AI and creative futures for a content marketing agency

Change in the marketing world is constant. New technologies and techniques, like AI, are developed daily and you only have to take a look back at the last 10 years to understand the volume of digital breakthroughs (think: social media, and influencer marketing that sprouted from it). 

However, generative AI is not merely a new digital marketing trend, it’s a total paradigm shift. Machine learning models (LLMs like ChatGPT, for instance) have triggered a productivity revolution. And they’re simultaneously raising questions about the future of creative industries.

Its meteoric rise is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it presents boundless opportunities with automation and unrivalled efficiency changing industries for the better. 

On the other, its potential to spread harmful misinformation or ultimately kill human creativity presents a societal threat.

So, us digital agencies find ourselves at the intersection of creativity and data-driven precision. We asked TAMLO’s senior management team for their thoughts and predictions on AI, here’s what they had to say:

What are your general feelings about the rise of AI?

James (TAMLO’s Consultant): It is very similar to the rise of the internet. It brings opportunities and challenges, but the benefits are becoming clearer by the day. In a recent study, scientists found that ‘consultants using AI finished 12.2% more tasks on average, completed tasks 25.1% more quickly, and produced 40% higher quality results than those without.

Conversely, there’s risk: If these LLMs continue to develop at the rate they are, marketing content will be much easier to create in-house. US researchers have shown that ‘within a few months of the launch of ChatGPT, copywriters and graphic designers on major freelancing platforms saw a significant drop in the number of jobs they got, and even steeper declines in earnings.’

At TAMLO, we need to figure out how to integrate AI into our business model, as well as how to control it without it controlling us. The companies that don't embrace it will be left behind.

Nanako (TAMLO’s Chief Localisation Officer): It's pretty scary how good it's become! But when I see all the AI-generated stock images available now, it makes me cringe and actively not choose those images. There's just something about them that still feels unnatural. I think the same can be said about AI-generated written content. It’s not creative, and it's really obvious in Japanese because even AI hasn't perfected Japanese translation.

How is TAMLO working with AI at the moment?

James: Mainly we’re experimenting with the tools available and working them into our processes. I have been using Tome to create PowerPoint presentations instantly. And all of us use a tool that automatically transcribes from audio. 

We need to be using tools as much as possible and looking for efficiency gains. 

Nanako: We use AI for ideation and translation, but it always needs to be edited because AI is not perfect. We never use it for production and never submit anything AI generated to our clients.

What has it allowed TAMLO to do that it couldn’t before?

James: In the ideation process it helps us to come up with ideas we may have missed or not thought of. It also helps us to complete certain tasks much faster than we could before. For example, transcribing video can be done in minutes not hours or even putting together a list of questions for a client interview. 

However, we never deliver content that’s been solely created by AI.

How does the wider team feel about AI generally?

Nanako: We're embracing it instead of running away from it. We recognise that it soon will become the norm, and our survival depends upon being able to adapt, and that goes for everything - not just AI. It's important to stay flexible as a company. However, there’s a desire for greater AI safety.

What are your concerns? 

Yuichi (TAMLO’s Managing Director): Current generative AI has security concerns, so we use it with caution in this regard. We’re also conscious it requires fact-checking, so we always make sure to do this.

James: We need an ethical AI code of conduct to avoid AI controlling us. We would never ask AI to do the work for us outright - as in this case, that would be it controlling us. AI is best used as an assistant.

What does the future look like for digital agencies?

James: I believe that the agencies who don't effectively work AI into their business model will be overtaken by those that do.

Nanako: As Hootsuite's 2024 social trends report suggests, efficiency vs authenticity will be the biggest focus in 2024 and beyond. 

Yuichi: Agencies will be compelled to make more active use of AI to achieve higher productivity, but it’ll be necessary to fully understand its issues, namely those around fact-checking and security.

And what is the future of the creative industry as a whole?

James: As marketing expert Jesscia Apotheker explains in her TED talk, human brains are still needed for new ideas because when we rely too much on generative AI, we stifle innovation. She describes a study she conducted with Boston Consulting Group and Harvard which showed that ‘when people over-rely on generative AI, the collective divergence of ideas drops by 40%’ which means brand identities risk becoming lost. 

Yuichi: Survival is not possible from creativity alone. TAMLO, for example, is not a creative agency but a creative consultancy with local knowledge. Our mission therefore is to solve our clients’ problems and we aim to survive in the industry by focussing on creativity but by also providing appropriate consulting.