You Don’t Need AI For Everything (At Least Not Yet)

Focused adoption will give you the use cases you need for momentum.

What’s On My AI-Mind

AI is like peanut butter; you don’t want to spread it too thin. These days, I can’t spend more than five minutes on my phone without running into some “helpful” AI feature. Meta is forcing Instagram and Facebook users to chat with their AI assistant in lieu of a search bar. More and more companies are employing Interactive Voice Response (IVR). I can even message a chatbot version of my favorite celebrities on Instagram — just what I’ve always wanted!

What I’ve learned during my time as CMO of Salesloft is that there are helpful and not-so-helpful ways to use AI. The right AI use case can add value to a product and help it gain traction — but the wrong use case means you end up implementing AI just for the sake of having it. Taking the IVR example, we’ve all experienced the proverbial “trap” just trying to get to an agent; around and around you go with more frustration mounting by the minute.?Sound familiar?

As AI continues to develop and you build out your AI strategy, my advice is it’s better to use AI for? specific use cases, rather than applying it broadly without any clear goal in mind. Start small. Choose one use case. Test it. Collect feedback. Then, once convinced it is delivering user value, move on to the next.?

Focused AI adoption prepares you for the larger, more complex challenges ahead. When you are purposeful about AI adoption, you not only avoid diluting your resources, but you can also identify your most successful use cases to build momentum for broader implementation. But there’s another good reason for adopting AI incrementally: Navigating the AI landscape during some of its most hotly contested battles is like entering a forest without a map. That’s why it’s best that you know your lane — and where you can add the most value — before setting off on your AI journey.??

AI in marketing presents exciting opportunities but it also raises ethical and legal concerns. Issues of copyright, authenticity, and impersonation demand careful consideration. News organizations like The New York Times are rightfully concerned about how AI-powered tools might misuse their content. Legal battles over copyright infringement in the marketing sphere are a distinct possibility.

But any major opportunity invites some level of risk; focused adoption is the key to mitigating it. Instagram is testing a tool for online marketers and developing AI-powered chatbots that can use an influencer's own voice to manage their brand. Even in influencer marketing, where transparency is crucial, these AI-powered chatbots can mimic an influencer's voice without resorting to impersonation, dodging the big issue of copyright infringement in AI marketing.?

AI has already become a disruptive force in many fields like marketing, which might tempt companies to slather it all over every tactic like a jar of peanut butter. However, as we've seen, a targeted approach is key. Focusing on specific use cases, like branded AI-powered chatbots, will allow you to build momentum and navigate the ethical and legal complexities of this ever-evolving landscape. By strategically deploying AI where it truly adds value, you can forge a path toward a future where human ingenuity and cutting-edge technology work in harmony, ensuring you only spread the peanut butter where it’s needed.

AI Made This For Me

I use AI every day without even thinking about it. For me, AI in marketing is particularly useful because it understands me as a buyer and personalizes its recommendations to me — whether that’s which Netflix show I should watch or what music I might like to listen to in the car. Across the Salesloft executive leadership team, ChatGPT has been tremendously helpful for overcoming writer’s block and sparking ideas. It’s been so useful that I’ve even started trying to convince my Spanish teacher daughter to use it for her lesson planning.

The Best Place to Start?

When it comes to tracking the latest news about AI, I’m a big fan of Feedly . The site lets me monitor keywords for topics I’m interested in, which is useful because I cast a pretty broad net. When I see something that looks interesting on my feed, I’ll dig into it deeper. It’s a nice avenue to explore AI-related topics without being too confined to one niche.