The Record - Issue 18: Autumn 2020

116 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om F E ATUR E a perfectly circular parrot!” says Nightingale. “And a lot of clients ask why someone is researching how to create a circular parrot. But this idea will transform a range of industries. Senior designers will be able to sketch their broadest ideas, and the AI will generate these designs that could never really be imagined before. In the next 10 years, you’re going to see some incredible acts of creativity that have been augmented by these types of creative computa- tional algorithms.” This raises the question of whether AI alone could begin to create content, without the need for any input of humans. In media and commu- nications, where human creativity is central, such a prospect would cause significant disruption. “I have to think very hard about how WPP will compete in that space and where our human creativity fits in,” says Nightingale. “The good news is that 70 per cent of the impact of those digital adverts is still caused by human creativity. In tests, we have taken that human creativity out by presenting a piece of black and white copy and have seen that the effectiveness of the advert plummets. The reason for this is that an advert is typically a social observation. They’re not pictures of objects or products, they’re little stories. AI will never come up with that social observation at the heart of the advert, because they have no contextual knowledge of our soci- ety or culture.” The focus, therefore, is on how AI can support human creativity, rather than replace it. By mak- ing use of AI to ease the production process and enable new acts of imagination, companies will be able to transform their content into an even more personalised offering. “This is a glimpse of where the future is going to go,” says Nightingale. “Your children will grow up knowing these interfaces in the same way that we know Microsoft Word. This is the way that we’ll create work, and we will not be able to stand still in this new world.” AI technology is poised to change the communications and media industry by enabling powerful new creative tools. We asked Microsoft partners and customers how they are using AI to help businesses transform their content offerings Perspectives on AI Kirsten Allegri Williams Chief marketing officer at Episerver “Marketers are tasked with showcasing their products or services digitally – whether it’s a gaming device or a streaming subscription – in new, fresh and dynamic ways that are reflective of their brand promise and more often than not, that’s through content. It’s the job of the digital marketer to be in a continuous innovation cycle and represent the voice of the customer in their content offerings. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help marketers blend the art and science of content creation by leveraging embedded analytics into process workflows when teams are creating content online. Episerver Content Cloud and Episerver Intelligence Cloud make more room for creative expression by helping get new messages to market faster and through insights about what customers want and where there is demand, respectively. With Intelligence Cloud, marketers can leverage AI-powered content recommendations to deliver personalised experiences to each visitor which improves customer experience and accelerates the path to engagement. In turn, marketers are guided in their content creation by knowing exactly which topics drive high-value action and identifying content gaps within existing content offerings.” “AI will generate designs that could never really be imagined before” P E R R Y N I GHT I NGA L E , WP P