Investing in AI is imperative to control its rapid rise: MMA Global CEO

Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA Global. Photo courtesy of MMA Global

The development of AI increasingly shows the benefits it brings to all aspects of life and business.

Businesses, especially those related to technology, marketing, media, and communications, mostly use AI in operations, research and development, and strategic activities.

The benefits AI brings to humans are undeniable. However, in recent years, AI has become more and more popular and does well, tasks that only humans could hitherto perform.

It is this rapid development that has raised fears about whether AI can one day completely replace humans.

Looking back at history, Stuart pointed out that technology trends have been in 13-year cycles, from personal computers (1981) to the first browser to display images in line with text instead of in a separate window, Mosaic (1994), and smartphones (2007).

This is a key milestone for humans.

And then, 13 years later, there was a phenomenon that can be said to have changed the world upside down: artificial intelligence.

The rise of ChatGPT and hundreds, even thousands, of applications that integrate AI has surprised people because of how it solves things smoothly in just minutes or even seconds. This is where people start to raise questions: will there be a day when AI can even replace humans?

Answering this question, Stuart narrates an anecdote about his company.

There was a guy on a business call with him recently who asked the same question and wondered whether people should continue using AI or have any solutions to prevent it from developing rapidly itself.

Without hesitation, he replied: "AI will not replace you if you don't learn how to use it. But I will replace you if you don't learn AI."

According to Stuart, AI is like other office tools on computers or technology applications on smartphones: No one can just use it and know how to control it and take full advantage of it. The only way to do that and make it a tool that benefits you is to learn how to use it.

That is why businesses, regardless of field, if they want to develop a solid technology foundation and catch trends, investing in AI is extremely necessary, even indispensable, in the current era.

AI cannot be a "low budget" segment, Stuart said. Photo courtesy of MMA Global

All businesses in the world, whether giant, small, or medium, have the same goal when doing business: increase profits and cut costs.

However, not investing in AI, or even cutting back and spending only a small part of their investment on this, might cause marketing and advertising businesses to fall behind their competitors.

Greg said he does not think AI could be a "low budget" segment if businesses want to utilize it effectively.

He also pointed out that, nowadays, more and more organizations and businesses are joining hands to organize events, conferences, and seminars to promote development and call for investment in AI such as "AI in August" and "The State of AI in Marketing and CX" held by MMA Global last Thursday.

Greg Stuart shared the essentials for building and maintaining successful AI experiments at the Modern Marketing event organized by MMA Global in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of MMA Global

On the other hand, the fact that there is still "AI resistance" among some businesses might cause them to slow down the development of this field or even go backward.

This often happens informally but is easy to notice. For example, company leaders prohibit employees from using AI in some aspects, such as looking up research and survey data, and want them to do it themselves.

According to Greg Stuart, resistance is optional, but it can prevent them from being exposed to AI in one way or another, which would cause them to lack understanding of this outstanding technology.

He advised business leaders, including companies in Vietnam, to, if possible, create conditions for their personnel to access AI.

One of the ways to apply AI in business operations and development is to invest adequately and correctly.

He suggested that business leaders have to double down and find a way to commit the resources.

First, they need to put a specialist in charge of AI, and it is good to just collaborate with other companies in this area because this will help the department grow faster, he said.

"The important thing is that you have to prepare a giant budget to invest in AI. This is why small and medium-sized businesses find it hard to learn more about AI or utilize it in their strategies."

In predicting the future of AI, Greg said he has absolutely no idea.

"Five years ago, I never would have predicted Google would be the largest company; that's unbelievable."

"So, to ask me what is going to happen five years from now... The answer is I don't know."