This year, artificial intelligence (AI) has catapulted into the spotlight, with businesses and consumers alike eager to explore its new potential. Millions already use all kinds of AI technology to boost their creativity and productivity.
Meanwhile, more and more startups and organisations are bringing AI-powered products to market faster than ever before. And with these technologies, companies in virtually every industry are undergoing major transformation.
Take for example Canva, the visual communication platform that is very popular in Thailand. It has adopted Google Cloud's rich generative AI capabilities in language translation to better support non-English speaking users to easily translate presentations, posters, social media posts, and more into over a hundred languages.
Canva is also testing how Google's PaLM (Pathways Language Model) technology can help turn short videos into longer, more compelling features. These new features have elevated the entire design experience, giving people many more options for creating compelling content.
AI is also top of mind for marketers and business leaders. This is hardly a surprise — in fact, "The State of AI", a recent study by McKinsey, found that marketing is the function most likely to see growth from AI use for businesses across all company sizes, industries and regions.
Marketing has been transformed dramatically with the rise of digital technologies, changing the ways people consume information and interact with brands. Purchase decisions are more complex than ever as consumers now have access to more ways to get inspired, research and buy. In fact, in Southeast Asia last year, 76% of shoppers used five or more channels to shop during peak sales events.
The constantly evolving preferences of consumers mean that the speed at which marketers need to analyse data, uncover customer insights and adapt how their brand shows up is unlike anything they've had to do before. Luckily, recent advances in AI are making it easier for marketers to connect with customers in ways that resonate.
For example, Google's large language models are now 50% better at understanding the complexities of human language. So when someone comes to Google Search with an intent to buy, these language models can grasp the nuances of their search and connect them with the most relevant information to help them decide.
These improvements have translated into tangible business results. Take Isuzu Thailand, for example. Despite the many challenges the automotive industry has faced in the post-pandemic years, it has not only grown its business but has become the market leader in pickup trucks.
By partnering with Google to try AI-based marketing solutions, Isuzu was able to analyse massive amounts of data to identify and connect with potential buyers in real time — reaching previously untapped audiences that could never have been found manually.
Of course, as with any emerging technology, we also understand the concerns raised about the impact that a technology like AI can have on an industry. We take our responsibility as a technology company seriously, and are always thinking about how it can impact people's lives.
We don't see AI as a replacement for human talent — but rather, something that will complement and be helpful in existing jobs and even create entirely new jobs.
Thoughtfully integrating AI into the workplace means using it to perform work that will allow people to focus on more creative,
complex and strategic projects. What's equally critical is to ensure that people are equipped with the right skills and knowledge to use AI as a helpful tool.
We believe that even as more advanced AI technologies emerge, marketers will remain firmly in the driver's seat, with their input and expertise being the key to guiding AI to deliver results.
Jackie Wang is the country director of Google Thailand. For more information on AI, search Think with Google.