8.1 The Era of Artificial Intelligence and Persuasion

At the beginning of this decade, Canadian Radio hosts Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant coined the phrase “The Age of Persuasion” and named it the title of a radio series that they ran successfully from 2006 to 2011 on the CBC, comprising five seasons and 107 episodes. Their very popular program explored the cultural impact of Advertising and Marketing in Capitalist economies and Globalized markets. They systematically illustrated the different elements of successful pieces crafted by different industries around the world in their efforts to prevail in the increasingly competitive sales environments where they had to survive.

To craft a compelling and persuasive argument explaining why someone in a targeted audience should buy something, sales executives in all corners of the world tried every element and tool at their disposal, sometimes with the best of intentions, and sometimes with clearly malicious intent. Manipulation became a primary tool that aided bias and ethically dubious argumentation.

This, of course, has impacted the global market, and consumers have been affected to the point that over-spending, hoarding, and irrational shopping have become prevalent in a world filled with millions of options, often prompting impulsive, unaware, or immature consumers to make choices.

Yes, although I call the present period the Era of Artificial Intelligence as a way to acknowledge the numerous identifiable but also unfamiliar and unpredictable consequences of the generalized use of AI in our daily existence, we still live in an age of profoundly rooted stratagems designed to convince, manipulate, induce, convert, tempt or encourage people to undertake on the spot actions without critical contemplation. Thus, Persuasion continues to be at the heart of human interaction. Artificial Intelligence has now entered this landscape and become a new ally of Persuasion.

This is why it is so important, now more than ever, to analyze arguments and explore how to use evidence, reasoning, and language effectively. When crafting arguments, we are not just stating opinions; we are building a logical fortress supported by evidence and the greatest possible simplicity.