Generative AI vs. Media Companies: The Next Episode of Video Killed the Radio Star?
Will Generative AI mean the end for B2B Media?
Progress: Throughout the years we’ve seen hundreds of examples. Newspapers were diminished when radio was invented, and both were overshadowed by television. VHS tapes were replaced by DVDs, Blu-rays, and later streaming services. Vinyl records were replaced by 8-track tapes, then cassette tapes, then CDs, and now, again, streaming services.
B2B media has definitely faced its challenges over the years. First came the rise of the internet. Once the internet came along, long gone were the days of 100-plus folio print magazines due to increased postal prices, manufacturing costs and diminished advertiser interest.
As the internet developed, publishers found themselves needing to create web and print content, and later digital editions, newsletters, webinars, ebooks, podcasts and more. Suddenly, publishers (now media companies) found themselves stretched thin, needing to have meaningful original content on a dozen different platforms. Then came a new challenge.
In 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT 3.5 with an interface that allowed users to engage in conversational AI. That model had been pretrained on massive data sets and gave surprisingly strong content outputs. Thus began the generative AI revolution.
Suddenly, media companies had to worry about diminished traffic, shifting from SEO to GEO (generative engine optimization), being on all platforms, and a new technology was emerging that not only changed user behavior for the first time in 30 years, but also made content creation easy to do. People were browsing websites less, instead relying on ChatGPT and Google’s AI overviews for quick, reliable answers to their questions. Will generative AI be the figurative straw that breaks the B2B media camel’s back? I don’t think so, and here’s why.
Media companies have proven to be resilient over the years for all the reasons listed above. They know how to adapt. A former mentor of mine had a sticker on a filing cabinet in his office that read “Adapt or suffer.” It was a constant reminder that the media business is always changing and that we, as an organization, needed to be constantly ready and willing to adapt to those changes. So how can media companies adapt to this rising new challenger? By embracing it.
Sales teams: So far, personal relationships that sales managers build over time are undefeated in business. Add in-person meetings and events into the mix and you’re bulletproof. AI can’t replace that. What AI has done is provide sales teams with new tools that make prospecting, lead acquisition and collateral creation easier. Sales teams can spend more time selling and less time on administrative tasks.
Operations and content teams: Will generative AI eliminate jobs? Yes. However, it will also create new ones. Generative AI models don’t think on their own; they can only reorganize content that they are trained on. Yes, it’s easier to create base copy, but AI can’t replace insights from subject matter experts. New AI tools that increase efficiency in virtually every aspect of business are being created every day. Companies will need people who understand their operations processes and how those companies can use AI tools to create efficiency gains.
Marketing teams: Generative AI isn’t going to replace marketing teams any more than marketing automation systems did. For years, marketing teams have been overwhelmed and hit with projects from all sides. AI tools are your new best friends. They make all aspects of content creation easier, from marketing copy to social media automation, email creation and deployment, and royalty-free image generation. Marketing professionals are in the figurative generative AI sweet spot.
Like it or not, nothing will stop the generative AI revolution. This technology will change the media business just like streaming services changed movies and music. Progress is inevitable. Adapting to change is up to you.
I asked ChatGPT to create an article with the same theme. Click here if you’d like to read that version. (Mine’s better!)
