10.1: What is AI?
What is AI?
“Artificial intelligence” (or AI) is a catch-all term that encompasses a wide range of machine learning technologies that use large data sets – collections of information – to make predictions or conclusions. AI technologies have been with us for some time – predictive text, social media algorithms, content recommendation, surveillance, and translation tools all use AI to some extent. Interest in the field of AI has recently grown with the arrival of new and already popular tools like ChatGPT and MidJourney and even newer products steadily moving onto the market, such as Microsoft’s Bing and Google’s Gemini. AI systems can be differentiated from other computerized systems because AIs have fluid adaptation capabilities, sometimes going beyond what was initially programmed. (Vinchon et al, 2023).
GenAI
Another term that is important to understand is Generative AI. “Generative AI” (or GenAI) is the class of tools where the AI creates – or generates! – something like an image, a paragraph, a video, or a sound file.
The arrival of GenAI has recently changed the public’s interest in AI. GenAI can be defined as a system that uses existing information to create new content. (Vinchon et al, 2023).
GenAI tools are increasingly being incorporated into the main products of Big Tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. “In November 2022 ChatGPT, a popular artificial intelligence (AI) tool, was released. Although it isn’t the first AI technology available… it gained sudden fame, both radical and negative, among scholars, researchers, educators, and students after its release to the public,” (Nguyen, 2023).
“ChatGPT is an AI system equipped with various abilities. This sophisticated chat-bot can read, make summaries, solve math problems, produce a comprehensive piece of writing (e.g., an academic essay, proposal, course syllabi draft), or create a consulting report or art piece. ChatGPT can also tutor students by providing explanations of abstract concepts and theories. ChatGPT can engage in scholarly debates in various fields of study as it can access relevant literature within seconds,” (Nguyen, 2023).
You can explore AI Developments through the 20th and 21st Centuries using this interactive timeline.
Marketing student feedback
AI matters in marketing, and market research specifically, for a number of reasons. As shared in Module 1.2, ethics in market research should be considered in every step of the process. You will remember that we discussed the three core principles of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans that are respect for persons, concern for welfare and justice. These principles must be considered carefully before using any AI tools and this will be further explored in Module 10.2.
The field of AI is exploding in every sector and changing rapidly. A marketing student cannot be expected to understand exactly how AI works, its in-depth history and how it changes, but should be committed to continued learning and curiosity so ethical considerations can be a priority moving forward in a career in marketing. This chapter will explore AI literacy, some considerations and possibilities for using AI in market research and some open resources that can be used for additional learning.
As part of the creation of this chapter, the Market Research and Consumer Behaviour class at St. Lawrence College offered some feedback and suggestions on AI from a market research student point of view.
When the students were asked about some of the benefits from AI, here are a few of their answers:
“AI is incredibly helpful for generating content or questions about brands or products for various purposes like surveys. It provides a basic understanding of any topic, aiding in research and exploration.”
“When we discussed in class the structure of ChatGPT and realized that it consistently responds similarly to prompts of a similar nature, I was astounded. It’s incredible to know how one can identify responses generated by ChatGPT. Moreover, witnessing the pace and manner of AI evolution is truly fascinating. From its initial limitations to processing text, then images, and now even videos, the progression is remarkable. However, I hold optimism, hoping that innovators maintain control over AI advancement rather than AI controlling its own evolution.”
“One key advantage or benefit of AI is its automation as it can handle multiple time-consuming tasks and allows the human to finish more tasks than usual.”
“AI can complete certain tasks a lot faster than we can. If I need to edit a blog/caption or any copy, I will use Grammarly to edit the writing instead of doing it myself or asking someone else to do it – it’s a lot faster this way.”
“One key advantage or benefit of AI is its automation as it can handle multiple time-consuming tasks and allows the human to finish more tasks than usual.”
The students are still curious and want to learn more about ethical guidelines for responsible use of AI. The students see the future opportunities of AI in market research in automating the process of designing, personalized marketing, predictive analytics, text analysis and overall more efficient data analysis.
When asked what was essential to include in the development of this chapter, the students shared the following recommendations:
- Ethical considerations
- New tools and platforms
- Case studies
- Future trends
Ethical considerations and future trends have been included throughout the chapter, but new tools were not specifically recommended, other than ChatGPT, as we don’t want to be recommending private companies and marketing software as the sector is changing so quickly. Case studies will hopefully be included in a future update of this OER once some additional published research is available using AI and market research.
References
BCIT Library. (n.d.). Libguides: Teaching with Generative AI: Getting started. Getting Started – Teaching with Generative AI – LibGuides at BCIT. CC BY-NC
Museum of Science. (2022, March 29). What is ai?. YouTube.
Nguyen, G. (2023, June 13). Digital Pedagogy Toolbox: Let’s make friends with chatgpt. BCcampus. CC BY 4.0 DEED
Vinchon et al. The Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 0, Iss. 0, pp. 1–13. DOI: 10.1002/jocb.597
