By Jill Kemp
It’s literally everywhere. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a part of everyday life for many people, and its innovations are expanding creativity and in some cases, reducing time.
These tools can provide new options in developing work. Entrepreneurs can enhance their work, as well as generate marketing materials more efficiently.
What tools are individuals using? How can it make you do your job better?
At a recent American Marketing Association event held at the United Way of Greater Rochester, this session answered those very questions.
Joshua Coon, Chief of Brand Experience, at Truth Collective, explained how his agency created workshops with the entire staff present to experiment with AI. It enabled individual team members to learn how to use these tools and accelerate work for clients.
The goals of these sessions were to increase familiarity with various programs and identify any potential bias. Staff members were encouraged to keep track of their prompting and document how long each assignment took to complete.
In one example, Truth Collective directed the staff to “Go Play,” as they found that the best way for staff to learn about these tools was to experiment with them. Coon shared some of the work that resulted, which was incredibly different from person to person, even though the directive was the same. The results of one illustration assignment were – a black and white illustration of a young girl with a small dog and “fox ears,” color photography of an individual reaching out to touch a light on top of a pedestal, and an image of the golden gate bridge with computer graphics. These assignments were designed to increase in difficulty as the team learned additional tools.
Occasionally, bias came up in the use of these tools. Staff found that results tended toward male and white representations, so it’s important to be specific and keep a watchful creative eye on the output.
Another AI tool introduced was Suno, which was used to create AI music, voice, jingles, and translations. As an example, Coon provided four different voices delivering the same copy, along with original music.
After extensive review and testing, the team is now using ChatGTP, Mid Journey, Adobe Creative Suite (Firefly, Express, Photoshop, and Illustrator), Eleven Labs, and Suno.
Regardless of the final output, none of the AI concepts presented were used as the work of the Truth Collective team. What AI does, explained Coon, is provide the opportunity to open up the team’s creative thinking process and for repetitive tasks to be eliminated and made much faster. The best way AI has helped the team is by becoming a brainstorming partner.
After presenting numerous options for review, Coon simply summed up his presentation. “AI can’t do great work without us,” he explained. “Human creativity and passion are still the secrets to great outcomes.”
An in-house marketer also shared his perspective. Brian Nizinsky, who was recently the Director of Digital Marketing for Resilio, talked about his favorite tools.
When he produced posts for his corporate blog, Nizinsky started by conducting research. Then, using AI, he generated a first draft of his post and reviewed it for clarity. Next, Nizinsky had the content reviewed internally by a subject matter expert (SME). In most cases, there were many revisions and significant differences after the first draft. One of the sites Nizinsky has used is a paid version of Jasper.ai, which he feels is extremely helpful when preparing website copy. In the past, he has uploaded brand documents and website copy, so that the AI tool had a strong sense of background.
Opus.pro is a tool Nizinsky has used for video editing. The system does an excellent job cleaning up the “um’s” and pauses that speakers use and helps find great spots in longer videos. Other options included the ability to reframe videos and add automatic captions for those speaking on the segments. A number of free credits per month are offered on this website.
To generate images, Nizinksky turns to Ideogram.ai. Through a free account, he has used images that are public. Here are some examples of the visuals created with the prompt, “visual of a new electronic chip.”
Without a doubt, AI tools are offering a multitude of new options for those who create content. However, it’s important to realize that AI lacks empathy – and it only pulls information from what’s in the data universe now. If you’re creating a new brand and you want AI to connect in emotional ways with your stakeholders and customers, you’ll need to help train it. Start by putting out content that speaks to your desired brand consistently. Expect that it’s a starting point and you’ll need to always refine what it provides to you. Make sure the content accurately speaks to your community — without bias and without too much promotional speak.
Regardless of where you are on the learning platform, it is true that with AI, the opportunities continue to grow.