AI takeover: Can AI replace your agency network?

Named the word of 2023 by Collins Dictionary¹, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and its widespread adoption took the world by storm last year. And, it continued to be a hot topic at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, where business leaders were focused on how to regulate but not restrict the technology. So what does it mean for brands and agencies?

After a number of wobbles for the new wonder tech, including The New York Times who filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the use of excerpts from their articles without permission. We’re looking at if AI could replace your agency network.

The New York Times case highlights two emerging threats to brands posed by AI. Firstly, the risk of false news being generated by AI inaccurately ‘regurgitating’ and blending information. This has the potential to harm public trust, damage brand reputations and ultimately have serious commercial impacts.

Secondly, OpenAI has shown that it can access to information that sits behind paywalls and under copyright. For large companies with big legal departments this could be a money spinner, but for smaller brands it could be a real challenge to identify and mitigate this issue.

It is perhaps reassuring that the main outcome of the Davos Forum is to ensure AI tech is a force for good in both business and the world at large. Protecting economies and intellectual property whilst enabling free access to millions of individuals, schools, hospitals and private enterprise.

If harnessed correctly, AI can be successfully integrated into both brand and agency relationships – for example, helping to identify behaviours and predict which user segments are likely to convert. But AI can come with some serious cons such as copyright infringement and question marks over creativity and originality. Brands can leverage the benefits of AI but they need to be wary of its pitfalls.

AI can’t replace original thinking or make your brand relevant in a live or even future context but we’ll see it play an increasingly integrated role in the media and marketing industries.

¹Collins Dictionary

« Top 3 metrics for PR campaigns 8 steps to a successful food & drink brand launch in the UK »