As soon as I could afford a home computer (a blazing 386 Zeos mail-order tower with Lotus 1-2-3 and Prodigy), I jumped. Here was a machine that democratized access to information, helping me send an email and pay monthly bills. Today, I still jump every time a new iPhone is released, hoping every upgrade will speed up something in my busy life. I feel exactly the same way about all things artificial intelligence (AI). I’m all in.

AI performs tasks that typically require humans. A few examples of AI you may already be using or familiar with are Siri and Alexa, self-driving cars and facial recognition.

As explained in great detail in the first article in ASI’s “AI Week” series, many promo companies are already embracing ChatGPT (basically an AI-powered virtual assistant) to draft content, and are using AI in sales, art and customer service. Having “chatted” myself, along with many ASI colleagues, I give it an A for time-saving, B+ for brainstorming and C+ for originality. Very human employees must still manage, edit, fact-check and polish content.

Although they’re still the exception instead of the rule, advanced working robots are now whizzing around promo industry distribution centers, collaborating with human workers, improving operational efficiency and helping ensure timeliness and accuracy across orders, while even reducing new-hire training time.

In addition to keeping everyone in the industry updated through ASICentral.com and PromoGram, starting with ASI Orlando this past January, we’re offering classes at each of our trade shows explaining AI tools, sharing ways they’re already simplifying marketing, streamlining workflow, automating repetitive tasks and even creating videos for social media. We’re also emphasizing AI at our annual ASI Power Summit this October.

I’m proud to say ASI has taken an intentional and logical approach to using AI for several years by:

• Scanning incoming product data from 3,000 suppliers to add detail, context and common indexing available exclusively in ESP and ESP Websites.
• Leveraging automation to improve our responsiveness to the 23,000 distributors and suppliers who depend on ASI every day.
• Using AI to help distributors better serve their prospects and clients by providing, as one example, product recommendations based on billions of searches across ESP.

There’s much more to come, and soon.

Can AI do everything? Not by a long shot. I’m not replacing our award-winning journalists, researchers, designers, content creators, marketers, customer service reps, sales team or technology experts (just to name a few) with 2023’s version of my old Zeos computer. Instead, I’m encouraging my colleagues to use available know-how to improve their day-to-day.

One example: Nearly three dozen ASI colleagues are engaged in an “AI Hackathon,” to share current experiences while brainstorming new ways we can refine and advance use of these new technologies. We’re also scheduling a new curriculum to educate all our employees on ways they can or should use AI and ChatGPT.

I’m excited by the possibilities, while remaining aware that advancements are coming at us with incredible, and sometimes a little scary, speed. There will be many debates about the good and the bad, what needs to be moderated and legislated and how it all fits into a civil and engaged society. Throughout these early days and beyond, ASI will keep everyone in the promo industry updated and educated, sharing ways each of us should embrace AI in our daily business lives.

Let me know how you’re using AI in your promotional products business. Drop me an email at tim.andrews@asicentral.com or grab me at ASI Chicago in July.

P.S. #WrittenByHuman