Artificial intelligences, is defined by IBM as, ”Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities”. The once popular idea used in many science fiction novels and films, like “Blade runner” and “Neuromancer”, has now become the most talked about and widely debated subject when it comes to the advancement of technology moving forward.
This blog looks to analyze the effects ethically Artificial Intelligence can cause to the landscape of communications and media.
Artificial Intelligence has been around since the dawn of computers, and as scientist develop more technology that changes the framework of media, A.I. becomes a lot more functional and intelligent. Only have way in the year of 2024, A.I. has already become impactful, playing a huge part in the pop culture event which was the Kendrick Lamar/ Drake beef, and has played a part in a plethora of social media trends, etc.
The ethical issue that A.I. creates that has been widely discussed as of recently is it’s effect on media. While A.I. is proving to be very useful and a tool that all types of corporations are beginning to implement into their strategies, the question that many are beginning to ask is as A.I. advances what happens to original Human creativity when it comes to media?
With the advancement of technology comes the advancement in A.I.’s ability to produce fake information, and this is discussed in numerous amounts of academic journals. For example, according to an article titled, ”Fanning the flames of artificial intelligence in the media: beyond efficiency and productivity gains”, Artificial Intelligence poses a threat to media as it has the ability to create very sophisticated deep fakes that can cause mass hysteria .
Humans have emotions and feelings, we understand that the world can change their thoughts and opinions in a heartbeat. Therefore, with A.I. not being having the capability in its design to decipher that change on its own, how can companies trust the technology to help with advertising or marketing.
In an academic Journal titled “The Effect of Artificial Intelligence Supported Advertising Films on Students: Cola-Cola Masterpiece Commercial Movie Example”, The authors talk about the relationship between advertisement and A.I., as well as the fact that A.I. can’t mimic human emotion when its said, “AI systems are designed for a specific purpose, they can only fulfill that purpose” (Çavuş & Yılmaz 3).
A.I. lack of understanding of human emotion brings a strong ethical issue that will always be a critique of A.I. until technology is advanced enough to be able to actually make media that feels man made.
In an articled titled, “THE IMPACT OF BRAND-VOICE INTEGRATION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING”, the authors talk about how A.I. can be very useful in ,marketing as it provides, “AI tools help marketers create better products, deliver more relevant advertising, and understand patterns of audience data” (Priyanga, 2023).
However, again an issue that all users of AI will run into is the simple fact that A.I. doesn’t have the capability of a human so with that brings an issue of the technology potentially being faulty and overall its use being limited.
For example, in the article it states that, “In conclusion, although Chat GPT represents a promising tool for content generation and brand voice, its successful use requires careful scrutiny, effective collaboration with subject matter experts, and consideration of the appropriate approach to implementing AI in the context of building and maintaining an authentic and effective brand voice” (Murár, Kubovics, Jurišová 12)
The article points out how advertisment ambassadors have used the technology to conduct writings for social media campaigns, but even with A.I. being useful their still needs to be human observation done when using A.I. “Using Chat GPT often only achieves an initial draft of the paper, which requires editing and proofreading by experienced practitioners”(Murár,Kubovics,Jurišová 12). “GPT chat, although driven by advanced technologies, still depends on the availability of extensive and representative data to better understand and create content in line with the characteristics of a given brand” (Murár,Kubovics,Jurišová 12). This further proving that A.I. isn’t fully reliable yet.
Overall, the technology is the future, Whether we like it or not Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, it’s gonna continue to be used, especially as many companies are looking at the technology as a cheaper alternative to the traditional ways of marketing.
Companies will try anything to make their lives easier and A.I.has the potential of giving them the same success and opportunities that they had before without needing to hire a whole marketing team to do it.
In addition, A.I. used in the wrong hands can lead to misinformation being spread rapidly. There are numerous examples of situations that have happened recently where
But until the technology is perfected, the risks of A.I. potentially putting out wrong messaging and missing the mark on what consumers want is very high and potentially dangerous.
Thank You,
Nicholas Lenon
References:
Murár, P., Kubovics, M., & Jurišová, V. (2024). The impact of brand-voice integration and artificial intelligence on social media marketing. Communication Today, 50–63. https://doi.org/10.34135/communicationtoday.2024.vol.15.no.1.4
Çavuş, S., & Yılmaz, M. (Eds.). (2024). The Effect of Artificial Intelligence Supported Advertising Films on Students: Cola-Cola Masterpiece Commercial Movie Example. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology , 23(1), 153–162.
What will happen to marketing in the age of ai?: Jessica Apotheker: Ted. YouTube. (2023, December 12). https://youtu.be/3MwMII8n1qM?si=2P_uNJONUOkmJ2AG
Codina, L., Ufarte-Ruiz, M.-J., & Borden, S.-L. (2024). Introduction. fanning the flames of artificial intelligence in the media: Beyond Efficiency and Productivity gains. Communication & Society, 221–225. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.37.2.221-225
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?. IBM. (2023, August 25). https://www.ibm.com/topics/artificial-intelligence