TECHWATCH

What would John Connor say…

Gartner predicts that by the end of this decade every dollar of GDP, created anywhere on the planet, will be influenced by AI. Additionally, every person in a developed country will have an interaction with at least one AI instance every single day.

Kyle Smith, certified digital event strategist® and associate director, Conference Consultancy South Africa

What would John Connor say… “Ladies and gentlemen, as we delve deeper into the realms of artificial intelligence, let us tread carefully. AI holds incredible promise, but it also presents significant risks. We must ensure that as we embrace this technology, we do so with a clear understanding of its potential impact on society. Our future depends on it, and we must not repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Setting aside the doom porn of the fictional Terminator movie franchises, what does this all really mean? I must be honest, for a millennial like me, who was playing Duke Nukem on MS Dos in 1993, and who rode the wave of technological advancement humanity now enjoys, I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the implications of AI, how it all works and how it can be used to better business and better me.

I’m one of those people who like to find smarter, more time efficient ways of doing anything!

In my day-to-day, which sometimes includes tedious analysis of data on excel spreadsheets, I find AI really helpful in organising, analysing and processing data. Time saved is money saved, and if I can complete a task in a fraction of the time it usually takes, I have more time to give to other ‘more important tasks’. Another helpful tool of AI is basic design work. I can doodle really well but that’s as far as it goes. Usually, I have to spend hours on design software trying to figure out where the buttons are, then finally giving up, and sending it to an agency to fix. I can now use AI to assist with basic design elements. Which brings me to my next thought… Where do we draw the line…?

Emotional expression in art, music, work, and in our day-to-day interactions with one another is what makes us human! It resonates with our souls and is instantly recognised and embraced by fellow human beings, celebrated by how it was created from the ether of imagination and manifested into the physical realm.

Earlier this year, at PCMA’s Convening Leader’s 2024, humanity raised the flag and won a battle against AI in meeting design.

Two teams, one using AI and the other their humanness, were tasked with coming up with an innovative marketing campaign for an event. Both teams were provided with background information of the event and supporting documents. Spoiler Alert: the humans out-preformed the AI team, as judged by a panel of industry experts.

We should never sacrifice our creativeness with AI, but rather use its tremendous efficiency to enhance experiences in a collaborative way.

So where do I see AI making an impact on my conferences and events?

AI translation and captioning: I’ve already used the benefit of this AI with incredible efficiency and affordability. Worldly has an effective AI translation app for over 50+ languages, which we used flawlessly at a recent event.

Data analysis and reports: This is a game changer! What usually takes me a better, bitter part of a week, can now be done in a matter of minutes. Additionally, I can get amazing strategic insights into that data, different trends and important patterns. For example, I can upload an excel document of a client’s annual event over the course of three years. Requesting AI to analyse the progression of weekly registrations over time and based on this data, provides me insights on the marketing strategy on future events. It will then provide information about which events had more interest in registrations, during which period and why.

Tips to get you started.

Prompts, prompts, prompts! Increase the value you derive from using AI by learning the effective use of prompts. Check out Ruben Hassid for deeper context and instruction to AI, which will in turn provide more valuable information. The framing of your prompt should always include some of the following: Action, Steps, Persona, Examples, Context, Constraints and Template.

A bad prompt would be: Create 5 ideas for an opening session.

Our Industry is an eco-system of brilliant, creative and invested minds. These unique traits are what event owners look to us for in creating meaningful events and experiences. We will only become redundant if we become lazy. Let us embrace AI as a tool in our expanding resources to save time, for suggestions, insights and analysing. Its undeniable, this is a dawn of a new age, an exciting time for our industry. AI isn’t here to take or do our jobs but, without utilising AI you will be left at a disadvantage to those who tap into its potential.

Who is Kyle Smith?

Kyle Smith started his career 20 years ago in the events industry, deeply immersed in the realms of event technology and digital transformations. In 2016, he was recognised for PCMA’s global 20-in-their- Twenties and became Africa’s first and only Digital Event Strategist. He now leads an amazing team in the Digital and Hybrid Event Department at Conference Consultancy South Africa. Kyle has a passion for music, people, technology, plants, animals and gaming.