Tech trends you need to know: part 1
I love IdeaCast, the weekly podcast from Harvard Business Review. And if like me you try to keep up with the tech and digital trends that affect your work you’ll want to listen to IdeaCast’s new Tech at Work series. Luckily I listened to the first two parts so you don’t have to. Here’s what I think you need to know.
What GenAI Means for Companies Right Now
I dabble with generative AI (GenAI) sometimes. I’ve tried out Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Personally I find ChatGPT’s results to be better quality. Read on for HBR’s take on the GenAI trend. And in case you’re wondering, yes, ChatGPT did help me to write this post.
Adapting to rapid technological change
Even the companies that have invested heavily in GenAI (like ChatGPT or proprietary tools) are still in the process of figuring out its practical applications and benefits. You need to embrace this technology actively to understand its potential.
“GenAI is not going anywhere, so the question now is, how do I use it, how does my team use it, and how does my company use it? There are a lot of questions that they’re going to have to answer, and just get in there and start playing around and learn how to converse with AI.”
Hands-on experimentation
There is no instruction manual for implementing AI, which means you need to experiment with AI to learn how it can best serve your needs and support your work. Doing this will help you to understand AI's strengths and weaknesses for the work you do day-to-day.
“Nobody knows anything. There’s no information out there. So the best thing I could do is... use AI for everything you legally and ethically can because that’s the way you get the experience with how these systems operate.”
Cultural and structural changes
Successful integration of GenAI requires companies to rethink traditional structures and encourage innovation at all levels. This involves fostering a culture of openness and experimentation where employees feel comfortable using and sharing their AI insights.
“Organisations need to change in lots of ways. The locus of innovation has always been on the edge, but now it matters more than ever because your only advantage as a large company with AI is that you have more people using it and you can adapt faster.”
The point about experimentation with AI reminds me of the work I did last year for LIS (the London Interdisciplinary School) which has a fascinating and innovative approach to allowing its students to use generative AI tools. You can read more about it in this City AM column by LIS’s Amelia Paterson. There’s more about the work I did for LIS here.
How the end of cookies will transform digital marketing
I’m no digital marketing expert, but as someone who advises on marketing and communications holistically I know it’s important to understand major industry shifts. This episode has just the right level of information to understand what the end of cookies means to any brand operating in the digital sphere. As a rapidly changing area, how the end of cookies will transform digital marketing is still unfolding.
Impact on digital marketing and advertising strategies
The elimination of third-party cookies represents a major shift for digital marketers, who rely heavily on cookies for tracking user behaviour and personalising ads. This change will require marketers to explore new strategies and technologies to maintain ad effectiveness.
“If I were a digital marketer, I’d be panicking right now. But I don’t think consumers will care, they’re not going to stop seeing ads, but the ads will be less relevant.”
Emergence of privacy-centric technologies
The move towards privacy-centric advertising technologies like Google's Privacy Sandbox aims to address user privacy concerns while still providing mechanisms for targeted advertising. These technologies are designed to function without tracking users across different websites, thus requiring a shift in how advertisers measure and target ads.
“Privacy Sandbox is not just this theoretical idea. This has been released in essentially all Chrome browsers since September. And Google got rid of cookies for 1% of users in January of this year.”
Future of advertising
As the industry adapts to a post-cookie world, advertisers will need to prioritise learning and testing new solutions. This includes exploring contextual advertising, first-party data, and other innovative approaches to maintain the effectiveness of their campaigns.
“It is a massive change... Without a third-party cookie, it forces us to step back and think about what are the best media experiences for our consumers.”
What’s your take on our GenAI, post-cookie future? If you want to chat over a coffee drop me a line.
By the way, if you listen to the end of cookies podcast you’ll hear that Cookie Monster comics are all the rage in marketing mags covering the topic right now. Hence this pic I made with the help of DALL-E.
