Hawaii is one of those places where visitors are always trying to capture the indescribable beauty of the islands with pictures. Yet, in my experience, the photos taken never turn out quite as stunning as the actual, in-person, object before you.
On a recent trip to the botanical gardens in Hilo, HI, I heard a woman say something similar.
She was disappointed with the photo she’d taken of a stunning flower, the Pink Quill. Despite its immense beauty, turns out it is a common houseplant on the island. But, having never seen anything like it before, I was awestruck by its perfection and uniqueness. I attempted to preserve its beauty in a photo, but also discovered the impossibility of truly capturing its depth and glorious essence with a piece of technology, that is, my camera.
This got me thinking about the many recent conversations we’ve had in our marketing agency about the use of AI. That is, how do we use technology to benefit our clients without losing the all-important human element? In stressing how the best B-to-B marketing works, we’ve long said, “humans buy from humans.” This means that businesses prefer to have long-term buying relationships with other businesses (and people!) who they can relate to, trust, and who share their values.
One of our brilliant team members summed our conclusion that AI can be used as a tool for efficiency, but it can never replace HI – that is, Human Intelligence – because artificial never beats the real thing.
That thought struck home when I came across this beautiful, never-before-known-to-me Pink Quill. I viewed it from all angles. I experienced its textures and brilliant colors, size, and shape. I took in its lush backdrop, a living wall of green leaves, stemming from the warm, humid climate in which it flourished. It was full sight, smell, touch sensory experience.
The technology of photography can’t come close to replacing the human experience. In the same way, while AI can kick out some generic, stilted content, it cannot replicate the depth of understanding that professionals with vast experience in human buying behavior, emotional response, and building connections through context can weave throughout a comprehensive marketing approach.
Everyone is dabbling in AI these days. We’re looking at the ways it can best support our clients. But at the end of the day, it’s still artificial, and doesn’t beat the real thing.
So, since your customers, prospects, and partners are humans, at 5280 Accelerator, we use our half a century worth of combined human intelligence built across a myriad of industries to develop effective communications by humans to humans for humans.
HI – it’s the best kind of intelligence . . . the authentic kind.