How New AI tools can Transform Customer Engagement and Retention

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How new AI tools can transform customer engagement and retention

Ryohei Fujimaki, dotData, July 8, 2023 8:20 AM   in Venturebeat.

As the cookieless future continues to gain momentum, the global digital advertising sector is experiencing a tectonic shift. Companies are being forced to reimagine the way they reach out to customers.

Online marketing has been dominated by third-party cookies — tracking codes posted on websites to extract users’ information — and data brokers who sell the information in bulk. 

However, this multibillion-dollar business, perpetuated for decades, is now in checkmate by a perfect trifecta: new privacy laws, big tech restrictions, and global consumer privacy trends.

While the end of cookies is inevitable, businesses still struggle to find new advertising techniques. Statista’s January report reveals that 83% of marketers still depend on third-party cookies, spending $22 billion on this outdated technique in 2021. 

In this report, we’ll dive into the complexities of digital advertising transformation and reveal how new technologies, machine learning (ML), and AI present new opportunities for the industry.

The challenges, risks and new trends of digital marketing

Using third-party data has become a high-stakes risk strategy. Companies that do not observe data privacy laws can face millions in fines for data breaches or misuse. For example, defying the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can cost up to €20 million (about $21.7 million) or 4% of a company’s annual global turnover in 2023. 

And the legal data landscape goes well beyond the GDPR; it is diverse, constantly evolving, and growing. From state laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to federal laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), businesses must identify which laws apply to their operation and know the risks. 

The dangers of running third-party data campaigns do not end with courts. Brands that do not align with consumer expectations risk losing clients and business opportunities. A 2022 MediaMath survey revealed that 84% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that prioritize using personal information with a privacy-safe approach.

The issue is not new — privacy concerns have been growing for years. In 2019, Pew Research reported that 79% of Americans were “concerned about how companies use their data.” In 2023, privacy has become a top priority, and customers expect companies to protect their data. Failing to do so brings devaluation of brand perception and potential loss of customers and business partners. 

The most significant barrier to third-party data is coming from online giants themselves. Companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft are leading the way towards ending cookies. Increasing restrictions make it harder for marketers to obtain consumers’ data daily.

First-party data — obtained under consent in a direct relationship with the user, for example, when making a payment transaction or agreeing to the terms when signing up — is trending and expected to replace third-party data. First-party data is also better-quality, as it goes beyond limited information based on age, location and gender. Furthermore, companies can use first-party data to create modern data marts. ... ' 

Worldwide Opinions on Impact of AI

 Results of surveys by country.   Quite bit of detail.  Source is PEW Research. 

Here's how opinions on the impact of artificial intelligence differ around the world

This data on worldwide opinions of artificial intelligence and job automation highlights how education, gender, location, age and income all play a role.

Views on AI are generally more positive among the Asian publics surveyed, with young and educated males the most in favour of automation.

As artificial intelligence (AI) plays a growing role in the everyday lives of people around the world, views on AI’s impact on society are mixed across 20 global publics, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

A median of about half (53%) say the development of artificial intelligence, or the use of computer systems designed to imitate human behaviors, has been a good thing for society, while 33% say it has been a bad thing.  ... " 

Pew Research Data Decoded

Happened into Pew Research of late.   Here is their blog/site on data topics, I plan to dive in from time to time and point to things of interest.

The "how" behind the numbers, facts and trends shaping your world.

Pew Research Center’s main website offers plenty in the way of polished reports, data visualizations and interactives. But there are also lots of methodological musings, puzzles and tangles that you would see if you could flip those picture-perfect research products over (metaphorically speaking).

We’re here to do that part for you.

Since we can’t loop you, our research friends, into our in-office chatter, we’ve created this channel as the next best thing. At Decoded, you’ll find blog posts about some paths taken and some narrowly avoided, including experiments that intrigued us but never saw the light of day. We’ll be talking about survey methods, of course, but also data science, data visualization and even news app development.
Feedback is majorly welcome — so leave your thoughts and questions in the comments or reach out to us via e-mail at info@pewresearch.org.

Thanks for joining us.
Claudia Deane is vice president of research at Pew Research Center.  ..... ' 

Americans Knowledge of Computer Tech

Interesting results.  Some odd questions.  Could have had more and broader questions.  Indicates the challenges for things like understanding topics like privacy and transparency by the general public.  Our own work with decision makers and execs found this to have changed radically with the adoption of smartphones,  but that also increased misunderstandings of some capabilities for things like analytics.

