The Origins of AI and its Integration into Marketing

The overnight success of artificial intelligence has led many people to wonder how it all started, how it was all implemented so quickly, and where is this artificial intelligence taking us? First, we need to answer the question: Where did AI start? The birth of this phenomenon happened decades ago in computer science labs working on problem-solving research in computer systems. This idea went from organizing spreadsheets on computers, that did not even have mice invented for them yet, to crafting 15 second videos on Google’s VEO3 within a single generation. AI now touches almost every industry on the planet as its usefulness was too great to ignore. For businesses, understanding where AI came from, where it is now, and what developments could be made will help you use it effectively in your marketing, and your business. This is the origin of artificial intelligence and how it has integrated into marketing around the world.

The first documents leading to the idea of “thinking” machines originated in science fiction in the 1950’s. Back then researchers began developing algorithms that could solve basic logic problems. These were much simpler than it sounds, and the size of the computers were humongous compared to today. Scientists like John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky used computers the size of small houses developed algorithms that could solve simple math problems. In 1955 the creation of the program named “Logic Theorist” lead scientists to believe computers could outperform human thought within a single generation. One of the key factors that lead to the halt of artificial intelligence progressing was the physical limitations of computers of the time. The phone in your pocket is magnitudes more powerful than the computer onboard the Apollo rocket.

Fast forward to the 80’s and 90’s and we see that artificial intelligence was used in a few delicate areas like finance, manufacturing, and video games. The public had very little knowledge of this as it was not present in most peoples’ everyday life. Banks and stock exchanges used this technology to detect fraud, developing credit scores, and algorithmic trading on the stock market. Video games had a large hand in developing artificial intelligence as human players needed more complex scenarios with “non-playable characters” or “NPCs”. The Sims and Half-Life were some of the first games to show off more advanced versions of artificial intelligence in video games. These early decades truly laid the groundwork for how artificial intelligence would develop into the behemoth now known as ChatGPT.

In the 2000’s we saw an explosion of computer power. Home computers in most houses could outpace even most supercomputers from the 80’s and early 90’s. Businesses started moving online, a name brand launching a site was breaking news, and the engines that developed search capabilities started using artificial intelligence to find the most relevant answers. Services like Google Ads and search engine optimization platforms began relying on artificial intelligence and machine learning to target audiences more efficiently. The development of social media like Myspace, Facebook, YouTube, and later Twitter relied heavily on AI to feed those audiences a “catered” page for individual users.

At first AI’s role in marketing was invisible and would hardly have been called “intelligence” by today’s standards. Businesses benefitted from these tools as they grew increasingly effective with nearly no coverage from media outlets. Go figure, a business developing a program that could show you an ad was never breaking news. What was going on behind the scenes was far more impressive than most people knew and developed into vast systems intertwined in the background of most websites, programs, services, video games, all the way down to the very next video YouTube will recommend to you while you research how to make a sourdough starter.

There’s a lot going on over on social media sites, right? Think about the number of posts, photos, videos, and even games developed inside of platforms like Facebook. Social media had begun creating vast indecipherable amounts of data, as by design. There were more people creating new data sets than there were in the entire computer science field. Artificial intelligence was once again employed to coral this data into digestible tables for companies to analyze. Artificial intelligence had started creating an index of human behavior, this is extremely important for nearly everyone on planet Earth today. Back in the 2000’s-2010’s artificial intelligence was logging every click, the amount of time spent looking at posts, it tracked what types of posts and content specific users enjoyed or shared and even created personas for similar types of users. Why? To serve you specific ads that are completely catered to your social media personality.

Marketing caught on quickly to this and began spending huge amounts of money on predictive marketing strategies. This is why when you search “cat food” once in Google you will start to see ads on the sidebar of your next Google search. The very fact you are reading this article on artificial intelligence might be the reason you see a pre-roll ad on YouTube for ChatGPT. This era of AI usage sped up the development even more as there was now a large amount of money fueling these predictive advertising campaigns. Yet, still, the public was nearly unaware of it, until one scandal shook the United States to it’s core in the mid 2010’s.

Cambridge Analytica purchased, and used, millions of packets of data on Facebook users to serve them political campaign ads, political news stories, and basically bought personalized political content being shown to specific demographics of people across the internet with AI. This data harvesting was used in a politically motivated way that many experts cite as having had a large effect on the voting outcomes of the 2015 election. This led to public speculation and general action to try and set up guardrails on these algorithms collecting user data. Just a reminder, not a single person went to jail for the actions of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica in this scenario. That should foreshadow where this is all going.

In the past ten years, since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, AI has been developed to do more human-like tasks. Not only did its data capturing capabilities get an upgrade, but so did its creative endeavors. Programs like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Canva began developing using AI relentlessly. This allowed businesses and marketing agencies to create more content effectively and professionally. What once required teams of professionals, time, and resources now took minutes and could be completed withing brand guidelines instantly.

These tools made conception, creation, and launch of content infinitely faster and easier. While those things became easier, the public started becoming apprehensive as the material seems lifeless, too conformed, too programmatic, we were running into something called the “Uncanny Valley”. We are still seeing the backlash to companies using artificial intelligence in their artwork, copywriting, or blog writing. (Not us of course, we like making things, that’s why we are talking about it because it’s interesting.) Marketing agencies started using a blend of artificial intelligence with creative human touches to retain some authenticity and originality.

We say “creeping”, but we are still in the early stages of AI integration around the world. It’s only been three years since the public release of ChatGPT, remember that. Marketing was one of the first industries to adopt AI, but the tentacles of this monster have taken hole of healthcare, law, logistics, manufacturing, and a myriad of other industries. The money supporting these AI developers in the mid 2010’s led to vast innovations and improvements to AI to the point that every business, no matter the sector, can now benefit from it. Most individuals benefit from it as well, adding to the worldwide phenomenon of artificial intelligence. The rapid spread of AI raises questions about what roles machines will play in the workforce of the future, and what value human beings must continue to provide.

In the realm of marketing, we are a marketing agency after all, AI is used on a wide scale for analytics, personalization, customer service, and the creation of content. By 2023 AI was able to nearly replace every step of the creative process, in some way or another, but it could also help everyone organize and develop their thoughts, outlines, and game plans. Even video games have seen advanced AI development in computer-controlled NPCs, generated dialogue, and artificially enhance frames-per-second being displayed. This “creeping” shows absolutely no signs of slowing down either. It’s becoming crucial to almost every business’s profit motive and operational strategy. It will be important in the future, and now, for companies to understand the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence to move forward into the future.

The most important takeaway we can give you is this: This is the worst AI will ever be, currently. It will only get better from here on out, and we have already passed the point of being “fooled” by artificially generated content. We went from a simple spreadsheet organizer to an invisible puppet master monitoring everything on the internet within only 3 years. Imagine how powerful it will be in the future.

Businesses need to understand how artificial intelligence works, and how it can benefit their operations and marketing strategies. AI has transformed how businesses target their specific demographics of customers and can now create content specifically for those audiences. While it may be tempting to jump into AI, remember to stay ethical, original, and creative with how you use artificial intelligence.

If you ever have any questions on integrating artificial intelligence with your business’ marketing effort, you can always reach out to us here at Acclaim. We love to talk about the latest trends and can give you insights into useful tools to help your marketing efforts.