When artificial intelligence (AI) gets mentioned, it conjures up images of the 2001 movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starred in by Haley Joel Osment.

Where a robotic boy is programmed to love, embarks on a journey of discovery and uncovers a world in which the line between human, robot and machine is both vast and yet profoundly thin.

Undoubtedly it's a thought-provoking story-- perhaps even a warning for the future. However, such depictions of AI distract from the important role it can now play in digital marketing, so imagine instead a set of digital marketing tools that could predict the future.

Perhaps you would tailor your advertising individually to appeal directly to each parent. Maybe you'd prefer to provide each parent or student with their own set of resources explicitly based on what they happen to be seeking. Perhaps you would send someone interested in bursaries specific information about them before they even ask. Think about how a first admission call with a parent would change if you already knew their child was a sports fanatic, a talented musician or a performer in the making.

In all these things, artificial intelligence can be most effective for digital marketers. Still, to leverage AI effectively, it is first essential to understand its different constructs.

Artificial Intelligence - This is when a machine replicates intelligent behaviour for things like problem-solving. It could be a straightforward algorithm like if the user clicks on button A, do this, or if not (or else in algorithmic terms), do this instead. Therefore, practically any provider can say their platform uses AI, and they'd be right.

Machine Learning - Builds on artificial intelligence but learns from the data. These algorithms analyse the data, learn from it, and sometimes alter it, providing insight. The more data they are exposed to, the better they become. One example is facial recognition automatically tagging people in a photo on social media.

Deep Learning - Builds on machine learning and focuses on identifying and classifying patterns in a way that mimics the brain. Perhaps the best-known application of this is the emergence of self-driving cars.

Natural Language Processing - Looks at the interactions between computers and human language, particularly the writing of algorithms that allow computers to process and analyse large amounts of natural language data. Think Amazon Alexa or Apple's Siri.

At Ubiq, the AMAIS™ platform utilises all of these cutting-edge approaches in the context of achieving three things for the schools that we work with:

1. Greater Efficiency -  AI can perform monotonous repeat tasks that can be time-consuming and drain time and resources for small marketing teams.
2. Smarter Automation - AI can help deliver the right content at the right time, through the right channel, and at the right pace.
3. Greater Engagement - AI can map and deliver relevant digital experiences that learn from historical data and real-time behaviour.

If you would like to know more about how Ubiq uses AI within the AMAIS™ platform or how this approach to technology is re-shaping the way schools think about their websites, then please get in touch.

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