Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technological advance that has revolutionized several sectors, including marketing. This study explores the fundamental concepts of AI, its different types, the controversies surrounding its use, and the types of AI tools available in marketing. This exploratory research used a bibliographical review and quantitative and qualitative empirical study applied to a universe of marketing professionals in Brazil to identify which tools and for what purpose these marketing professionals use them. The results indicate that marketers have extensive knowledge and significant adoption of AI tools, showing growing acceptance. It is concluded that adopting these tools is guided by local peculiarities. Despite the challenges, the positive outlook suggests that AI drives efficiency in marketing, emphasizing the need for an ethical and collaborative approach to its responsible use.
TopIntroduction
As you read this chapter, marketing, advertising and communications professionals have almost 40 Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (Folha, 2023) to use in their work tasks; 3 conferences were held (O Globo, 2023), one of them in London – England, to regulate the use of AI by professionals, companies and ordinary people; The AI theme graced the cover of two major Brazilian magazines, with extensive reports on its use in Brazil and at least three market surveys (Meio & Mensagem, 2023) had been carried out to understand how business managers are viewing artificial intelligence and CEOs of sizeable Brazilian marketing companies.
This could demonstrate that using AI is increasingly on the agenda, either using tools or due to concerns about its advancement. And if, on the one hand, it represents a technological revolution, on the other, it can be seen as a threat, especially regarding jobs. In a report presented in early 2023, the World Economic Forum projected that within five years, ¼ of all jobs will be affected somehow by Artificial Intelligence (Tawil, 2023). More than 1 billion people will be impacted in their work using AI.
Despite not being so recent, as it was already being used by large online retail companies and search sites, such as Amazon, AliBaba, Shein, Mercado Livre, and Google, to name a few (de Paiva, 2022), AI has leaped significant increase in use with the launch of ChatGPT 1in 2022. Since then, the emergence of new AI tools has been experienced, some derived from ChatGPT and others similar, launched in different countries. Most have free and easy-to-use versions to create texts of all types, websites, posts for digital social media, slide presentations, marketing planning, video editing, image creation and editing, and even songs.
Although an area of computer science seeks to create systems capable of performing tasks that would typically require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making, AI has reached other levels. In marketing, AI has become a powerful tool for data analysis, process automation, content personalization, creation of texts, images, and video and audio editing (Shaik, 2023). Tasks such as sending mass emails, creating and publishing content on digital social media, and managing advertising campaigns can be carried out automatically through AI tools, for example (Shahid & Gang, 2019; Verma et al., 2021).
Another advantage highlighted is AI tools for content personalization, as AI algorithms can analyze customer behavior, preferences, and interaction history to create personalized content. This is because, with data collected and analyzed by AI, it is possible to provide customized product and content recommendations, improving the customer experience and strengthening the relationship with the brand. And, because algorithms transform data into information that allows adjustment and the advertising budget, segmentation of ads and messages, maximizing the return on investment (ROI - an acronym in English for Return Over Investment) in marketing (Priyanka et al., 2023). As a result, AI contributes to more effective marketing campaigns, greater customer engagement, and higher conversion rates.
Even though the AI theme presents advantages to marketing and is a topic in evidence, when searching in the repositories of scientific articles, it was not possible to locate publications that were the result of a survey with marketing professionals in Brazil on the use of AI tools in the work and how they understand that this “partnership” between humans and artificial intelligence can work.
Key Terms in this Chapter
AI (Artificial Intelligence): These are machines trained to operate imitating human intelligence, with the ability to learn, making use of algorithms well-designed and complex solutions that provide decision-making, speculation and even interactions based on the data provided.
SEO (Search Engine Optmization): It is the set of techniques used, generally divided between technology, content and authority, to achieve good positioning of pages in online search engine systems, generating organic traffic.
NLP (Natural Language Processing): Area of Artificial Intelligence that is dedicated to enabling communication between machines and humans through written and spoken language.
Digital Platforms: active mediation spaces/agents built on a technological base in which different activities occur and through which services, content and interactions are transacted, having as a distinctive feature their performance in the connected environment, even if not necessarily at an address www.
ChatGPT: It is an online artificial intelligence chatbot developed by the company OpenAI, launched in November 2022.
Machine Learning: Area of Artificial Intelligence that consists of the continuous machine learning process, where a human being inserts data or the machine collects data from human behavior online and it, the machine, can learn from this data.
ChatBot: It is software based on Artificial Intelligence capable of maintaining a real-time conversation via text or voice with human beings, online.