Americans and Digital Knowledge
A majority of U.S. adults can answer fewer than half the questions correctly on a digital knowledge quiz, and many struggle with certain cybersecurity and privacy questions      By Emily A Vogels and Monica Anderson

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that Americans’ understanding of technology-related issues varies greatly depending on the topic, term or concept. While a majority of U.S. adults can correctly answer questions about phishing scams or website cookies, other items are more challenging. For example, just 28% of adults can identify an example of two-factor authentication – one of the most important ways experts say people can protect their personal information on sensitive accounts. Additionally, about one-quarter of Americans (24%) know that private browsing only hides browser history from other users of that computer, while roughly half (49%) say they are unsure what private browsing does.

This survey consisted of 10 questions designed to test Americans’ knowledge of a range of digital topics, such as cybersecurity or the business side of social media companies. The median number of correct answers was four. Only 20% of adults answered seven or more questions correctly, and just 2% got all 10 questions correct.

As was true in a previous Center survey, Americans’ knowledge of digital topics varies substantially by educational attainment as well as by age. Adults with a bachelor’s or advanced degree and those under the age of 50 tend to score higher on these questions. These are some of the key findings from a Pew Research Center survey of 4,272 adults living in the United States conducted June 3-17, 2019.... "  ..... '

People's Attitude Towards Algorithms

Though humans have broad concerns of the use of computer algorithms, it is inevitable they will be used ...

Public Attitudes Toward Computer Algorithms  By   Aaron Smith in Pew
Americans express broad concerns over the fairness and effectiveness of computer programs making important decisions in people’s lives

Real-world examples of the scenarios in this survey
All four of the concepts discussed in the survey are based on real-life applications of algorithmic decision-making and artificial intelligence (AI):

Numerous firms now offer nontraditional credit scores that build their ratings using thousands of data points about customers’ activities and behaviors, under the premise that “all data is credit data.”
States across the country use criminal risk assessments to estimate the likelihood that someone convicted of a crime will reoffend in the future.

Several multinational companies are currently using AI-based systems during job interviews to evaluate the honesty, emotional state and overall personality of applicants.
Computerized resume screening is a longstanding and common HR practice for eliminating candidates who do not meet the requirements for a job posting.

Algorithms are all around us, utilizing massive stores of data and complex analytics to make decisions with often significant impacts on humans. They recommend books and movies for us to read and watch, surface news stories they think we might find relevant, estimate the likelihood that a tumor is cancerous and predict whether someone might be a criminal or a worthwhile credit risk. But despite the growing presence of algorithms in many aspects of daily life, a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults finds that the public is frequently skeptical of these tools when used in various real-life situations. .... "

Impact of Digital Life

Have seen several stark examples of this of late. And the integration of smart things will make this more important yet.

Stories From Experts About the Impact of Digital Life
By Pew Research Center

Over the years of canvassings by Pew Research Center and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center, many technology experts and scholars have been anxious about the way people's online activities can undermine truth, foment distrust, jeopardize individuals' well-being when it comes to physical and emotional health, enable trolls to weaken democracy and community, compromise human agency as algorithms become embedded in more activities, kill privacy, make institutions less secure, open up larger social divisions as digital divides widen, and wipe out untold numbers of decent-paying jobs. ... " 

Bots in the Twittersphere

A quite interesting view of Bots in the twittersphere.  From PEW below.  Useful definitions.   Which points out that they are not close to mostly out to make mischief, but also a useful part of the infrastructure.   Call them automated accounts if you like.  Just like there are many, many automated systems out there,  which query their environment and some action:  assisting, adapting, counting, sensing .....  You could call it all an IOB  (internet of Bots)  Some human,  some machine, some sensor ...  simple and complex.  Makes me think about about the detection of intent.   Can we measure the intent of an automated bot?    By its actions, developers?

A considerable piece of work below that made methink ... read it all:

Bots in the Twittersphere
An estimated two-thirds of tweeted links to popular websites are posted by automated accounts – not human beings .... " 

      ... By Stefan Wojcik, Solomon, Messing  AAron Smith, Lee Arainie and Paul Hitlin

Chronophobia: Fear of Future

Not sure I agree,  based on Pew,  people will say they dislike the future, yet they continually pay, as much as they are able, to participate in that future.   That will change if they are not part of the future.

