Moving AI from content creation to business development

We are clearly at a tipping point. Computer scientist, futurist and transhumanist Ray Kurzweil famously said, "Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by around 2029", and "by the 2030s, the nonbiological portion of our intelligence will predominate".

It’s all well and good to make bold claims about the day when AI takes over, but it is becoming ever more difficult to discount the overwhelming effect a technological singularity will have on humanity. Tim Mucci at IBM defines this as “a theoretical scenario where technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, culminating in profound and unpredictable changes to human civilisation”.¹ If that be the description then we have surely passed this point.

A plethora of papers (by Brandon Perry; Carl Shulman and Anders Sandberg; Louis Rosenberg) have posited the date of the singularity to be somewhere between 2030 and 2045, which is congruous with Kurzweil’s prediction, so it seems we are certainly on the cusp of something spectacular.

While a great number of professionals have not yet dipped their toes into the alien ocean of AI, many are already knee-deep in its waters. Recent statistics (Synthesia, December 2024) found that 62% of professionals find AI important to their marketing, while 55% of businesses are already using AI for content creation, making it the most common application in marketing and communication strategies. What’s more, 68% of companies have noticed a content marketing ROI growth since using AI. Knee-deep high and rising.

Recent research clearly shows that content creation is one of the main uses of AI by marketing departments across the world. In fact, according to Synthesia, more than half of marketers (56%) claim generative AI content outperforms human content. Sure, it saves time but using generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) for purely linguistic drudgery is like using an industrial firehose to water a single potted plant – excessive force for a simple task, but undeniably effective.

Some may not agree, but in attempting to find the elusive Holy Grail of business development and marketing, we must surely try to improve client retention and acquisition as well as boost brand awareness. There is a veritable cornucopia of AI tools out there (both free and paid for), however, they don’t count for much without a clear strategy for what you want to achieve. Before taking the decision about which tool to use, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What problem am I trying to solve? Clearly define your challenge to ensure the tool aligns with your goals.
   
   
2. What is my budget? Determine how much you are willing to invest in AI tools. While some options are free, others come with significant costs.
   
   
3. How will I measure success? Establish metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of the AI tool you choose. Client retention? Client acquisition? Better brand awareness? Clear KPIs will enable you to assess performance.

Take a deep breath, roll up your trousers, and start walking into that ocean.

¹ Tim Mucci, “What Is The Technical Singularity”, IBM.com, 7 June 2024, accessed 13 January 2025.

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Raf Uzar heads marketing, communication and development at law firm Penteris and is a member of the UK's Chartered Institute of Marketing.