OpenAI announced that anyone would be able to create their own AI assistants using ChatGPT. This creates an infinite amount of possibility for how companies can expand their brands and reach in an era where AI is now part of a brand portfolio.
Here are 5 ways in which customized "GPT" AI assistants can be leveraged as a brand asset:
1. First Contact Virtual Receptionist
The value proposition of Google was organizing the world's information. They have done so namely with their search engine where anything and everything is searchable (including in categories such as shopping, images etc) and also in a geospatial way through Google Maps where businesses, parks, homes and everything else that has a physical location on Earth can be found. This model has created tremendous efficiency in finding the right information people were looking for. But the new age of interacting with information is not by manually searching for it (as organized as the SEOs are these days), but it is through an iterative interaction with a conversational AI assistant. Today navigating through big websites can be a challenge. AI assistants (instead of websites or social media accounts) can serve as the first point of contact with a brand for those who are seeking information. These brand AI assistants would be the portal into the brand, its value proposition and its offering. Specifically it would:
Assist with navigating a website to find the right information. This will take the search bar of any website from zero to hero and empower visitors to engage with the brand, find what they were looking for and learn more. This also creates a great opportunity for promoting events, new offers and sales.
Serve as guided assistance to direct people to the right resources, product or person to contact. From finding the right office to contact about a service, offer, partnerships, to finding relevant documents, press releases and media of interest.
Support Services. From manuals to troubleshooting to video help and finally to a support technician. For example if someone needs support for a particular product, instead of navigating a maze of a website to find the right user manual and then the right part of the manual, the AI assistant would be able to, through conversation, help get straight to the particular support the person was looking for, and if that wasn't enough, it would be able to open a ticket to the right support team with the conversation that was had about the support item.
In essence the "First Contact Virtual Receptionist" would super empower brands to help all visitors make the most of their visit to the brand's virtual space - regardless of whether it is on a website, in the metaverse or through social media.
2. Reinforce Authority & Promote LeadGen
The strongest brands are an authority on a particular topic or area. They are thought leaders, cultural trailblazers or established experts within a niche. Conversational AI assistants can serve as virtual Brand advisors and coaches to help visitors in the context of the brand's value proposition. The conversational AI assistants would provide quick, real-time, on demand niche value based on the brand unique skills. What this does is:
Creates a conversation with the brand that the visitor directs in a way that provides immediate value to them - which boosts the brand's value to the visitor. This could be in the form of ideation with an AI assistant of a design agency or first steps coaching by a wellness brand.
Freemium value upgrade. Freemium can be upgraded through an interactive experience, replacing the stand alone access to software or content freemium. This would create a quicker way for a prospect to interact and gain value from a brand and can shorten the lead generation time to converting.
Demonstration of expertise through AI assistants. Now that anyone can create their own AI assistant with ChatGPT, there will be fierce competition in creating useful and effective AI assistants. This is a moment for brands to leverage AI assistants to showcase their true expertise in their market segment.
3. A Library of a Brand's History & Value Proposition
The media formats of today do not allow for the history, heritage and depth of a brand to reach others effectively. The options that have been leveraged today are website features, theatrical videos, social media competitions and pop up events. However with the speed in which society functions today, only the most loyal to a brand would be able to witness and follow a brand to this degree. Having an AI assistant would create the platform and avenue for a brand to preserve its history in an accessible on demand way, and for brand loyalists and new prospects alike to be able to interact with it to the degree they wish. Every single part of a brand's history can be used to curate the AI assistant's reference data. For example:
Preserving an accessible collection of expertise. There are many organizations and institutions that have a wealth of information which is not readily accessible, not because it is not publicly available, but because it is hard to find and correlate. AI assistants could help researchers go through the wealth of academic journals as they co-ideate with the bot. A website with niche information on particular plants and harvesting could be more accessible as visitors could more quickly find information pertaining to their geography, time of year and soil condition instead of having to endlessly read through the troves of information to correlate all the right information to their circumstance.
