Trends to capitalize on in 2023: Artificial Intelligence, part one 🤖

This week I’m starting a series on trends you can leverage in 2023. These aren’t just “trends to watch.” Instead, we’re going to get practical with trends and tools you can use or take advantage of in 2023.

This week and next are all about Artificial Intelligence. For instance, this week alone, I’ve used AI at least a dozen times to help me better serve my audience and clients. In a moment, I’ll share how I use artificial intelligence and how you can leverage AI in 2023 to help you do your job.

But first, I’ve noticed a trend in 2023 predictions that is a little disappointing to me.

Uncertainty in January

It’s January, and while it’s tradition to prognosticate on what the coming year will look like, I’ve noticed a trend this year in the typical 2023 prediction posts – bold predictions are giving way to hesitation. Reluctance. Uncertainty.

“No one can know the future for certain,” they say, and today’s world is so fast-changing, so unpredictable. So they either refuse to make any predictions or make predictions so abstract that they are unhelpful. The problem is that abstract predictions are much like fortune cookie messages – so broad they could apply to anyone at any time.

I think this trend of refusing to make bold predictions is misguided. Here’s an opinion that might be controversial – predictions are not helpful because of their accuracy.

I believe predictions can be helpful if they do a few things, even if they don’t end up being accurate:

1. They help us pay attention to things that will prove to be important.

2. They help us see broader trends.

3. They help us perceive whether a specific trend or prediction might impact us.

I’ve written before about what I call the Imago Loop.

To lead innovation, one has to first SEE. We must notice developing trends and things that might be relevant to our situation. Then, we must PERCEIVE whether a specific trend will matter to us. That is followed by seeking UNDERSTANDING – how the trend relates to our situation and what that means. Finally, understanding should lead to ACTION – we must act to respond.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to make some bold predictions. Not because I’m convinced of the 100% accuracy of these predictions. I trust you are a discerning leader, and you’ll have a sense of whether and how these apply to you.

Even if I’m wrong about some of the details, these are critical trends that you should be aware of, seeking to understand, and acting on in 2023.

Let’s start with how artificial intelligence can directly help you in 2023.

Artificial intelligence will enable more leaders and organizations to work more effectively and efficiently in 2023.

I’ve been talking about how artificial intelligence is transforming marketing and fundraising for about five years. But as we enter 2023, artificial intelligence is more accessible to you and me than ever.

When I first started speaking of artificial intelligence, it was already in use for marketing and fundraising applications like donor/customer segmentation (choosing who to communicate to). Still, the problem was the barriers to entry were high. It was largely inaccessible, technology-intensive, and required specialized personnel like data scientists and engineers. As a result, the only way to use AI for a leader was to hire larger firms or build a team and invest heavily.

Today, you and I can use several forms of powerful AI for less than $20 a month or sometimes even for free.

4 types of AI to capitalize on in 2023: Part 1

AI is not some nice idea that might be helpful someday. This week alone, I’ve used AI at least a dozen times to help me do my job and serve my audience and clients better.

Today, I’m going to cover the first two of four types of artificial intelligence that you should look to capitalize on in 2023. Then next week, I’ll cover a couple more.

AI-Assisted Creative

The first and most personally helpful trend is in the area of what I call AI-assisted creative – tools to help us write, design, and express ideas more clearly and effectively.

When AI first became a topic of discussion, I remember thinking, “sure, AI might be good at numbers and math-related stuff, but it’ll never replace creative skills like writing, photography, or design.” I couldn’t see how AI would help the creative process.

Then:

• Cell phone cameras started using software algorithms to capture photos that even the best professional cameras couldn’t.

• Design software like Photoshop started using AI to enable the easy removal of backgrounds or editing of specific subjects in imagery.

• Writing applications like OpenAI’s ChatGPT started to write convincing short fiction based on millions upon millions of documents.

Today, here are two writing tools I used just this week to help me communicate more effectively and powerfully.

Grammarly

I use Grammarly every single day. Grammarly is a little like Microsoft’s Clippy from back in the day, but on steroids (yes, I’m that old). Going beyond correcting spelling and punctuation, Grammarly helps me achieve better clarity in my writing.

