The Impact of AI Tools on Marketing and Design

The recent advent of AI tools has been building over recent decades, from academia to computer games, all on the back of machine learning algorithms designed to be trained to detect patterns and replicate them.  The combination of improved mathematical models and huge data sets to train them on has resulted in projects that not only show real promise in fields such as medical diagnostics, but in capturing the imaginations of the wider public with chat-bots and content generation, let alone bringing subjects that were once the realm of science fiction into the here and now.

Content generation forms a key part of marketing output, and whilst there might be a temptation to try abusing that tool to create all the content, it falls flat quickly because the results generally aren't good enough.  AI imagery still has a general 'tell', in that it looks like an overworked piece with strange contrasts, twists and shadowing, and text generation can completely miss the mark unless more time has been spent trying to perfect the generation query that could've been used in creating the original content in question.

The great use of AI as a tool is one for busting any creative block, or for giving that launch pad needed creating a template or design cue.  When used in parallel to original content generation, it can give fine-tuning amendments, grammar checks, language changes and more.  How the tool is used to enhance your workflow can work wonders, allowing you to still flex that creative muscle without sacrificing it completely.  Automating tools within Adobe Creative Suite are also a showing a lot of promise, from the beta of the Firefly generative fill being an augmented version of content aware fill, to upscaling, style variations and more.

The scarier thought is how useable these tools are with their initial deployment and how they're going to develop in the future. Aside from the ethics, copyrights and military issues, the very relatable subject of job security has been raised as a concern in both the creative and software industries, so could we potentially see AI services that have been trained and refined so well that they're then self-sustaining content generators? Or will there be a delicate balance where legislation and copyrights keep them as a positive tool to enhance our existing industries? Time will tell, unless the machines decide otherwise...

Author
Terry Pears
Marketing Assistant