Unlocking learning rabbit holes of genuine data provenance. The internet and Google have accelerated the way in which information is disseminated and consumed. This has allowed many people to learn new things and go down many rabbit holes. How productively they were able to do so depended on their ability to search google and navigate the credibility of the information they were encountering. AI assistants change this by helping interested users better express and find the things they are looking for. For example an organization that has planetary expertise could create an AI assistant that would allow visitors to go through a trusted rabbit hole of information as they seek to learn about the planets. This can be particularly useful for pandemic related situations where entities like the World Health Organization could have a curated AI assistant to navigate questions about the pandemic and users could feel confident that the information was accurate from a reputable authority.
Multi-modal history. Because of the multimodal capabilities of ChatGPT, the AI assistant would be able to converse with a user and provide relevant visuals. For example a university's history department could have an interactable AI assistant about World War II which would include images from that time and even video. This would allow students to learn in a real-time and on demand way.
Self directed interactive engagements. Apart from the many educational use cases for self directed interactive engagement with data that is curated from an organization, the self directed nature allows for fun and creativity. For example fashion brands could create competitions inviting the public to scour their virtual closet to find easter eggs and learn about the brand. This can also be done for musicians, and even food brands.
Thought leadership education. Because these assistants can have unique proprietary data, there is a tremendous opportunity for brands to engage with the public as thought leaders in their respective market segment and provide educational elements into the AI assistant experience.
4. Events will never be the same again
When planning to attend an event there tends to be quite a bit of logistics involved. Figuring out who is speaking, when they are speaking, what stage they are speaking. Understanding how to log on (if virtual) or travel to (if physical) to the venue. And if it is in person there are many more logistical hurdles such as finding a hotel, flight, food options etc. If an event is very well organized it tends to have all this information on the event website which needs to be navigated. However an event AI assistant would tremendously change this scenario for the better.
With an event AI assistant, it would be a one-stop virtual location to find out everything on demand. No more searching and scrolling through a website for the exact piece of information. No more downloading pdfs of logistical items.
Quickly disseminated updates. Information could be added to the AI's reference document list as new information arises. This is key as events (particularly big ones) tend to have updates about cancelled speakers, weather conditions, promotional aspects and other items. This would allow users to be able to just go to the AI assistant and ask if the rain will mean the main gate is closed, who will replace the keynote who got sick and couldn't attend.
Expansive information magnifying an event's value. Normally an event website can't go into the full details of every speaker or provide countless resources about panel topics for those who want to delve deeper. But with an AI assistant this is possible and those who are interested (whether they attend the event or not) will be able to get much more information. For example there could be video, audio and document resources for a panel topic. These resources could be recommended by the panelists. In this sense the event's AI assistant would be able to serve as a knowledge resource and hub that would extend well beyond the event's actual on stage content.
5. Extension of a brand's personality
Every aspect of a brand (if done well) reflects a brand's personality. Branded AI assistants would be no different. As more AI assistants start to come into websites, social media and apps, brands will need to think carefully of not just how they have curated the reference content for their conversational bot but also how they have curated its personality. This extends to:
Written Semantics. Is the personality friendly? Formal? Sarcastic? Awkward? Fun? Professional? Shakespearean?
Socio-Political Elements. Contemporary social justice topics and political events are in the forefront of people's minds and feeds. Branded AI assistants will need to intentionally navigate these conversations when they arise.
Languages. What languages will the branded AI assistant speak and what versions of those languages? For example does it converse in American English or British English? In Spanish from Spain or from Mexico?
Emojis & GIFs. The plethora of emoji options and GIFs creates a new consideration. What GIFs will be acceptable for the AI assistant's use? When using emojis that include people what skin color will it be? What gender will it be?
Voice. What voice or voices will represent your algorithm if/when the AI assistant has a voice feature?
One hundred years ago a brand was represented by a product or service and customers interacted in real life with the people that delivered them. Since then people can interact with brands on the radio, TV, internet, social media, streaming services, and in the metaverse. The latest component of a brand's portfolio of assets is artificial intelligence. AI assistants will be an important "store front" of a brand and its strategy, design and implementation should be considered with care.
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Founded by strategy and emerging technologies advisor Dr. Lydia Kostopoulos the Abundance Studio was created to help clients reimagine their potential and open new growth opportunities through an abundance mindset. Reach out to arrange an introductory call!
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