Top AI Marketing Ethics Trends for 2024
What can we expect in 2024 from an AI marketing ethics perspective?
It should come as no surprise to anyone that generative AI is the talk of the town for 2024. The Economist (registration required, dammit) says that in 2024 AI will go mainstream. Companies outside the technology sector will adopt AI in earnest to cut costs and boost productivity.
With that in mind, what can we expect 2024 to bring from an AI marketing ethics perspective?
AI Marketing Ethics Trends 2024
Interestingly, though not surprisingly, the same AI marketing ethics issues we discussed in 2023 still hover over the landscape in 2024. They include data privacy, personalization, copyright, and transparency, among others. However, added to that is the rising influence of AI in the marketing sector and the need to retain human creativity in content creation.
It's important to note that these are just some of the top trends to expect as the field of AI constantly evolves. Staying informed and adapting to these changes will be essential for brands looking to thrive in an AI-driven marketing future.
With that said, here are the AI marketing ethics trends to pay attention to in 2024:
Personalization: AI will continue to introduce a new frontier of more personalized marketing. AI is making that level of personalization (which has been out of reach until recently) a simple reality. No-code solutions will unlock mountains of behavioral data to deliver personalization like never before.
Conversational AI: Brands that harness the power of conversational AI, a type of AI that uses machine learning to simulate human conversation, are set to thrive. Conversational AI can understand questions like a real person, sounds like a real person, and knows the full context of the conversation.
Data privacy: In 2024, the shift toward first-party data will significantly influence the marketing landscape, along with transparency, heightened privacy concerns, and compliance with consumer privacy regulations. Marketers will need to prioritize secure data handling practices, obtain explicit consent for data usage, and implement robust security measures to protect consumer information.
Increased focus on transparency: As AI becomes more prevalent in marketing, there will likely be a greater emphasis on transparency in how marketers use AI algorithms to make decisions. Consumers may demand more visibility into how their data is collected, processed, and utilized.
Stricter regulations and guidelines: Governments and regulatory bodies may introduce more comprehensive regulations and guidelines to ensure ethical AI marketing practices. This could include rules around data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the responsible use of AI technologies.
Mitigating algorithmic bias: Addressing algorithmic bias will continue to be a significant concern. Marketers will need to invest in developing AI systems that are fair, unbiased, and inclusive, ensuring that AI-driven marketing campaigns do not perpetuate discriminatory practices.
AI-driven content creation and manipulation: As AI technology advances, there may be ethical concerns surrounding the creation and manipulation of content. Marketers will need to navigate issues related to deepfakes, AI-generated content, and the potential for misinformation, ensuring responsible use of AI in content creation.
Ethical AI advertising practices: Marketers must consider the ethical implications of AI-driven advertising, such as persuasive techniques, behavioral targeting, and the potential for manipulative practices. In 2024, expect to see more responsible advertising practices that prioritize transparency and avoid targeting based on sensitive demographics like race, religion, or political beliefs.
Human-in-the-loop AI: Instead of relying solely on AI, expect to see a human-in-the-loop approach where humans review and approve AI-generated recommendations or decisions. This step will help ensure ethical decision-making and prevent unintended consequences.
Rise of ethical AI frameworks and certifications: To guide responsible AI development and use, expect to see more robust ethical AI frameworks and certification programs. These frameworks will outline best practices for data collection, algorithm development, and deployment, helping brands demonstrate their commitment to ethical AI.
Consumer education and empowerment: As AI becomes more pervasive, consumers must understand how it works and how organizations use their data. Expect to see more educational initiatives and tools that empower consumers to make informed decisions about their data and privacy.
AI democratization: Anticipate further democratization of open-source AI. This presents a growing ethical challenge for marketers as open-sourced tools, while enhancing the transparency of AI workings, pose an increased risk of unethical use and misappropriation.
Business decision-making: As AI-based marketing tools (chatbots, predictive analytics) become more commonplace, businesses must avoid over-reliance on AI for decision-making. AI should complement, not replace, the human element.
Ethical use of multimodal AI models: The use of multimodal models (AI models that can understand data from different modalities, such as vision, language, etc.) is forecasted to rise. Their ethical use is crucial as these models, by synthesizing more user data, tread a fine line on privacy.
Over the next few months, we will take a deep dive into several of these areas to examine the benefits of their use from a marketing perspective and the potential pitfalls from an ethics perspective. We will also introduce a number of leading voices to the conversation. If you’re not already a subscriber, don’t wait.
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AI Marketing Ethics Trends From Around the Web
More brands and organizations are focusing on the vital importance of ethical AI use. Here’s a rundown of some noteworthy mentions.
The Deloitte Ethical Tech Report emphasizes the increasing importance of ethical tech principles due to the rapid development of generative AI. It suggests that organizations should:
Create and adopt trustworthy and ethical principles tailored to their technological products.
Collaborate for ethically robust regulations.
Focus on mitigating reputational and financial damage.
Funnel underlines the rising importance of ethics and transparency in AI applications in marketing. It outlines key ethical concerns, including misinformation, algorithmic bias, data privacy, societal impact, and transparency.
Adgully acknowledges the ethical impact of AI on marketing, particularly in balancing personalization and privacy, emphasizing the need for ethical AI use to maintain consumer trust and navigate regulations.
AIContentfy's blog discusses ethical considerations in AI content creation, including bias, privacy, accountability, and transparency, underscoring the importance of ethical decision-making and diverse input data.
ANA delves into AI and marketing ethics, highlighting challenges like bias, synthetic images, health information misuse, and legal issues. It emphasizes the need for ethical principles, transparency, and accountability in AI use.
Raptor Services talks about privacy-first marketing, advocating for ethical data sourcing and respecting consumer privacy as AI continues to shape personalized marketing strategies.
Improvado showcases the increasing move towards formalized AI ethics in marketing, driven by concerns about data privacy, biases, and transparency. It acknowledges the need for ethical guidelines covering data privacy, AI-driven decisions, and biases in generative AI algorithms.
That’s it for this issue. Next week, we feature an interview with David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, now in its eighth edition. We get his take on AI marketing ethics, and, believe me, he holds nothing back. You don’t want to miss it.
If you like this post, please leave a comment; if you don’t, leave a comment. Either way, leave a comment.
Warm regards,
Paul Chaney, Editor
AI Marketing Ethics Digest
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Excellent post, Paul! Those topics feel very close to what we deal with at the Ethical Commerce Alliance. I invite you to listen to our podcast episode on Marketing, data processing and protection: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5c1Mvh4GDKcAmZtW8eiQ1N?si=88ba47d54d394307