Chronophobia: Fear of the Future   from Pew Internet

The Pew Internet report, Automation in Everyday Life, is more about fear of automation than enthusiasm for it

Reading the recently released Pew Internet report¹, Automation in Everyday Life, I came away with several specific observations, like the growing concerns about joblessness in an increasingly automated world.

Americans’ concerns about emerging automation technologies demonstrate a deepening fear of the future, or chronophobia.

But more than anything else the report highlights a growing appreciation of something more fundamental: Americans’ concerns about emerging automation technologies demonstrate a deepening fear of the future, or chronophobia. ... " 

Pew Research: Automation in Everyday Life

An extensive report based on surveys. Pointer is to an overview, and then links further to a full PDF report I am reading.  Addressing fear about the future of technology.  Nicely done so far.

Pew Research Center for Internet & Technology

Automation in Everyday Life
Americans express more worry than enthusiasm about coming developments in automation – from driverless vehicles to a world in which machines perform many jobs currently done by humans ... " 

By Aaron Smith and Monica Anderson

Pew Internet Research Looks at Algorithms

I like their broad definition of algorithms.  Sometimes the implication is falsely given that algorithms are some magical and very complex thing.    But they are simply the way that some processes can be driven by rules.  How these are constructed by analytics can be complex.  Or not, and its better if they are simple and thus transparent.  Its the operational aspects of how this is done and managed that is important.

In PewInternet: 
Algorithms are instructions for solving a problem or completing a task. Recipes are algorithms, as are math equations. Computer code is algorithmic. The internet runs on algorithms and all online searching is accomplished through them. Email knows where to go thanks to algorithms. Smartphone apps are nothing but algorithms. Computer and video games are algorithmic storytelling. Online dating and book-recommendation and travel websites would not function without algorithms. GPS mapping systems get people from point A to point B via algorithms. Artificial intelligence (AI) is naught but algorithms. 

The material people see on social media is brought to them by algorithms. In fact, everything people see and do on the web is a product of algorithms. Every time someone sorts a column in a spreadsheet, algorithms are at play, and most financial transactions today are accomplished by algorithms. Algorithms help gadgets respond to voice commands, recognize faces, sort photos and build and drive cars. Hacking, cyberattacks and cryptographic code-breaking exploit algorithms. Self-learning and self-programming algorithms are now emerging, so it is possible that in the future algorithms will write many if not most algorithms.

Algorithms are often elegant and incredibly useful tools used to accomplish tasks. They are mostly invisible aids, augmenting human lives in increasingly incredible ways. However, sometimes the application of algorithms created with good intentions leads to unintended consequences. ... " 

Microsoft Chatbot Called Zo

More emergent chatbots.     Another excursion into AI like capabilities.  Still needs help.

Microsoft takes another shot at an AI chatbot with Zo
Microsoft has fielded a preview of another AI chatbot, Zo.ai, but so far is limiting the topics it is able to address.    By Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is providing early access to users on Kik to its newest AI chatbot called Zo.ai.

Zo is a successor to Microsoft's ill-fated Tay.ai chatbot, which the company revoked shortly after its launch earlier this year after users got it to spew racist, hate-filled comments. MSPowerUser.com blogged about Zo being available in preview on December 4.

Kik users who are downloading the Zo preview note that Microsoft's latest chatbot is currently locked down tightly, presumably to prevent another Tay-like rampage. Among the topics Zo is unwilling to discuss is politics, for example.   ... " 

Creatives Shouldn't Worry About AI

In one way it is like fearing the typewriter or telephone.   But will this latest evolution be fundamentally different?  I see no indication of that yet.  It is still incremental.   Creatives will use it creatively. ... "

Why Creatives Shouldn’t Be Afraid Of Artificial Intelligence
Deutsch chief technology officer Trevor O'Brien on why you should stop worrying about AI, and love how it will improve your job.

3D Printed Chocolate

Printing chocolate.   " ... Out of all the companies out there, one instantly pops into most individual’s heads when they think of creamy, rich chocolate, and that is Hershey. With the history, the market reach, and the drive within the company, it was only a matter of time before the Hershey, Pennsylvania-based chocolate producer would integrate 3D printing into its operations in some way, shape, or form. Today is that day!

