COACHING
Artificial Intelligence
By Thrity Engineer-Mbuthia
In the early 1930s a British gentleman by the name Allan Turing conceptualized an idea of a machine which would later be known as a computer . His idea was that this machine would store information and the machine would have the ability to read what was in the storage and be able to write or suggest further information . According to Encyclopedia Britannica , in 1947 , in London , Turing gave a public lecture where he said there was a need for a machine that could learn from experience , and this perhaps was the beginning of the thoughts around artificial intelligence .
Over the years , different experts came up with applications that utilized some of these ideas . In 1997 IBM came up with a computer called the Deep Blue that was able to beat the world champion Gary Kasparov at chess . A machine that could play the game , that was able to ‘ think ’ many steps ahead and therefore find ways to win the game . But as your kids have probably told you , it is no fun to play against a machine .
The tec giant Oracle on its Kenyan website defines artificial intelligence as “ systems or machines that mimic human intelligence to perform tasks and can iteratively improve themselves based on the information they collect .” It is often misunderstood to be an option to replace human beings , which is why there can be some resistance to it .
What if we were to change our mindset and explore how it can enhance activities or capabilities and make life simpler for marketers ? Where can AI play a role in the world of marketing and can it be a competitive advantage for your organization ?
Content Creation
With the Covid-19 pandemic propelling the update of digital technology by more organizations , there is a need to embrace digital marketing as the marketing of the future . This means that marketers must use the principles of marketing to help them choose the right digital channels , understand the customer journeys and research on insights about the customer
“
There is a need to embrace digital marketing as the marketing of the future . This means that marketers must use the principles of marketing to help them choose the right digital channels , understand the customer journeys and research on insights about the customer personas . personas . All this leads to content creation . Content creation is one of the hardest things to do if you require content on a consistent and creative basis . Here comes artificial intelligence to make your life just that little bit easier . Today there are several programs available that allows machines to author content for you . This could be content for website or social media , but could also be content for reports , product descriptions or even collation of customer insights .
Chat Bots
A very popular tool to help manage customer experience is the application of chat bots . Bots are able to answer queries from customers , with the ability to gather information and potential answers from an entire database allowing the bot to pick trends or identify common problems .
There are now plenty in the Kenyan market , with Zuri from Safaricom , Abby from Absa and Arifa from Old Mutual being just a few examples . Going beyond customer experience uses , Facebook now known as Meta , has one that runs on WhatsApp called the Meta Business Coach which operates as a training tool . Entrepreneurs are able to learn how to use Facebook , Instagram and WhatsApp for Business effectively for marketing activities .
Sephora has Kik Bot - that allows a user to have an entire discussion on make up even before any purchase to allow the customer to understand the various make up options that meet their needs and desires .
42 MAL48 / 22 ISSUE