Ep 4: What is the future of AI in advertising?

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How will AI shape advertising? That's one of the things that we're going to talk about today in our show. Welcome to Everyday AI. My name is Jordan Wilson, the host of this daily livestream, podcast and newsletter. And I have a special guest with me today, Rasha Shaker. Rasha, say what's up? How you doing?

What's up? How you doing?

It's so nice I gave you the line there.

Sorry. Yeah, no, it's all right. Yeah, but thank you so much for having me on the show, Jordan. A pleasure being here.

Awesome. Great. Well, hey, before we jump into Rash's background, we're going to give you, we're going to run down some of the most important things in, in artificial intelligence news right now. So one thing just as a reminder to everyone, whether you're tuning in on the live stream or listening on the podcast, every single day, we try to update you with what is important in going on in AI news. Not just for people in marketing and advertising like myself and Rasha, but everyday people. And you can use AI to help make your job, career and everything better. So let's quickly take a look at what's going on. So one thing, RNC using deepfakes. So this, the rnc, the Republican National Committee just released an ad showing imagining what Joe Biden's second term would look like. You know, normal stuff, except they use all AI generated images first. That's a first for any national campaign. So we'll see what happens there. There's still no real movement in terms of legislation in Congress, but I think the more commercials that you see like that, the more it's actually going to push Congress to do something about AI legislation. Our second piece, China lacking behind the US in chat, as we've talked about on the show before, it's really US and China really pushing the rest of the world on AI development, all the different tools. So China has two different major versions of chat. Similarly, how the US has ChatGPT, which we talk about every day on the show. So China's two different versions from Beidou and Alibaba, they've really been lacking behind. They have long, long wait lists, limited access and restricted trials to business partners. So although Beijing is ahead in, in regulation, they are a little bit behind right now in terms of actual users getting access to this technology. It's something maybe in the US at least we don't really realize or take advantage of that so much of the world doesn't have the level of access that we do with, with some of our tools and technology because of regulation. A lot of countries have, have banned it or, you know, cut back usage. Our third story for today, and there will be more in the daily newsletter, so make sure you go to your everyday AI.com and subscribe. But our third topic to discuss is the Forbes study. A new Forbes study is talking about how AI will add to the economy. So they're looking at just a growing demand for AI professionals, which we've talked about multiple times. But they specifically looked at India's economy and how AI is going to add to the GDP, not replace. @ least this study says in the next 10 years, AI is going to add an additional 500 billion, that is half a trillion to India's GDP. So would love to hear what you guys think, whether you're, you know, listening, watching. Now live, drop us a comment for myself and Rasha as we transition from the news to an interview. So, uh, Rasha, thanks. Thanks for your patience. So, uh, I'd love to now give you the opportunity, uh, to say a little bit about yourself. Tell us where you work, what you do. Give us the second.

Shot. Yeah. So I was born and raised just 20, 30 minutes outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania, which a lot of people know is like, where the office takes place. And I tell people all the time that that show's not a sitcom, that's a documentary, because the people are really like that up.

There. Love.

It. I moved down to Nashville, Tennessee in 2015 after I graduated from Wil and that's really where I got my foundation in my career in marketing. So I graduated with, like, a comp studies degree in broadcast and publicity. And throughout the span of my career, I've done a lot of media buying. That's really where my expertise in advertising and then some social media campaigns, and a lot of my foundation in my career was actually built in, like, the music and entertainment industries. So, you know, there's a lot that I've learned from that. And then after the pandemic, I was furloughed, and so then it was time to pivot a little bit. So then I eventually found myself here at Bohan, which I've been here for almost a year. And we're like, one of the most, if not the most creative agencies here in the Southeast. We do great work. And I know that we've been chatting a lot internally about AI and what that looks like in the future of our agency and really as the industry as a.

Whole. Yeah, love it. Well, thank, thank you for that breakdown. So even before we jump into the AI space a little bit for I think people like you and myself, Rasha, we understand, you know, the marketing advertising agency space really well, but for everyone else, just kind of explain what's the day to day look like for a senior digital media specialist at Bohan. What are you doing on a day to day.

Basis? Yeah, so really my bread and butter is media buying and putting together marketing campaigns for our clients. So my day to day is usually checking in on my campaign, seeing how they're going, making recommendations to the client as far as where they should be, investing their budgets in as far as different channels. And then a lot of it is, is doing research. So, you know, I've taken my position as, you know, the digital media specialist at Bohan quite seriously as far as doing my due diligence of staying ahead of, you know, trends that are coming up and, and bringing those ideas to my team and to the clients. And so far so good. You know, seen a lot of good results with it. So I must be doing something.

Right. I love it. Speaking, speaking of trends, let's talk about that a little bit and if we can, for a second, let's hold off on talking about the trend of AI because that's more of a, I'd say more of a tsunami. But just maybe talk about in, in your industry, what normal, not trend spotting. But how, how fast would you say things normally, pre artificial intelligence, how fast did you say things moved in the, you know, marketing and advertising.

