Tech is often prone to short-lived hype, but at German Media Pool we’re convinced that generative AI is an exception.
In fact, we believe the hype around generative AI is entirely justified: It’s the next big inflection point in consumer tech. That’s why we’re all the more excited to make an investment announcement in this space soon.
Thanks to generative AI, the cost of creating new content is now approaching zero. From the “last selfie on Earth” and viral pop hits to the cover image of this very article, what we’ve seen so far is but the tip of the iceberg.
We’re about to be hit by an avalanche of AI-generated content, the magnitude of which is hard to overstate — and will be harder yet for consumers to grapple with.
These are five pieces of advice we are giving to our companies on how to adapt:
1. Build trust and your brand will be strengthened
As a shorthand for trust, brand reputation will become an even more important tool for navigating content and commerce.
Brands will build trust by accurately verifying their content and, where applicable, labeling it as a product of or involving AI.
The strongest brands will go a step further and also disclose the design criteria governing their AI. Generative AI can quickly lose its shine if it follows a hidden agenda, recommending products or services a consumer would not normally choose.
2. Remain complacent and your brand will be weakened
AI’s ability to trawl the entire digital universe of content and products on offer means it can suggest viable options that consumers wouldn’t have been able to consider without it.
Weak brands with low-value offerings will no longer be able to rely on consumers choosing them by default, because it’s ‘what they’ve always done’. They will be under pressure to build a differentiated brand that will be able to command customer loyalty.
3. Seize the first mover advantage
There are first mover advantages when it comes to generative AI: Speed matters. Not just any brand will prosper, but specifically those who adopt generative AI more quickly than others.
The eleven companies who are among the first batch of ChatGPT-plugins, for example, can benefit from direct access to ChatGPT Plus users before anyone else is able to.
Set up your own guerrilla project around generative AI now, before others beat you to it.
4. Prepare for deep personalization
In the future, we will no longer be running searches ourselves and receive ‘shallow’ personalisation based on a few filters we’ve had to apply.
Instead, we’ll be conversing with brands as though to our own assistant, asking them which options fit our needs the best.
Our preferences and habits will turn from something we actively have to state into something entirely obvious, making for true ‘deep’ (and at first slightly eerie) personalisation.
5. Experiment with caution
As AI systems grow, they develop capabilities and patterns of behaviour that will be difficult — if not impossible — to foresee. This makes it all the more important to align AI with ethical principles, but even forerunners in the field allocate only a fraction of their resources towards alignment.
We are entering new ground here with every step and there will undoubtedly be many slippery slopes. On one hand of the spectrum, we see people who are completely excited and rushing into this headlong; on the other, those who are calling for blanket bans on new AI development.
What we need is a middle ground: Be fast but don’t break things.
Amelie Bahr and Niko Waesche
Further reading:
The New Focal Point: How Brands Become More Valuable in the Age of Generative AI | Paper & Blocks
Building LLM applications for production | Chip Huyen
3 Waves of Successful Generative Tech Startups | NFX
AI, NIL, and Zero Trust Authenticity | Stratecherry
How to make money from generative AI | Firstminute Capital
Mapping the Generative AI landscape | Antler
We must slow down the race to God-like AI | Financial Times
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