"Generative AI is having a moment, but it's not one its most enthusiastic promoters want to talk about. AI platforms have entered the "Trough of Disillusion," Gartner's term for the inevitable fall from the dizzying height of the Hype Cycle. We're at the low point of the cycle, where we discover AI isn't the silver-bullet solution to our marketing woes after all. I'm not here to denigrate GenAI. On the contrary! Chad, the name we have given to our paid version of ChatGPT, helps us with many creative and research tasks. I even asked him - er, it - to help me draft an early outline for this post. (However, I assure you I wrote every word myself from the title to the closing.)"
"By "misuse," I mean they violate a fundamental principle of marketing technology: "Strategy before tactics." They bought into the technology without having a plan for using it. When you operate without goals and objectives, you are more likely to fail and waste precious time and money. GenAI can also create a more insidious problem, one whose effects we are just beginning to see today."
"Many organizations jumped into genAI without thinking strategically or long-term. That's easy to do because the barrier to entry is low if you begin with just a free version of ChatGPT. Naturally, AI developers found fertile ground for their inventions. Today, every platform is "AI-powered." Every tool claims to "save you hours." That message resonates with overworked and underfunded marketers."
Generative AI adoption surged rapidly but now faces a Trough of Disillusion as expectations clash with practical limitations. Paid models can assist with creative and research tasks, yet many organizations adopted genAI without strategic planning or long-term goals. The low barrier to entry and widespread marketing claims that tools "save you hours" encouraged rushed adoption. Operating without clear objectives increases the risk of failure, wasted time, and wasted funds. GenAI can also produce subtler harms when platforms steer work without human strategy, oversight, or defined outcomes.
Read at MarTech
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]