Commentary
Execution Trumps Concept, Says Agency Exec
- by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, September 30, 2016
Various technological elements are inching the Internet of Things along, closer to the realization of true one-to-one engagements.
In addition to the billions of sensors being deployed in countless locations around the world, behind-the-scenes innovations in various forms of automation are being created.
Speaking at the MediaPost OMMA Bots & Chat at Advertising Week conference in New York this week, Haydn Sweterlitsch, global chief creative officer of HackerAgency, suggested that artificial intelligence, smart machines, agents, bots and assistants all would play a role.
“Brands rule” in this environment, Sweterlitsch said, in a world of “real time, hyper-personalized, hyper-relevant and truly one-to-one. Customers will have a total amount of choice.”
Sweterlitsch described bots as being either rules based or involving machine learning.
Another speaker later in the conference painted a similar picture.
Gabe Weiss, Retail Innovation Lead, SapientNitro, said that chatbots currently fall into two camps:
- Rules based -- Can only respond to specific commands, only as smart as it is programmed to be
- AI/machine learning– Understands language, not just commands, continuously gets smarter as it learns from conversations
Weiss labeled the first one as ‘dumb’ and the second one ‘young,’ a rather apt description of the state of the current market.
As to the personality of a bot, Sweterlitsch said it is a challenge for user experience design.
“Designing conversations needs to be less visual,” Sweterlitsch said. “The revolution will happen off-screen,” citing Amazon’s Echo as one example of user interface without screens.
“Conversation design is the next wave,” he said. “It’s about the execution, not the concept.”
The Internet of Things is starting to evolve from the concept stage to execution.
Those who execute well will win.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.
billions of sensors ?????? what a sad world that will be.
Conceptual artist Josef Albers said it best: A bad concept can't be saved by good execution.
All projections have numbers into the billions, Mark.
Yes, Chuck, though we believe Haydn was referring to a concept being valid as a starting point.
Choice ? Is there another definition of that word we don't know ?
Chuck Martin: I see Haydn's point, but as Albers said, put another way, is that making sure the concept IS valid before attempting execution is the first and most important step in the process.
Though that sounds like I'm repeating what Haydn said; "It's about the execution, not the concept", is bad advice, since if his remark is taken at face value, he's claiming that the validity of the concept is less important than the execution. Given his position and standing, I doubt that's what he meant.
Nothing in his presetation downplayed concepts, Chuck.