How marketers strike the right balance between AI and the human touch 

Last week, Metia was privileged to join peers in the fintech marketing space through our sponsorship of the FinTech Marketing Community Conference (formerly FinTech B2B Marketing Conference), held at Google’s Kings Cross HQ. It was an incredible event full of valuable insights from industry leaders, as well as advocacy for the community and how we can shape the conversation around key topics, such as DEI, sustainability and, of course, AI. 

Conversations about AI were abundant during the networking portions of the day. As a representative of the Metia Influence team, I was asked by many delegates about the role AI is playing, and will continue to play, when it comes to content and wider marketing activities, so I thought I would share some thoughts on the topic.  

The end of the blank page 

With so many generative AI chatbots and tools available, asking agency representatives how they use them is a reasonable line of inquiry. The most tangible business use cases for GenAI relate to content creation, a core element of marketing activity. Whether it’s assisting with writing emails, messaging or wider comms, the ability to quickly fill a blank page with ideas, inspiration and something that can be iterated upon clearly accelerates the delivery of these materials. As with any use case, however, human ingenuity and oversight are essential.   

During an impressive live demonstration, Google’s Denish KC took us through a financial services use case for Google Gemini in the form of a business loan approval. Uploading a dummy application, Denish conversed in real time with Gemini, which then provided a recommendation for approval.  It was a stunning example of how AI can be used to accelerate complex decision-making, but human input—from the voice prompts to the quality and detail of the information the chatbot was asked to review—is clearly crucial for creating viable and replicable AI-augmented workflows.  

In short, effective collaboration between humans and machines is what gets the most out of both parties. To this end, it is important that all employees are taught how to harness generative AI, in line with their company’s policies and security practices. Learning how to write a good prompt and harness the AI tools at our disposal won’t just make a profound difference to our day-to-day, it will also ensure our ongoing value to our employers and the level of support we can offer customers.  

Too much of a good thing 

As with any AI assistance, the secret to success is knowing when to step back and prioritize the human touch. Returning to the original question posed by my fintech marketing peers, I will provide some anecdotal support for the human element of my own role.  

With the conversations around AI fresh in my head, I asked a technology journalist how often he receives pitches that he suspects were written using generative AI. His answer, unsurprisingly, was “often”. It then transpired that these pitches are typically deleted soon after the realisation occurs. This is a clear example of when personalisation and genuine human connections are essential. Although I can use AI to help me research the key points I want to make, there is a way of presenting this information in an authentic way that connects with my intended audience.  

The same is true when it comes to content creation. If I think about an argument I want to make with a piece of thought leadership, I can write a prompt that provides a framework and links to well-respected sources that help me craft the narrative and support my hypothesis. I may even have my assumptions challenged and therefore refocus so that I start from a point that will resonate more immediately and authentically with my intended audience.  

In many ways, the process is analogous to how we operationalise data across Metia’s other services, such as Content, Demand and Insight, which all harness data science to ensure campaigns and messaging are aligning with the conversations and expectations that exist in the market. While these other services harness AI and cutting-edge techniques in more programmatic ways, the principle of using technology to deliver quality data, which can then be used to produce compelling material, is very much the same.  

Again, we return to the synergy between information extraction and curation via advanced technology and human creativity. Those who understand how to strike this balance, and why it is important in roles and industries where human connections are essential, will be best placed to succeed.