The future of the future
“The future of the future will still contain the past
Time goes slow and time goes fast”
Spend anytime digging into the conversation on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning or deep learning, and you start to truly wonder what world we will live in.
You will read about the titans of industry (Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Alibaba, Microsoft) testing their AI solutions for self driving cars, or machine learning algorithms to make your world more convenient by making better suggestions, or using deep learning to tell you what you are looking at and answering the question you have not yet asked.
Suggested reading/viewing:
To some, this might still seem like light years away. After all, where are our jetpacks and hover boards!?!
But what problems do they really solve? These are merely toys. And despite the advancements in robotics and 3D printing, the fidget spinner is the toy of choice today.
The topic is much more mature than most give it credit. And many in the investment community would agree.
Within the scope of the advertising business, much of this discussion is lost. We are still debating whether ads should be viewable, if technology companies should block ads, should marketers start with desktop over mobile, is renting an audience instead of building a data management platform (DMP) the best way to serve your customers, and if the creative story is a waterfall from the ad designed for television.
Yet battle grounds appear to have been drawn. Brands want transparency and value. Media agencies need scale and efficiency. Media partners and technology companies need continued investment and time to develop new content, platforms, data and measurement. And this market dynamic has been ongoing since P&G first moved to standardize Internet advertising back in 1999.
We continue to focus on solving these problems with the same technology and business rules that are impacting the business at that very time.
If you want to ensure success in the future, put your thoughts there for a moment.
Humans talk to machines. Machines talk to machines. Our questions are answered before we speak or type the words. New worlds unfold through layers only an inch from our face. Connectivity no longer relies on single points for distribution but instead uses the network of devices to broadcast the signal. Cryptocurrencies power the single instance trade of all digital files, including currency on the next processor cycle of blockchain. And our expectation for convenience and truth defines how we engage with commerce.
Given the current winds of change, the impact to our future will be profound. And in 2017 we are still afforded the decisions in defining our future.
“You say - think of the old days
We could have them back again
Well I’ve thought about the old days
They’d go bad like they did then”
The Future Of The Future - Everything But The Girl
How will you define the future of your company? Your brand? You?