• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 3, 2023

AI will help brands boost productivity. But it may also lead to job loss and other problems, judging by AI In Marketing and Communications, a study from The Conference Board in collaboration with Ragan Communications. 

Of the companies polled, 82% say AI will improve productivity, perhaps a lot. 

But 40% fear it will reduce the number of jobs, and some say it will reduce them a great deal.  

And while 42% say AI will improve creative, 29% counter that it will cause it to deteriorate. 

Among marketing professionals, 48% sometimes use AI, and 14% do so often. Another 6% use it all the time, and 32% not at all.  

Midlevel and junior marketers are more likely than senior to adopt AI. 

In addition, 45% of communicators say they sometimes use AI, 12% often, 3% all the time and 40% not at all.  

But marketers have numerous concerns:

• Lack of accuracy/misinformation — 68%
• Legal uncertainties — 62%
• Data security and privacy — 57% 
• Lack of knowledge as to how to use it; need to upskill — 37%
• Reputational risk/erosion of trust — 49%
• Potentially revealing proprietary knowledge, data, or plans — 38%
• AI’s limited capabilities — 30% 
• Loss of innovation — 11% 
• Little interest by team/co-workers — 13% 
• Other — 10% 
• Costs — 8%

Communications professionals have similar worries, but a greater proportion — 53% — cite lack of knowledge and need to upskill.  

Marketers are now using AI, including generative AI, for these tasks:

• Summarize content — 44%
• Do the legwork/inspire thinking — 41%
• Produce content faster — 30% 
• Write press releases — 11%
• Personalize customer/user content — 33%
• Write speeches for senior executive or myself — 10%
• Identify questions that will arise from our content — 13% 
• Scenario plan for strategies — 14% 
• Generate images — 5% 
• Manage/improve customer service — 17% 
• Run social media programs — 6% 
• Innovate new products — 5% 
• Acquire new customers — 6%
• Predict the outcome of our actions — 0%
• Screen our talent/partners/providers — 2%

Communications professionals have a slightly different agenda. They say AI helps them: 

• Summarize content — 41% 
• Do the legwork/inspire thinking — 35% 
• Produce content faster — 28% 
• Conduct research — 26% 
• Write press releases — 17%
• Personalize customer/user/content — 10% 
• Write speeches for senior executive or myself — 14% 
• Identify questions that will arise from our content — 11% 
• Scenario plan for strategies — 9%
• Generate images — 10% 
• Manage/improve customer service — 5%
• Run social media programs — 5% 
• Innovate new products — 4% 

The Conference Board and Ragan Communications surveyed 287 marketers and communicators from June 1-June 23 2023.