The Evolution of Media, Tech and AI

When I started my career as a junior copywriter, we created ads the old fashioned way. (Although we considered it modern at the time.)

Scripts or copy were pecked out on an electric typewriter. And if you had an IBM Selectric, well ... that was a sign of prestige.

Art directors ordered type and color separations for print ads. TV spots were shot on 35mm film with a big crew. Jingles were recorded in studios, often with a full orchestra.

Media was analog and easy to keep track of: newspapers, magazines, billboards, radio and TV.

Enter the Worldwide Web

Things began to change in the early '90s. And while there was initial pushback from some analog 'purists', we quickly transitioned to new media like email, websites and search. And an age of diminished patience. I mean, why wait for a courier when you could communicate and share documents in real-time?

Social media followed a similar pattern: early adopters, resistors, then widespread acceptance. Digital ushered in the promise of democratized communications, the rise of influencers as intermediaries, and algorithms as editors in chief.

Now we're facing with the new kid in town: synthetic media, AKA generative AI.

And who knows what it will evolve to become?

Another Level on the Media Block

The current shift feels different from the others because it's not just about new tech and tools. It also centers on creativity and the creator.

For the first time in history, we're in direct competition with machine-engineered minds.

Consider analog media. It was run by a small number of companies who controlled access to the audience you wanted to reach. And there were two ways reach them: paid and earned, both under human control.

Web 1.0 moved the needle toward owned media and optimizing your brand's content to be discoverable in search.

Social and digital media, with their commitment to unbridled openness and new ideas, ended up embracing the main principle of analog media: control. Except the editorial portion was outsourced to algorithms trained to give you more of the same stuff you already hated or loved and not the promised conversation and diversity of views.

And each era contributed to the proliferation of piles of mediocre, run of the mill content—that did the job required, but in a non-memorable way.

I mean face it: most marketing and communications output is and always has been just 'good enough'. And AI agents are outstanding at producing that level of dull.

The Content Train Chugs On

But not for long. Generative AI is getting a lot better—fast. In large part because we're doing a stellar job training the machines. The rise in multimodal AI that's able to process more than one type of data, like text to image or text to video generation, is an example of that.

Plus, AI is a very fast learner. Before you know it, machines will start to out-perform the mediocre and set their sights higher in the content quality chain.

Where will that leave people?

I believe human-AI competition is an opportunity for marketers to up your creativity game.

Here are 3 strategies I use:

1. Treat AI like a test tube, not a toy. Approach AI tools scientifically and analyse every interaction you have with them. Was the output better or worse than you expected? How many prompts did it take you to get there? Did the speed of an AI response and your impending deadline lower your standards? Where was AI helpful and where did it slow you down? Be critical, objective and determine where you outshine the machine and why. Then, lean into that.
2. Teach yourself as you teach the machine. Right now, you're probably spending a good portion of your time training AI without giving much thought to what you're getting in return. Treat each chat with a chatbot as an opportunity for you to learn something too. And keep track of your insights, mull them over and use them to help improve your thinking, creativity and work.
3. Set the bar high. Remember, ideas are a renewable resource. Read more. Watch more. Reflect more. Stop taking the same shortcuts you know and trust and figure out a different path. One with unexpected twists and turns and even a fair number of dead ends. You may have to return to where you started, but if you're open to new possibilities, imagine what you'll absorb along the way. Or, as Edward Albee once wrote: "sometimes you have to go a long way out of your way to come back a short distance correctly."

I've done that many times and believe me, it's always worth it.

And Now the AI News

This week's Digital Marketing Trends video is a roundup of recent AI news including the launch of AI copilots from Microsoft, Google and Salesforce and celebrity chatbots from Meta playing characters designed to help you or answer your questions.

Check out the video and let me know what you think. And remember, AI's your assistant, but you're in the driver's seat.

Wishing You a Curious New Year

As 2023 winds down and you begin to make plans for the year ahead, there’s one constant that touches everyone: change.

And it’s way too easy to get overwhelmed by uncertainty.

How do you get a handle on that? By adopting an experimental mindset.

That's the topic Deirdre Breakenridge and I will be exploring on the next #DMShowLive with our special guest, organizational psychologist and LinkedIn Learning instructor, Erin Shrimpton .

Erin will offer tips on how to navigate all the twists and turns you can’t control and approach new situations with curiosity and a desire to test and learn.

Click here to RSVP and join us for our free #officehours webinar on Monday, December 11 at 12:00 pm ET.

See you there!

Follow Me on LinkedIn

We've climbed about as high on the media staircase as we can go for issue #91.

Be sure to follow me on LinkedIn. This newsletter comes out every two weeks. But between issues, I share shorter daily posts with my take on digital marketing and the latest on generative AI. It's another way to stay on top of the trends.

And while you're at it, follow the Future of Marketing Institute, too. Every day we share content and perspectives on where we may be heading and what the shift might mean.

You can also check out my?course, Generative AI for Digital Marketers. In it, I break through the hype to demystify AI. And I offer strategies to integrate the tools.

Thank you to the more than 420,000 of you who subscribe, read, comment and share the newsletter! It's great having all of you along for the ride.

Be sure to reach out if you have questions about any of the videos in Digital Marketing Trends, or my other LinkedIn Learning courses. You can visit?my my website and send a message or a question.

What's your take on AI and the evolving media landscape? How do you sharpen your skills and refine your approach? Please share your thoughts and tips in the comments below.

See you in a couple of weeks for the final chapter of 2023!

Disclosure: All the content in this post was written by a human—me and not Martin the bot. Chart: ? 2023 Martin Waxman.