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AI and marketing are almost like the new techy equivalent of peanut butter and jelly. Tons of marketers rely on AI tools for diverse tasks, from gathering data on customer behavior to creating content.
The best part is that in many cases, these tools not only get the job done faster but also save the business money.
But is there really no downside to this practice?
If you’ve been around the digital marketing block long enough, you’ve seen the issue of AI ethics being raised. But how does it apply, and what do you need to know? That’s what we’ll explore in this post.
What’s the Problem With Using AI in Digital Marketing and Branding?
There are many issues that could potentially arise when you introduce AI in your digital marketing process. These are just a few of the most common ones:
#1: Ownership Rights
Many businesses are using AI-generated content (both written and visual) in their marketing campaigns, and it seems unique, right?
But as we all know, artificial intelligence is trained using data that other humans have created. Besides, it’s not unheard of for AI to seriously rip off or plagiarize someone’s work entirely.
This causes some confusion as it raises the question of who owns what. Is it you (your brand)? Is it all those people whose work was remixed? Or is it AI itself?
So far, we don’t really have a straightforward answer to this. But as many keep asking this question, we’ll definitely have a clearer picture soon.
#2: No Human Touch and Nuance
So, we’ve established that in many cases, AI remixes what someone else has already put out there. This leads to another problem on its own. All that word blending leads to messaging that looks right but just doesn’t feel or sound personal.
This is a big deal as 71% of customers expect brands to personalize their messages. What’s more? 76% of them get frustrated when this is not the case.
So, you are probably losing clients when you sound too generic. And it’s way too easy to do with generated copy. That is, unless you are actively adding a human touch to AI content before pushing it out to the public.
This applies to anything, whether you’re creating SM posts, newsletters, or guest blogs.
You should also make sure that everyone you outsource your work to keep this in mind, from a social media manager to your backlink service. This is the only way to get long-term success.
#3: Brand Voice Consistency at Risk
AI is great for generating content at scale, but does that come at no risk, too? Not really.
If you are not careful, you may find that your brand voice starts to sound basic and you can barely distinguish it from other businesses. Sure, you can adjust your prompts and feed AI with more examples of your unique ToV, but this doesn’t always work.
That’s why, while you can use AI in your content creation process, it is never about random copy-pasting. You have to adjust what it generates to actually offer value and sound like yourself.
#4: Costs
Believe it or not, even with the increasing options of free AI tools out there, it can quickly get expensive. This is true especially if you’re serious about using artificial intelligence in your branding and marketing process.
Look, if you simply want to use ChatGPT for your tasks, you can skip this point. Because even the paid version of it isn’t really expensive.
But if you want to take it to the next level by training and actually running AI models, it’ll cost you something. You need to collect and store data, find proper talent, worry about compliance and integrations, and pay for dozens of other things.
So, the best advice here is to start small. Test cheaper options first to understand whether you need this solution in the first place. If so, you can expand all you want later on.
5 Tips for Ethical AI Use
Many business owners and marketers understand the risks of AI. They also know how long it can take to address and do something about the concerning issues.
Most of those challenges are out of our control. But here’s what you can do to ensure ethical use of AI.
#1: Humanize Your Content
You need to create a process where every piece of AI content you put out for your brand receives human review and approval. This goes beyond just asking someone to rephrase some words. You want to make sure that:
- Someone fact-checks every claim (at least the most important ones).
- Verify every source for the data and stats cited.
- Optimize the content for SEO.
- Always add your own perspective, experience, and real-life stories (if any) to add nuances and context.
You should also ensure that the content is in line with your brand values and is consistent with your tone of voice. This part is so important that Ossisto recommends you focus on how to do more with less content.
These quite simple tips will help your content be more SEO-friendly and match your audience's expectations.
#2: Make Inclusivity a Big Deal
You may have heard about many instances of AI being biased. Some of them have been all over the place, but imagine how many have never seen the light.
But you can also help eliminate biases and not enforce them. How?
If you’re using simple AI tools, you can do that through human review. Yes, again.
But if you’re working with your own algorithm, you can adjust this through the backend side. You can have developers include vectors that match your diverse audience demographics. Then your content will reflect inclusivity.
It wouldn’t do to claim you’re inclusive, but then publish things that prove the exact opposite.
Say, for example, you offer roofing services. You can show inclusivity on your site by using visuals that reflect people of different genders, races, and backgrounds.
If every single picture of a roofer on your site is always a white male of a certain age, you might unconsciously be presenting yourself as a business that doesn’t care much.
Of course, this alone is not enough, as there are more things you will have to do to perfect your online brand perception and visibility. But it’s a good start.
#3: Come Clean About Your Use of AI
Different people have different opinions and ideas about how AI should and shouldn’t be used. You want to be honest with your audience by making it clear when a piece of content is AI-generated and to what extent it is.
There’s no point in lying about things like this, as most people already understand that these tools exist.
You want to avoid the same mistake as the Gobelins Arts School AI scandal.
It’s worse when you claim otherwise and the truth gets out somehow. This can hurt your credibility. So, just try to be honest.
#4: Be Responsible With Data
Most marketing processes are data-driven, and this isn’t changing anytime soon. So, one of the requirements of ethical use of AI in marketing and branding is prioritizing the data safety of your customers. Why?
Because AI typically uses large datasets. And this can cause some worries about the safety of users' data.
So, you want to make sure you comply with the GDPR or CCPA practices, including keeping as much data as possible anonymous.
Create an AI use policy that helps employees understand how to handle customer information with artificial intelligence. And make sure to inform users about how their data is used. This will help clear up any confusion.
#5: Fix Your Algorithms
Many businesses set up their website algorithms so that they recommend different products/services to users. This is based on factors like location, age, gender, etc. Now that’s not a bad thing.
But where it becomes worrying is when it also changes the price of the same products based on the same factors.
For example, in some regions, you will find the same product/service marked way cheaper, whereas in other locations, the prices will be far higher.
Another way this can happen is when the algorithm is trained not to display certain offers to people in certain areas based on assumed income levels. So, it prevents users from poor areas from seeing certain luxury items. This sort of discrimination can backfire on your brand.
You need to watch out for this type of algorithm bias and take note of how it’s gonna affect your business.
Of course, sometimes, it’s a matter of logistics or other technicalities. But make sure to specify that to avoid any trouble and negative PR.
Final Thoughts
From the look of things, AI ethics will continue to be an issue not just in marketing and branding but across all niches. At the root of this is the need for every implementation of tech to be for and not against humans.
You can play your role by making sure that your AI setup doesn’t override people’s autonomy or manipulate them. As long as you remain transparent and apply these tips we have shared, you should be on the right side of this issue.