What’s good and what’s not about big data and AI?

We all know that marketers have access to a lot of information (probably more than they should). The question is, how do they get this information? Nowadays, the answer is often through the use of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.

Positives of Big Data

So you may be wondering what exactly Big Data means. Don’t worry, I just learned this as well. Big Data is “data that is so large, fast or complex that it’s difficult to process using traditional methods”. There are four big V’s when it comes to Big Data, and those are volume, velocity and variety and veracity, as you can see in the chart below.

Businesses and marketers are using this Big Data to gain important insights about their customers. It can help companies enable cost reductions, time reductions, new product development, etc. There are many sources of big data, including streaming data (smart cars, medical devices, etc.), social media (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, etc.), publicly available data and other big data. This information can be very valuable to companies and marketers.

Positives of AI Technology

Now, let’s get into artificial intelligence. To be honest, when hearing the term AI, I immediately picture computers with a mind of their own like it appears in movies. This is not necessarily what AI technology truly is though. According to Forbes, AI is a system that can perform tasks that normally requires human intelligence. Just like Big Data, AI technology can help marketers gain important insights about their target market. Artificial intelligence can also assist in content generation, web design, customer service through chat bots and other marketing activities.

Concerns

The worry with utilizing Artificial Intelligence is that humans are still important in the digital marketing world. This is because connection with customers is still really important and relying on computers will eliminate this. Personally, I would have to agree with this. For example, I find chat bots to be unhelpful and annoying. On some websites, they keep popping up even though I do not need any assistance. The few times I have used a chat bot I did not receive the help that I needed. I definitely believe that a human could better communicate with and assist me.

There is also a concern when it comes to Big Data and Artificial Intelligence that they will lead to invasions of the consumer’s privacy. In order to gain personalized data that will help the marketer effectively target the consumer, they may cross the line of invading privacy. So although gaining these deep insights can be important, companies need to ask themselves if they are crossing a line when using AI technology to analyze customer data. There will likely be more and more laws developed in the future regarding what companies are and are not allowed to do in terms of AI technology and Big Data.

I’m excited to see what the future digital marketing world will look like with the continued development of AI technology. Are you concerned or excited?

Talk to you soon!

Caroline