Teaming up with 3D Systems, Hershey has announced that on December 19th they will debut the 3D Chocolate Candy Printing Exhibit at the Hershey’s Chocolate World Attraction. Here, visitors will have the opportunity to watch and interact with scientists at the company as well as 3D printers spewing out the rich creamy candy.... " 

On the Future of the Pieces of Work

In McKinsey:  " ... A group of economists, tech entrepreneurs, and academics discuss whether technological advances will automate tasks more quickly than the United States can create jobs. ... 
The topic of job displacement has, throughout US history, ignited frustration over technological advances and their tendency to make traditional jobs obsolete; artisans protested textile mills in the early 19th century, for example. In recent years, start-ups and the high-tech industry have become the focus of this discussion. A recent Pew Research Center study found that technology experts are almost evenly split on whether robots and artificial intelligence will displace a significant number of jobs over the next decade, so there is plenty of room for debate. ... " 

Further, What are the jobs of today?  See One Net for precise task descriptions of many.  A  great place to start to think about how these might be replaced in whole or part.  Or how they can be augmented by advanced technologies.

US Data Privacy Confidence at New Low

In the BBC:  Telling look at how US consumers are thinking about data privacy.  " ... The vast majority - 91% - of Americans believe that consumers have lost control over how personal information is collected and used by companies, according to a survey. ... A further 80% also felt that Americans should be concerned about government surveillance, Pew Research suggested. ... It looked at attitudes to privacy and data in the wake of Edward Snowden's allegations about government snooping.

One expert described the findings as "unsurprising".  ... " 

Facts about the Internet of Things

Some obvious yes, but useful thoughts about the internet of things.

" ... If something isn't connected to the Internet—whether human, animal, household appliance, automobile, factory tool, etc.—does it exist? If you're going all-in on the Internet of things, you may conclude that it doesn't. Simply stated, the Internet of things refers to the possibility of providing online connectivity for every "thing" on the planet. In addition to computing devices, the objects and products that can be connected include cars, ovens, bathtubs, washing machines, bridges, dams and hospital patient monitors. What else could come of this? "Paper towel dispensers in restrooms that signal when they need to be refilled," according to a recent report from the Pew Research Internet Project. "Municipal trash cans that signal when they need to be emptied. Alarm clocks that start the coffee maker." The phenomenon has even launched the concept of "smart creatures," which places homing devices on animals. In the case of honey bees, for example, the device would monitor their pollination productivity. Given the growing interest in these and other related tech developments, we're presenting the following 10 fascinating facts about the Internet of things. They were compiled from a variety of online research and infographics, including reports from Cisco, Gartner and the Pew Research Internet Project study  ... "  

On Technology and Library Users

A view of Pew research on the users of (physical) libraries. And a quiz to show if you are a library lover.  I still admit to being one.  Interesting findings are buried in the statistics.

Mood Sensing Interfaces

Affective computing, and a mention of Clippy.  we were there testing it.  Is it an essential part of AI?

    " ... Nearly a decade after its retirement, the advice-spewing "Clippy" remains one of technology's most hated characters. As part of Microsoft's Office Assistant help system, the paperclip-faced avatar proposed help based on Bayesian probability algorithms: start a word-processing document with "Dear," and it offered to help you write a letter. Express exasperation, and Clippy would gleefully continue pestering you: it could not sense your mood.

Perhaps Clippy would still be with us if it had employed affective computing, a growing field that attempts to determine a user's mood or emotion through visual, auditory, physiological, and behavioral cues—cues that comprise one's "affect." An affect-enabled Clippy might see your look of disgust and make itself scarce; conversely, it might pop up sooner when you furrow your brow in confusion. ... " 

3D Printed Artificial Life Art

Via colleague Mark Lacy, more art than life, but I like the complexity that is shown here.  Includes video.  " ... Theo Jansen's Strandbeests have found a way to multiply by injecting their digital DNA directly into the Shapeways system. From now on several small strandbeests are available from his shop. Next to being a great abstraction of the inspiring work of Theo Jansen, these Strandbeests are also an example of what 3D printing is ultimately capable of. Right after birth from the 3D printer these  models will work straight away and do NOT require any assembly. ... '

 3D printing is very suitable for rapid design changes, and as time goes by the Beests will evolve and new types of DNA will be added to the store, while others are removed. Expect more evolutions and variations in the future, with possible variation in size, shape, material or means of propulsion. ...

15% Unconnected

A remarkable 15% of Americans are choosing to opt out of the Internet.   In a Computerworld article.  " ... according to a study done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that 15% of Americans 18 and older don’t use the Internet or email. ... "