• by Steve Smith  @popeyesm, September 3, 2024

In this edition of Quick Questions, Andrew Eklund, Founder and CEO of Ciceron answers questions about AI’s potential changes media planning, myths, threats and his favorite sci-fi vision of the tool.  

1. What part of the media planning process will AI change most? 

This one is almost sad to say, but it's hard to imagine most if not all DSPs adding a "media planning" button to their product mix. Then independent aggregators amassing all those data signals into media planning intelligence are a sure thing. Capitalism is gonna capitalism, and when you start looking at media planning as just zeros and ones with a giant layer of intelligent AI on top, it starts to reveal opportunities that are sure to change the role of media planning a whole bunch. We can't forget how much human bias is built in the planning process.

2. What is the dumbest myth surrounding AI and the future of media? 

Perhaps that no one saw it coming. Machine learning has been around for a long, long time. The whole RTB space was built on it. To not be able to imagine AI under those conditions means that the myth of its non-existence was created to avoid talking about hard things.

3. What is the biggest real threat?

In the short term, I am very concerned that agency and brand owners aren't doing more to lead and train their employees to succeed in this emerging new era. There's a huge practical gap between practitioners and leaders which is exposing itself in uncomfortable ways.

4. What is your favorite sci-fi vision of AI? 

If we completely build a new society on three new rails -- AI, blockchain, and digital money -- then we're basing a new reality on more immutable truths which can be more equitable, less combative, and more peaceful. Of course, we're humans. We could choose to f*** up all that potential pretty quick.

5. Whose job is most threatened by AI?

Monolithic companies. Open source AI. Scalable blockchain protocols like Solana. And a whole host of innovative solutions cropping out of those models may render giant closed sourced companies obsolete. Won't happen soon but I think with the giant failures of CrowdStrike previously, you can see the future, and it ain't bigger-is-better.