Artificial Intelligence (AI): Revolutionizing Digital Marketing

Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled digital marketing is revolutionizing the way organizations create content for campaigns, generate leads, reduce customer acquisition costs, manage customer experiences, market themselves to prospective employees, and convert their reachable consumer base via social media. Real-world examples of organizations who are using AI in digital marketing abound. For example, Red Balloon and Harley Davidson used AI to automate their digital advertising campaigns. However, we are early in the process of both the practical application of AI by firms broadly and by their marketing functions in particular. One could argue that we are even earlier in the research process of conceptualizing, theorizing, and researching the use and impact of AI. Importantly, as with most technologies of significant potential, the application of AI in marketing engenders not just practical considerations but ethical questions as well. The ability of AI to automate activities, that in the past people did, also raises the issue of whether marketing professionals will embrace AI as a means to free them from more mundane tasks to spend time on higher value activities, or will they view AI as a threat to their employment? Given the nascent nature of research on AI at this point, the full capabilities and limitations of AI in marketing are unknown. This special edition takes an important step in illuminating both what we know and what we yet need to research.