Space? I'd say pretty quickly. Like one of the biggest questions that come up all the time that I hear from folks in the industry is like, am I going to lose my job? Because just how fast the machine learning is catching up and how close it can get to like, for example, writing a copy or post for a blog, how close it can get to like a brand's voice, you know, of course sometimes it hits the mark. But we've, you know, at Boham, we've asked that question to ourselves, like, where, where do we fit in in this evolving world of AI? And something that we've concluded was that, you know, even though we have this technology and it's rapidly evolving, like in a blink of an eye, there still needs to be human input for it to work. So as long as, you know, we are putting in the input and it really comes down to training ourselves. And it's just like any other innovation that came across in the advertising industry, like even when the dawn of the Internet, when people were still questioning, you know, whether or not to buy banner ads. And I remember as a kid, you know, a 90s kid, a lot of times those banner ads early on in the Internet were a little sketchy. And so we've evolved into digital marketing, being a strong arm in our tactics for campaigns that we present to clients. And so I think we're beginning to get to that next strong arm of this technology coming in. You're obviously going to have that level of skepticism, but at the end of the day, it is our jobs as professionals to educate and train ourselves on these tools. Not so that we have to worry about losing our jobs, but that we're more so I find, I think it reinforces our place in our professions, in our jobs, because, you know, it, it's going to be a time saver because I know, you know, sitting here, it takes a great deal of time to just come up like to launch a campaign from beginning to launch. Like it's a months long process and it requires a lot of planning. And so I think as a tool it's going to help save a lot more time so that you could focus on, you know, the, the, the more grander scheme of things when it comes to running your business or, or working relations with your, with your.

Clients. Yeah, yeah, I think you bring up great points there, Rash. I think, I think one thing, you know, people, people in our industry sometimes are exposed to these, these tools and technologies before others. You know, I, I remember, you know, people reaching out to me when, you know, Chat GPT was released. I don't know what it's been like five months ago. And they're like, can you believe this? And I'm like, well, we've been using this technology for two years, so yes, I can't believe it. But I mean, what kind of conversations, whether it's, you know, you or Bohan interfacing with clients or even you personally, have you seen a lot of people maybe turn to you to be like, hey, you're in this space, help me, you know, help me figure it out. Or you know, what have you been telling, you know, whether it's people, friends, family, clients, just about this, you know, this tsunami of technology in general.

You know, it, I've been getting it a lot. And in fact, when I met with a friend for lunch yesterday, that same question came up. It's like, well, you're the expert here. Tell me where you see AI kind of fitting into your day. To day work or day to day life, whatever. And so I feel like it's just. I think it's. That question is going to come up a lot more. And as far as how I'm answering it, you know, it's constantly being educated on it. But then there's also still, I think, that level of uncertainty because we're starting to get into, like, some deeper waters of technology and like, you know, Internet space as we begin to evolve to Web three. So, you know, I have that conversation and like, when you hit those really deep hidden questions about, you know, where I foresee AI going or where I see myself in the equation as far as my career when it comes to AI, I openly and honestly say I'm not quite sure. And, you know, that's something that is totally valid. And I think we need to, as professionals, as people acknowledge that, you know, sometimes we just don't know. You just have to kind of go out there and. And just ride the wave and see what happens. Because a lot of times we allow the fear and the paranoia to kind of lead us. I think that's what's going on right now in my industry is like, the fear and the paranoia. And I think it's mainly from people who are maybe a little more old school or maybe on the verge of retirement or they just don't quite grasp the evolving world of digital. And that's where people like us that are open and cool with being like, yeah, I don't know, being the ones that go in and be like, all right, I don't know, but let's figure it out. And then going in, and then we teach those people who are scared or unsure of what AI is going to do for them and show them that these are the great things that we could do with it. So that's. That's how I see.

It. Yeah, I love it. And, and real quick here, Rasha, because apparently we're like, I'm super long winded. I keep going on here, but just with a couple minutes left in the show here, could you. Could you tell maybe through your personal experience, you know, professional and personal, both how you're using AI, but also recommending how the everyday person, you know, might use this technology as.

Well. Yeah. So professionally, as a media buyer, I've been trying to do some digging as far as, like, what it could do for me. It doesn't appear that there's any technologies or any tools specifically for media buying that I would find advantageous. But I do see it at my agency with, you know, Chat GPT or even for my friends who freelance or, you know, work in music and entertainment, they use it for creating like album covers or coming up with like content for social media. And then personally I've been experimenting with Google Bard because I was able to get on like the waiting list. And I've used it to come up with like, for example, meal plan ideas. So, you know, I'm really into eating better and you know, been doing the keto thing and you know, I'll ask it, you know, give me two weeks worth of meal ideas on a keto diet this many macronutrients go, and then it'll give me a good breakdown. And it really helps because then, you know, I think for everyday people, like let's say you need to go grocery shopping and you're like, man, I'm tired of the same thing. I'm getting like cheeseburgers and tacos at the grocery store. Give me some ideas about what I could do to eat healthier or, you know, give me ideas for like a vegan diet. And then I started using the Snapchat AI thing. And maybe it's because I'm a younger millennial, but my first instinct was to try and troll.

It. I think, I think you're right. Along with everyone.

There. Yeah. So I tried asking it, oh, what's your favorite south park episode? Because everything I kept asking it was like, oh, I'm not comfortable answering that question. And it was like, well, I'm just a robot. I don't have a favorite episode. It's like, I don't know, man. I don't think we could move forward if I can't talk to you about South Park. I mean, what's the point of you being here if I can't socialize with you? Just asking me questions like, you don't know how to answer mine. So we'll see as the technology.

Evolves. All right, well, thank you, thank you, Rasha for joining us. And I think you bring up great points. Right. You know, there is still, I think, improvements to be made. There's still advancements happening on a daily basis. It's, it's crazy to watch. Thank you again for joining us. You didn't mention Chat GPT. Just as a reminder, if, if you're listening out there, fantastic tool. Get the premium version. Get it through us. We're actually giving away two premium year long memberships. There's obviously a free version of Chat GPT and a much more powerful and faster premium version that you pay for monthly sign up to our newsletter at your Everyday AI, and we'll give you the details on how you can enter for that. Rasha, thank you again for joining us. And please continue to tune in every day to Everyday AI. Thank you so.

Much. And that's a wrap for today's edition of Everyday AI. Thanks for joining us. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave us a rating. It helps keep us going for a little more AI magic. Visit your everydayai.com and sign up to our daily newsletter so you don't get left behind. Go break some barriers and we'll see you next.