Ruth Mortimer: Balancing the human and the artificial in the rise of AI

By Ruth Mortimer, Global President, Advertising Week

For me, the core theme of this year’s Advertising Week APAC was blending human experience with the power of automation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) was definitely the hot topic among speakers with everyone from Microsoft to Uber talking about the trends in generative AI.

But while everyone may have spent the last few months playing with ChatGPT, the real themes concerning marketers were much more practical: how to make AI useful and usable within businesses.

Ahead of AWAPAC, we undertook an exclusive study carried out by Cint of nearly 1,000 Australian consumers in different industries, looking at their attitudes toward AI.

The data revealed 75% of Australians were concerned about using AI at work. But nearly half of Australian workers (46%) were already using AI in their workplace, with 31% not having revealed this to their manager. It all comes back to the human. While AI may open up many exciting opportunities and risks, it is human implementation which ultimately counts. If your staff is using AI without your knowledge, then you’re missing the chance to know how and when it should be used. Or when it’s not appropriate.

But ultimately, the balance of human and machine at AWAPAC was probably best demonstrated by actor William Shatner. He appeared from his home in the US live via Proto Hologram. It was amazing to see the incredible likeness of 92-year-old Shatner appearing thousands of miles from his physical location.

See Also: Behind the Tech: Bringing the William Shatner hologram to life

Shatner spoke about the power of new technology. He was right, of course, about the opportunity, but why was this so powerful? It was his human connection with us - appearing entirely real to our eyes - through the physicality of the hologram technology.

Ultimately everything comes down not just to the latest technology but those who use it.

See Also: Read the full AWAPAC Trends Report here