPointe, Peter Fader, Rohit Rudrapatna, Ron Kohavi, Russ Klein, Russell McAthy, Scott Brinker, Scott Litman, Tim Wilson, Tom Cunniff, Tom Davenport, Tom Mitchell, Tyler Vigen, Vicky Brock, and Vincent Granville.
And, as always, Matt Cutler.
CHAPTER 1
Welcome to the Future
The shovel is a tool, and so is a bulldozer. Neither works on its own, “automating” the task of digging. But both tools augment our ability to dig.
Marketing is about to get weird. We've become used to an ever‐increasing rate of change. But occasionally, we have to catch our breath, take a new sighting, and reset our course.
Between the time my grandfather was born in 1899 and his seventh birthday:
■ Theodore Roosevelt took over as president from William McKinley.
■ Dr. Henry A. Rowland of Johns Hopkins University announced a theory about the cause of the Earth's magnetism.
■ L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in Chicago.
■ The first zeppelin flight was carried out over Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.
■ Karl Landsteiner developed a system of blood typing.
■ The Ford Motor Company produced its first car – the Ford Model A.
■ Thomas Edison invented the nickel‐alkaline storage battery.
■ The first electric typewriter was invented by George Canfield Blickensderfer of Erie, Pennsylvania.
■ The first radio that successfully received a radio transmission was developed by Guglielmo Marconi.
■ The Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk.
■ The Panama Canal was under construction.
■ Benjamin Holt invented one of the first practical continuous tracks for use in tractors and tanks.
■ The Victor Talking Machine Company released the Victrola.
■ The Autochrome Lumière, patented in 1903, became the first commercial color photography process.
My grandfather then lived to see men walk on the moon.
In the next few decades, we will see:
■ Self‐driving cars replace personally owned transportation.
■ Doctors routinely operate remote, robotic surgery devices.
■ Implantable communication devices replace mobile phones.
■ In‐eye augmented reality become normalized.
■ Maglev elevators travel sideways and transform building shapes.
■ Every surface consume light for energy and act as a display.
■ Mind‐controlled prosthetics with tactile skin interfaces become mainstream.
■ Quantum computing make today's systems microscopic.
■ 3‐D printers allow for instant delivery of goods.
■ Style‐selective, nanotech clothing continuously clean itself.
And today's youngsters will live to see a colony on Mars.
It's no surprise that computational systems will manage more tasks in advertising and marketing.
