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April 2023: Will the development of AI mean small businesses can spend less time marketing?

As a self-confessed maths geek, Trekkie nerd and lifetime fan of all things sci-fi, the recent developments in AI are fascinating. I suspect back in the 70s that I laughed in disbelief when some of the things we take for granted today appeared back then on ‘Tomorrow’s World’.

I created a post yesterday without typing more than a couple of prompts, mainly using the title of my website listing, and pointing a clever piece of software to the website link so that it grabbed the photos and came up with multiple suggestions for design and content. All I did was selected the ones to use.

I think looking at both the images and text it would be apparent to anyone who knows me that I haven’t created these. Whether it is obvious it’s AI or looks like perhaps I’ve used a marketing company I don’t know.

"You deserve a little something special on one of the most important days of your life. And what better way to express your individuality than with these beautiful jewelled flower beaded hair pins? Not only are they one of a kind, but they're also hand-wired and made from beads repurposed from broken jewellery - meaning your accessory is eco-friendly too!"

Do I like it? Well it saved time, did things I’m capable of but would have taken me hours, but at the costs of losing my ‘voice’. I’m still not sure. I think there’s a place, a fusion between human and AI that can work well, and I’m just getting started with exploring what’s possible so it’s far too early to make a judgement.

It’s technology that seems to be rushing in, like a global warming flash flood, over just a couple of months. I’ve seen some write ups with examples where the ‘facts’ written by an AI are incorrect - cases where the AI has found an article and pulled information from it but there’s no verification whether what it presents is true. However, as an ex teacher I’ve seen many mini humans do this too, using a quick Google search for homework and then copying and pasting without any thought or understanding of context. Maybe the AI is more human than we think!

I’ve also noticed our Motorhome Stopover has a particularly flowery description on one of the campsite listing websites. It also contains a factual error about our local lighthouse, which made me think instantly that they have used AI, with ChatGPT or Bard being utilised far too enthusiastically (or their human touch was on an inaccurate but romantic overdrive).

In some ways these developments are very exciting, in others scary. Are we heading to the world of 'The Matrix' where we no longer know what is reality (if so please send Keanu my way)? Are our concerns about being replaced similar to those the Luddites felt when spinning jennies and mechanised farming tools were being developed and reducing the need for their workforce? Or is my scepticism down to age; either my well-earned wisdom of years warning me not to rush into things or my long-in-the-tooth grumpiness making it harder to feel motivated to want to understand and learn new-fangled developments?

I suspect we will learn to use AI alongside our human creativity, as we have our unique talents which surely won't ever be lost. However, our world nowadays too often demands instant results, which AI can really help with. It's a place where people will spend just 3 seconds looking at something on their phone, rather than studying anything in depth. (This is my opinion of Social Media anyway - just look at the low responses to many thought provoking text posts versus ones with a pet, evening meal or sunset beach receiving dozens of likes because they are instant and obvious without the necessity of thought processing).

For me, this is definitely that needs a lot of discussion, experimentation and contemplation.

Have you used any AI yet? I’d be really interested to know your experiences and feelings on this.