Chat GPT and how AI could affect live events.

I'm sure many of you have been reading about AI and ChatGPT lately, and, if you were lucky and they were not at capacity, you probably played with this technology a little bit.

I've been obsessed with AI for a while and continuously think of different case studies for using this technology in the live events, media, education, and marketing industries. Years ago, I invested in Grip and learned a few lessons. Grip facilitates B2B matchmaking solutions for trade shows and events, helping buyers-sellers connect more effectively at events. As Tim Groot, Grip Founder, and CEO, say:

AI for us is only part of the solution, as we're focused on matching people together. Our algorithms focus on the intent of people inside events and matching them with the people they are most likely to have a productive interaction with. This means that we can only be as good as the people present at the event and, in the end, are still reliant on people to interact with each other.?

AI alone will not make the magic, particularly at live events. Access to quality data will be critical to building reliable solutions.?

AI as a tech category - and all the great use cases we could think of - is way broader than live events, media, or education, which are investment areas where I'm regularly active. Actually, I'm writing this blog post using Grammarly and using AI to improve my wording :)?

Microsoft, Google, and many other big tech companies have invested heavily in AI for a long time. Still, they were showcasing only a few products in order to minimize risks in front of massive audiences. Nevertheless,?Microsoft announced an enormous investment in Open AI/ChatGPT?as a clear signal that it is paying attention, investing heavily in this category, integrating ChatGPT with Bing, etc. ChatGPT, in a classic startup way, could share its tech with millions of people without concerns that are normal and reasonable for big companies.?

If you are an event organizer, you may think this technology will not affect our industry at all. Let me try to challenge that thought.?

Event organizers need efficient ways to generate content, and marketing activities, engage with customers, do a better job in customer success, and many other things where AI could and should help. I mentioned Grip as one example that I know, but there are many other problems across the live events industry where AI could help.?

Is AI going to help or complicate (even more) the event business? I'm still waiting to answer right now. We are still too early into the AI game to be very dogmatic. Massive industries like education or healthcare are taking a deeper look into AI and the risks and opportunities it could bring to their industry. AI tutors or AI doctors are being scrutinized in those industries, and, I've participated in some of those conversations.?

It was a fascinating experience. One of the conversations I will never forget from one of these meetings involved a doctor criticizing the general idea of "AI Doctors" and another Doctor defending the concept. His defense was based on the fact that an AI Doctor being involved before, during, and after a "Real/Human Doctor" makes a diagnosis, the extra precaution could save lives. After 30 minutes of intellectual debate between both doctors, the doctor initially criticizing AI was ready to engage with this technology.?

I participated in a similar discussion with teachers and EdTech investors with similar results. If doctors and teachers are open to engaging AI, why should media, marketing, or event professionals not be open to this?

At least, in the live event industry, if we use AI in the wrong way, we are not going to kill people or screw their educational experience.??

What are your feelings about AI and, in particular, AI for events? Hope or dread??

I tend to be in the "hope" group since I always think that tech could be a "force for good." But I discussed the topic with way more intelligent people than me, and they are in the "dread" group. There are explicit positive and negative potential impact scenarios. Some people could lose their jobs because of AI, but many others could do a better job engaging this technology. Event owners could generate efficiencies using AI, and event sponsors, exhibitors, visitors, and other stakeholders could also maximize their time and ROI at events engaging with AI.?

Are you using AI for your company? Please share your experience and let me know if you are in the "hope or dread" group.?

I plan to identify other areas where AI can help our industry. If you are a Founder building AI solutions for the media, live events, education, or marketing tech categories, please reach out. If you are an event organizer using AI solutions in your business, please let me know about your experiences and learnings.?

Again, it's still too early (at least from my perspective) to know if AI will be a game-changer in our industry. But, it's one of those tech categories where not paying attention is probably not a good idea.?

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