that comes with being human .
“ AI can say , ‘ You shouldn ’ t market to this segment , but this one ,’” says Hall , “ or , ‘ These messages you ’ re sending out aren ’ t working , but these ones should .’ You have a virtual assistant with the intelligence of 10 and the opinion of none . The database and algorithms take care of the boring stuff , and the human is freed up the take care of the other humans .”
He says any company that doesn ’ t use AI for marketing “ is setting itself up to be extinct in three to five years .”
To Serve Man
In 1987 , an IBM computer called Deep Blue became famous for defeating chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in a tense match in New York City . It was called the first such victory of man over machine , but Deep Blue was a dinosaur compared to AI .
Fast forward a quarter of a century , to 2022 , and a chess-playing robot competing in Russia broke the finger of his human opponent , a seven-year-old boy , after the child made a move too quickly .
“ The boy hurried , the robot grabbed him ,” said Moscow Chess Open President Sergey Lazarev . “ This is , of course , bad .”
Yes , it is . All reservations aside , in 2023 governments and businesses were expected to invest more than $ 500 billion on AI technologies , according to global research firm IDC . They ’ re also looking to regulate the controversial tools . AXES . ai ’ s Hall says AI should be “ more regulated than nuclear energy . “ Nuclear material is hyper-controlled in the hands of the few , whereas artificial intelligence is sitting in everybody ’ s left or right hand — on their phone .
“ We ’ re on a planet where we worked hard for a couple of million years to have humans , so it ’ d be really cool if we stayed on the menu .” Right now , Canada , Australia , India and the European Union are at the forefront of AI regulation , he says .
Speaking of menus — and scary science fiction — in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone , an alien race called the Kanamits come to Earth , promising to end all wars and turn our planet into a paradise . At first , humans are wary , but the aliens seem benevolent , and their good intentions are reflected in the title of a handbook in their language , To Serve Man .
As a cryptographer works to decode the handbook , hundreds of earthlings accept the Kanamits ’ invitation to visit their own world . The happy interstellar travelers are about to board the spaceship when the cryptographer arrives , trying to stop them .
She has translated To Serve Man , only to discover that it ’ s a cookbook .
AI : Use with Caution
Q & A
Chad Hallert
Chief Marketing Officer , Good Giant
In 2022 , two advertising agencies merged to create the largest gaming-focused creative agency in the U . S ., Good Giant . With offices in Reno , Chicago , Tulsa , Oklahoma and Mobile , Alabama , the firm offers marketing , advertising and branding services for gaming clients including Hard Rock , Agua Caliente , Rivers , Cherokees and Coeur d ’ Alene .
Chief Marketing Officer Chad Hallert says Good Giant is easing into its use of AI , which is not yet “ fully mature ,” to ensure the integrity of its work .
GGB : How can AI improve casino marketing , and what are the drawbacks ? Chad Hallert : Using AI alongside careful automation could really help achieve personalized messaging on a one-to-one level .
As loyalty programs get bigger , it gets exponentially harder to manage all the different customers with the needed level of attention . Often , marketers end up just targeting big groups and segments instead of really personalizing messages . AI might just be the answer to fixing that .
But with all the excitement and fear of missing out that comes with new tech , many will jump into AI without really thinking it through .
They might end up running campaigns that don ’ t really connect , or even worse , mess up the relationship with customers because they ’ re not hitting the mark with offers , messages or creativity .
Research suggests that AI is a good fit for the marketing department , using data to understand consumers , helping companies pitch in a more targeted way and getting people to buy in . How do you use it ? Right now , we ’ ve implemented AI in areas such as marketing research , statistical analysis , automating outreach , media buying , copywriting and even creative tasks . But we don ’ t think the technology is fully matured , so we manually review , edit and optimize almost every output from AI .
Does AI make it easier to gauge the effectiveness of a campaign ? Definitely ! We utilize AI on a daily basis to analyze extensive marketing and media performance data , offering campaign recommendations and insights .
Many AI recommendations are slightly off the mark because the system lacks awareness of our underlying strategy , past performance and overall market dynamics . Despite this , we find great value in the analysis . It serves as an efficient starting point for our team to develop their human insights .
Are you concerned about AI replacing people ? In a creative agency like yours , what can AI not do ? While some job functions may be displaced by AI , this transition will likely enable those team members to pursue more fulfilling , creative and strategic roles .
As a real-life illustration , Good Giant has devoted the past few years to developing a proprietary AI-based software that we employ for creative production across many of our high-volume clients . This software can interpret and understand a client ’ s brand guidelines , analyze approved creative concepts and dynamically generate design versions for use across various mediums .
Although human review and approval are still necessary for the outputs , the time saved has allowed us to invest more in exploring additional creative ideas and refining initial design concepts .
In the end , will AI make our industry more impersonal ? Technology serves human creativity , not the other way around . Connecting with your audience with an idea is timeless . How we do that and the means by which we do that will always evolve . AI is just the latest chapter .
36 Global Gaming Business APRIL 2024