AI, Ethics, and the Future of Work
A conversation with AI marketing expert Liza Adams on how AI is shaping marketing, ethics, and jobs.
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In this thought-provoking interview, Liza Adams, a leading expert on AI and marketing, addresses the complex interplay between AI innovation and ethical considerations. She discusses the current focus on AI capabilities and the need for a parallel conversation about ethics, emphasizing the subjectivity of ethical standards across different sectors.
She also highlights AI's potential to redefine the concept of work and urges marketers to take a proactive approach that includes education and adapting to new roles.
TL;DR
We are still in the early stages of grappling with AI ethics as a society. People and organizations are at different points in the journey based on their level of understanding and experience with the technology. It will take time to align around shared ethical guidelines.
AI ethics should be grounded in fundamental human values and moral principles, such as benefiting humanity, avoiding harm, ensuring accountability, etc. At the same time, AI's unique attributes introduce new ethical challenges that will require expanding on traditional frameworks.
The impact of AI on the future of work is one of the most pressing ethical issues. The risks of widespread job displacement could upend economic and social models. Business leaders have an obligation to confront this head-on and reimagine new systems for human purposes and equitable resource distribution. At the same time, AI could unlock solutions to global challenges and usher in an era of greater flourishing if we proactively shape the transition.
For marketers using AI today, the North Star should be harnessing the technology to create more value for customers and build trust. This means adapting practices around data use, content creation, and personalization to align with customer expectations and needs. Engaging customers proactively in defining ethical principles is key.
More broadly, marketers should view AI as an opportunity to fundamentally rethink what's possible in terms of the customer experience and value creation. The winners will be those who look beyond incremental improvements and reimagine their entire approach through the new capabilities AI unlocks.
Liza Adams Interview
Here is the audio version of the complete interview. We hope you will take the time to listen. What Adams has to say is thought-provoking, insightful, and even controversial.
The following is an abridged, edited version of the interview with Ms. Adams.
Q: Where are we in the AI ethics journey? Are we still in the discovery stage of understanding AI's capabilities, or is it time to start discussing AI's ethics?
LA: We are at different points in the AI ethics journey. There's currently more discussion around AI innovation than AI ethics.
That's probably not uncommon because we are just trying to keep up with what's being said and understand its implications. Once we get our hands dirty, we start thinking, what does this mean?
But it means how we apply it in real life, not just in experimentation mode, but how it impacts me as a human being, my customers — they’re human beings.
Then, we go broader into family, community, society, and the world. So, I think it's because it's a natural human progression right now to understand what it is first and then decide what is right and wrong. What is right and wrong for one person might differ greatly from what is right or wrong for another person.
We are at different points in the AI ethics journey. There's currently more discussion around AI innovation than AI ethics.
I keep telling people I've been doing AI for over 10 years because it all started in 2010 when I was doing a lot of machine learning and predictive analytics. But in those days, AI capabilities were built into a product or a service, and it wasn't so in our face. But now, in today's environment, generative AI is accessible to everybody.
I also always say that it is as if I dropped off a bunch of really powerful Lego pieces at our doorstep in November of 2022. Unfortunately, those Lego pieces came in a box that did not have instructions or a picture of what to build. You go into the ChatGPT console, get a conversation box, and are just supposed to start typing.
Q: Is AI ethics subjective, or can we define some foundational ethical guidelines for AI?
LA: I view AI ethics from a human perspective. Any ethical guidelines we develop should consider the aggregate benefit to humanity. But the specific ethics depend on the particular AI use case. What is considered an ethical use of AI for one application may be unethical for another.
AI is ultimately a tool, so the intent, expertise, and goals of the person using AI guide the ethics of how it is applied. Much like a hammer, it can be used to build or used to destroy.
Q: Is AI ethics really just an extension of human ethics?
LA: I agree that we cannot separate AI ethics from human ethics and values. The ethical questions around AI connect back to human perspectives on what we consider right and wrong. We have to look at AI ethics through the lens of human ethics.
Q: How do you see AI impacting jobs in the future, and what are the ethical implications of potential job displacement?