Grammarly helps me by pointing out spots where I could use fewer words, reorganize a sentence to read more powerfully, or remove non-value-added phrases. And it doesn’t just point out issues but suggests entirely new wording.

I would say using Grammarly makes my writing 20% better.

As someone who has written professional copy for years, it dramatically reduces the costly, time-consuming process of proofreading.

• It’s immediate – this tool works for me at any time of the day or night, is instantaneous, and goes beyond spelling and grammar.

• It’s cheap – rather than hiring someone on staff or paying by the hour for proofreading, it’s $12/mo. Or free if you start with a more limited version.

• It checks everything – I also use Grammarly with emails, and I find it helps me get to the point more quickly, not “bury the lede” to use a copywriting term, and generally wastes less time and increases clarity.

If you already use Grammarly, you already know this. But if you don’t, you might consider it this year.

Copy.ai

Another tool that is even crazier is an AI-copywriting tool like copy.ai or jasper.ai. These tools move into full-fledged copywriting, generating written content for you.

The way it works is you write a sentence or two, telling the tool what kind of content you are trying to write (ad copy, blog post, headlines, etc.), and the tool will generate a dozen or more sets of copy for you. Then, you can favorite the copy you like and get more variations on your favorites.

I use copy.ai more sparingly, but it is especially helpful when I’m trying to write persuasive copy and want to get ideas on different approaches. Often, it inspires new ideas that I go and edit further. For example, I used it this week for writing I was doing for a client, giving me several new ways to approach the message I was trying to convey. As a result, it easily improved my writing by at least 50%.

Design

I’m not a designer, but if you are interested, here’s a piece on how AI is impacting design today: 6 Ways Artificial Intelligence will Change the Future of Design (Rockcontent). I’ll add that there has been a lot of news about AI-generated art. It’s fascinating but also controversial. But it has the potential to be another tool in the hands of creatives – generating or ideating more quickly than ever before.

💡 Takeaway: Explore how AI creative “assist” tools like Grammarly and Copy.ai can help you in 2023.

AI-Assisted Content Discovery

I opened this report by discussing the importance of noticing developing trends. AI-assisted content discovery is about AI’s role in curating and bubbling up content that may be relevant to us based on our interests, industry, past behavior, etc.

YouTube is my favorite tool of choice for discovering and understanding new trends. Because I watch videos about trends (like How Adobe Became One of America’s Most Valuable Tech Companies or Will Robots Replace Fast Food Workers?), YouTube is excellent at suggesting other content that I might find interesting or helpful.

LinkedIn has emerged as another great social media platform for discovering content and trends. While content can tend to be more self-promotional, I’ve been continually impressed that when I log into LinkedIn, it’s generally curated content that is relevant and interesting to me. Of course, it helps that it’s essentially the professional’s social network!

This trend can be a tricky one. First, social media filter bubbles are a well-documented problem. If the algorithms only feed you content that reinforces what you already believe from people most like you, then you aren’t seeing new potential ideas or trends.

The second problem is that social media is tuned to metrics like attention and dwell time, which leads to junk content with no redeeming value (I blame TikTok most recently, but we’ll talk about that in the next week or two!).

But I am optimistic that in 2023 more tools will help us curate and discover content and trends that will help us in our leadership.

💡 Takeaway: Experiment with your social media platforms of choice to improve your exposure to new ideas and trends that might impact you. If you don’t know where to start, try LinkedIn and YouTube.

Next Friday, we’ll finish up this two-part series on capitalizing on artificial intelligence in 2023.

Until next week… Surfs Up! 🌊

- Dave

About the Author | Dave Raley

Consultant, speaker, and writer Dave Raley is the founder of Imago Consulting, a firm that helps non-profits and businesses create profitable growth through sustainable innovation. He’s the author of a weekly trendspotting report called The Wave Report, and the co-founder of the Purpose & Profit Podcast — a show about the ideas at the intersection of nonprofit causes and for-profit brands.

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