Artificial intelligence: marketing implications & applications.

• Author: Forrest, Edward
• Position: MARKETING

It has different names. It uses different terms. It is a combination of many technologies, with many features, being developed by many companies with lots of money at stake. And--it means just one thing--marketing will never be the same.

It would be hard to imagine anyone who has not encountered voice-recognition technologies, such as when calling a company and being instructed to press a number or say "Yes" or being asked to enunciate a birthday, address, or whatever else is required to transact business. Apple's Siri, Google Now, and Microsoft's Cortana proffer millions of smartphone and tablet users their own personal information concierge.

Beyond Voice Recognition

Variously termed virtual assistants or intelligent agents, computing systems using artificial intelligence (AI) technology have emerged as the interface of customer service. The ability to directly converse with an intelligent agent and have it answer questions or commands is the result of an astonishingly sophisticated amalgamation of voice recognition technology, linguistic science, and natural language processing.

Combined with the latest advances in machine learning, cognitive computing, analytical and predictive statistics, neural networking and deep-learning algorithms, and neurosynaptic chips (a brain-inspired computer architecture that mimics one million neurons and 256 million synapses), the role and scope of intelligent agents far surpasses basic keyword searches or a simple command such as "dial my wife's phone number."

Moreover, today's emerging intelligent agents have moved beyond a one-system-serves-all and are capable of learning their owners' every habit, preference, and price point. This past year, IBM introduced its "Engagement Advisor." Envisioned as an intelligent technology whose services can apply to almost any industry, but especially those that draw volumes of customer service inquiries, such as retail, banking, insurance, and telecommunications, the Engagement Advisor can seamlessly supplement and even supplant human customer service representatives.

Impacts to Marketing

The capability to interact, answer questions, and assist consumers with complex purchasing decisions and/or solve problems is set to impact marketing on other fronts as well. As reported in Forbes by Mark Fidelman in an article titled "IBM's Watson Set To Revolutionize Marketing" published in 2013, the ability to analyze in a matter of seconds 200 million pages of structured and...