With the advent of continuous Artificial Intelligence (AI) developments, we see so much potential and firsthand what these new AIs can do for various tasks that people have given them. AI research results have been exponential in the last few decades. In the show Star Trek TNG, we see Captain Picard giving instructions to an onboard AI computer of the spaceship and see the ship carry its instructions, especially for work that does not need sentient organics.
We now have an AI that can seemingly replicate the abilities of the AI we saw on science fiction shows such as Star Trek. Take chat GPT, for instance. It is one of the first AI to understand and respond to human language appropriately and easily. Students can now tell chat GPT to do homework. It is so good sometimes that it fools people into thinking that what they are reading is actually produced by AI. South Park actually did an episode on this where Stan would use chat GPT to reply to his girlfriend.
These rapid developments in AI have caused a lot of exciting wonders, and there is obvious fear. Artificial Intelligence, as its abilities comes ever closer to what humans can do, coupled with the fact that it is a machine, has induced us to think of situations upon which the AI might be able to do some of the jobs people hold. It has caused fear of being obsolete and being replaced. This also includes the marketing industry and, most specifically, our discussion with lead generation.
AI lead generation cannot do the work itself, and it is doubtful it can do the work anytime soon.
In lead generation marketing, we focus on prospects who have already shown interest in our products and services. To focus your efforts, create an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). For instance, determining what you are looking for will ultimately depend on humans, such as the owner. AI can ultimately not make such decisions for you. Once we humans have set up the criteria, for instance, in lead qualifying, the AI can sort and qualify leads far faster and more efficiently than the human counterpart.
Such examples show the current state of AI. AI, as we have it, usually does not make the final decision; it is usually left for humans to review. It is known that AI does not see the world yet in the same manner that we do. AI may manifest bugs or faults of logic that we humans, holders of intuition, may come to see instantly. We can feel it, a sense of gut feeling. AI, as of yet, does not have intuition as we do.
To that, we have another point. AI does not necessarily replace human roles, but more commonly, it provides venues that help with those roles, making them more efficient and perform better. In AI lead generation, for example, AI can help qualify the various leads, but the sales and marketing team will still convert those leads; AI can produce a comprehensive and holistic presentation of data with its predictive analysis. However, humans will still make the final decision, for we have intuition and can quickly see or add things that are guided by that intuition.
If AI predictive analysis is perfect, then we shouldn’t see a rapid, steep fall or rise in the value of stocks in the stock market. Brokers use AI predictive systems, yet even those cannot account for intuition and human whim. This is something AI does not do at the moment. Look at this article by Cointelegraph. It shows that AI can now assist us, not replace us.
In the lead generation marketing world, AI is also not trusted by prospects and customers as much as they would trust a human. Humans tend to trust and be impressed with the confidence of another human and would factor in those when they finally decide to purchase your service or product. Customers prefer a personalized approach, and AI cannot provide a similar experience to a human experience as it does yet. A human can appeal to emotional sensitivities. For instance, we have empathy and can use that to convince prospects and leads. As it stands, AI does not have consciousness and hence does not have a concept of the self or the “I.” Here is a good read from IEEE Spectrum, highlighting areas where AI can be unreliable.
In lead generation marketing, AI is not yet able to replace humans. The best it can do now is to assist us and improve our efficiency. The time when AI can replace our function might also mean the time we have another consciousness aside from us. If that happens by then, we will have far bigger things to consider. There is no threat of replacement, but those who fail to leverage AI in their work will surely get left behind.