LA: As humans, we tend to think very linearly about AI replacing jobs. But we need to consider the bigger picture. What if AI helps solve major problems facing humanity, like curing cancer, reversing climate change, or providing clean water to everyone?
There may be job losses as a result of AI, but in aggregate, the world could end up being a much better place. We may end up shifting what we fundamentally value. Instead of defining human value based on work and jobs, we may start to value creativity, kindness, and curiosity more. So while there are valid concerns, the impact may be more complex than just job losses.
Instead of defining human value based on work and jobs, we may start to value creativity, kindness, and curiosity more.
Q: If AI does displace many jobs, how will people make a living if they can no longer depend on work to survive?
LA: This is a huge question; no one knows the long-term implications yet. In the short term, my advice is that understanding and learning about AI will help people make more informed choices. It will give people some feeling of control in adapting to the coming changes rather than being passive and allowing change to happen to them.
Those who take the time to understand AI and how to use it will likely have a better chance of thriving during this transitional period. But beyond that, it's still unclear how things may change if we decouple income from work.
Q: What do marketing teams looking to leverage AI need to know to use the technology ethically?
LA: We're seeing the impact of AI and how customer search is now becoming different. It's no longer just a traditional Google search where you click on a bunch of blue links. They're going to ChatGPT, they're going to Perplexity because it gives them more immediate, more comprehensive information with no ads, notifications, or retargeting — just very concise answers.
Customer behavior and expectations are changing. Customers want more personalized experiences, connected experiences, whether on the digital medium or face-to-face with somebody, and trusted brands and content. They don't want just some robot creating content that is highly irrelevant to them.
Customers want more personalized experiences, connected experiences, whether on the digital medium or face-to-face with somebody, and trusted brands and content.
What that means is marketing has to adapt. Marketing has to figure out how your content is going to be relevant to these people, how you're going to personalize, how you're going to be in those media outlets where that content is going to be used to train the large language models so that when somebody searches, you actually do show up.
When most people, including marketers, think about generative AI, they often think about content creation. I'm going to create a blog, summarize a really long article, craft an email, or maybe create an image for an ad, but that's just scratching the surface.
Marketers should expand their thinking beyond using AI for content creation. Instead, take a holistic view of how to apply AI across the full spectrum of marketing capabilities. Some key areas include:
Collaboration and decision-making. Use AI to surface new insights, brainstorm creative approaches, and pressure test assumptions. AI can be a powerful thought partner.
Process efficiency. Look for opportunities to use AI to automate marketing workflows and streamline resource-intensive tasks, freeing up your team to focus on higher-level strategic priorities. Just be mindful of the impact of potential job displacement.
Analytics and research. Harness AI's data processing capabilities to unearth hidden patterns in customer behavior, derive predictive insights and rapidly validate marketing hypotheses. Always be sure you have permission to use customer data for these purposes.
Personalization across channels. Go beyond generic one-size-fits-all campaigns and use AI to craft individually relevant experiences at every touchpoint that genuinely add value to each customer.
Combining AI capabilities across all these areas, with the underlying focus on using AI to better serve and deliver value to customers, will enable marketing to adapt to this AI-driven world in an ethical way.
Q: What are your final thoughts on this discussion around AI, ethics, and the future of work?
LA: The key is to start by deeply understanding the customer and how AI is impacting customer behavior and expectations. We need to listen to customers and understand their needs but do so with an open mind, not constrained by the linear way the world works today. AI enables us to reimagine what's possible and innovate in ways that can deliver an order of magnitude more value.
By embracing AI with an expansive vision, we have the opportunity to improve incrementally and make exponential leaps forward. Marketers and business leaders need to keep this in mind as they chart an ethical path forward with AI.
Do you agree with Ms. Adam’s remarks? If so, leave a comment. If you disagree, leave a comment. Either way, leave a comment!
With more than 20 years of leading businesses and marketing teams through industry inflection points, Liza Adams guides companies through their AI journey. At GrowthPath Partners, where she serves as AI Advisor & Fractional CMO, Adams accelerates responsible AI adoption using a three-step AI Adoption Accelerator approach: inspire and educate, plan strategically, and execute with AI ops.