Artificial intelligence manifests dueling perspectives.
Some marketers are uncertain how to feel about this new technology. Some see the opportunities for next-generation marketing.
It’s a lot to think about, so we asked CMI’s chief strategy advisor, Robert Rose, for his thoughts. Fortunately, he was already speaking at this week’s epicenter of the conversation — the Marketing AI Institute Conference (MAICON) in Cleveland, Ohio. Watch or read on for his take:
Gathering to talk marketing AI
This week was the fifth annual MAICON, an event that cultivates a community of forward-thinking, smart, and bold marketers that grows year after year.
It was great to see talks from familiar thought leaders such as Chris Penn, Andy Crestodina, Andrew Davis, Katie Roberts, Jim Sterne, and Amanda Todorovich.
It was also great to meet leaders in the field with whom I was less familiar. Mike Walsh, CEO of Tomorrow, discussed how AI is part of a bigger transformation of the system of work. He challenged marketers to think bigger.
Adam Brotman and Andy Sack started Day 2 by sharing what they’ve learned interviewing some of the biggest players in AI, including Sam Altman, Bill Gates, and Reid Hoffman, for their 2025 book, AI First: The Playbook for a Future-Proof Business and Brand.
I was a minority voice in the speaker crowd. I didn’t dissent per se. I agreed with many, in fact most, of the speakers who talked of the fundamental transformations that AI will bring.
But I remain convinced that what everybody calls generative AI — which is really the focus of the conference and how most marketers think about AI — is an assistive innovation to human creation, not the other way around.
After spending time with the bigger thinkers in this space, I still don’t see how generative AI is like getting bitten by a radioactive spider or finding a secret formula in a lab for superpowers.
What generative AI really is (for now)
Generative AI — in the current moment — can amplify, magnify, and scale the expression of your ideas. If the human ideas are small, generative AI will just amplify flawed ideas. If the ideas are mistaken, generative AI will make mistakes faster. If your goal is to decrease your use of diverse and expensive human creativity, generative AI will absolutely meet that goal.
What I shared with MAICON attendees revolved around the opportunity to harness generative AI tools for different aspects of marketing’s very human, creative, and collaborative workflow. How can you apply these tools without losing the benefit gained through a considered approach to creativity?
Creativity is not a problem that needs to be solved. That’s why I spoke about the concept of getting ready to be ready for AI. Adopting generative AI requires you to first identify the real question or problem to solve with it rather than trying to be worthy of the questions raised by generative AI.
Now, recommending that approach doesn’t necessarily mean I disagree with anything (well, maybe a couple of things) said by thought leaders this week. I learned more in two days than I have all year on a quickly moving topic.
Kudos to the Marketing AI Institute team, and a big thank you to all those new and old people I got to hang out with. And I’ll note with no irony at all that this was all made possible by humans doing human things in a physical event. The chemistry, the vibe, and the space added just as much as the “data” or “content” being given.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute