‘The year of AI’: Tips for marketers to navigate AI mania at CES and beyond

AI is undoubtedly going to be the talk of the town strip this week at CES—searching for “AI” in the CES schedule pulls up more than 80 results. Only a bot would be able to manage that many sessions, nevermind all the conversations on the floor and over coffee or cocktails.

“I imagine that AI is going to be the No, 1 destination for attendees at CES this year,” Lesley Silverman, head of Web3 at United Talent Agency, told Marketing Brew. “Similar to past years where CES was dominated by technologies like Web3 and audio, this year is the year of AI.”

Marketers in particular aren’t exactly expected to be AI experts just yet, so Marketing Brew tapped Silverman, who’s moderating a CES panel about how creators are using AI in their work, to share a few key takeaways about AI for those who can’t make it to all that programming (or just want to seem in-the-know while networking).

Level up: AI was often a “buzzword” at marketing and advertising conferences in 2023, Silverman said. This year, however, she anticipates that brands will think more about the practical applications of AI as opposed to just testing and talking about it.

“One way that brands can supercharge their efforts is by working with creators who have already begun to lean in,” Silverman said. “The creators who have already begun to lean in…are seeing efficiencies being created for their businesses, so that’s one way that brands might be able to get a leg up or move faster.”

That being said, Silverman also stressed that, eventually, brands will likely “leverage their own integrations that are powered by AI” to maximize efficiency in their partnerships as opposed to letting creators take the lead all the time. Some agency execs are already applying AI to their work in significant ways, from creative ideation to coding to client services.

Superficial intelligence: Given the outsized role that AI is expected to play at CES this year, there’s no guarantee that every bit of advice doled out will be a gem. To help separate the expert takes from those that might be a little less useful, Silverman advised marketers to keep an eye out for AI tools and talks that are focused on problems and solutions.

“Was there a problem, and is the solution more efficiently presented by using AI technology?” she said. “Also, just suss whether this is really AI, or if it’s just those two letters standing next to something that already existed in the past.”

Downside: In her own work for clients, Silverman said she has to consider the potential risks associated with new technologies and whether or not they can be overcome. When it comes to AI, she said she thinks about concerns she has heard in the past about creators potentially jeopardizing the sense of authenticity they’ve fostered among their audiences.

“I think best practices are always going to just really get to the heart of ensuring that you don’t lose that authentic human connection,” she said. “In that vein, I think AI is a great creative collaborator, but it can’t do all the work.”