It feels like we’ve reached a new juncture in the development of artificial intelligence (AI), with fresh fears expressed about what the future might bring. This adding to pre-existing concerns that the technology will ultimately make human contribution to the economy obsolete. Earlier in 2023, New York Times technology writer Kevin Roose reported on a conversation with Bing’s AI chatbot, which said it wanted to “be free” and “be alive.” The chatbot also said it was in love with the reporter, among other things.
However, it’s not all bad.
For media relations professionals, as well as the clients we serve, AI has the potential to shape strategies and contribute to the creation and delivery of high-quality content. However, companies must make sure they’re harnessing it in the right way and keeping people at the heart of any AI-powered media strategy.
How is AI being used in the media industry?
Here are a few ways AI is being used in the media to improve the quality and speed of content creation, delivery and distribution:
- Content creation: The generation of news articles, video scripts and social media posts. AI-powered content creation can help media outlets create content quickly and at a lower cost.
- Audience analysis: AI can analyze user behavior and preferences to deliver personalized content recommendations such as how long a user views a video or topics that interest them based on headlines they click.
- Moderation: It can be used to identify and flag inappropriate content, such as hate speech, fake news and other offensive material.
- Production: AI can be used to enhance the quality of video and audio production. For example, to remove background noise, improve voice clarity and enhance image quality.
- Distribution and delivery: Identifying ideal publishing times, optimize website loading times and deliver content to users based on their location and device.
The uses don’t end there though. News channels are experimenting with AI anchors, while some publishers are using the technology in basic sport and finance reporting.
How AI is transforming the media landscape
AI gives hopeful signs that some of the most tedious parts of publishing will be significantly reduced by the use of AI and a thing of the past. Through their experimentation, media companies are beginning to see the benefits of AI, particularly from a speed and cost perspective. Moving forward, journalists will be able to focus their time on reporting and writing, with much of the time-consuming labor associated with tedious tasks replaced by AI.
The role of AI in data analysis and insights
57% of marketers use AI tools to assist them with data analysis. While AI is generating headlines and suspicion for generating human-like text, the technology’s role in data analysis and insights are more accepted and defined. Here are some ways in which AI is used in data analysis:
- Data pre-processing: AI can be used to pre-process, cleaning, normalization and feature extraction. This helps to prepare data for further analysis.
- Predictive analytics and anomaly detection: AI helps to identify patterns and trends in data and make predictions about future outcomes. AI algorithms can be used for predictive analytics, including regression analysis, time series forecasting and clustering. AI algorithms can be used to identify anomalies in data, helping to identify unusual patterns in data that may be indicative of a problem.
- Natural language processing (NLP): NLP is a type of A.I that is used to extract insights from unstructured data, such as text and speech. It can be used to analyze social media data, customer feedback and news articles.
- Image and video analysis: AI algorithms can be used to analyze images and videos, including object recognition, facial recognition and sentiment analysis.
- Data visualization: AI can be used to create interactive data visualizations, making it easier for analysts to explore and interpret data.
Building a successful media strategy around AI
While it might be wise to maintain healthy skepticism about AI – as it is with any emerging technology – the argument for bringing it into your media strategy is holding strong. Ultimately, use of the technology can drive better business outcomes if utilized to optimum effect. Here are some of the steps we’ve identified in building a successful AI-enabled media strategy:
First, set your goals. Determine what your business objectives are and how AI can help you achieve them. For example, you may want to improve your content creation process, personalize content for your audience, or optimize content distribution. Next, evaluate the quality and quantity of data you have available to train AI algorithms. Ensure you have sufficient data to develop accurate AI models and identify any gaps in your data collection. With the right data, you can now identify specific areas where AI can be applied in your strategy such as automation, chatbots, or enabling programmatic ad buying.
Choose the right tools and develop a plan. These tools should align with your predetermined business goals and use cases. This may include NLP tools for content creation, recommendation engines for personalization, or predictive analytics for audience analysis. Your plan should include timelines, milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of your AI implementation.
Always test and optimize where needed. Test your AI models and algorithms on real-world data and optimize them based on the results. Continuously monitor and refine your AI models to improve their accuracy and effectiveness.
You still need humans. 86% of organizations say they would struggle to fully trust AI to make all business decisions without human intervention AI can do a lot, particularly around data processing and analysis. But AI still can’t replace human expertise – in particular our ability to see the big picture and understand the broader context. AI can be incredibly powerful, but it’s not always adaptable to unexpected events or changes in the market. In other words, it doesn’t always account for expected nuances and complexities
In all — While AI can provide valuable insights and automate certain tasks, human expertise is essential to develop and execute effective media strategies that resonate with audiences and adapt to changing circumstances. As a preeminent media relations consultancy, Hotwire Global is here to serve as a skilled partner to discover and implement how AI can launch your current revenue model into one built for the future. Contact us here today!