Artificial intelligence's ability to transform creative working practices has been thrust into the spotlight of late. When CHI & Partners chief executive and partner Sarah Golding launched her IPA presidency on a tech-focused agenda in April, she revealed plans to roll out IPAi – a platform aimed at encouraging experimentation among member agencies and a training programme to demystify what she called the "history and hype around AI". Then, in June, during the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, the industry was rocked by the news that Publicis Groupe is bowing out of the event and cutting its entire marketing budget in order to invest in a new artificial intelligence platform called Marcel. According to Joe Stanhope, vice-president and principal analyst at Forrester, the "hype" and "consternation" surrounding the Marcel announcement is disappointing. Such a reaction, he argues, often ends up dampening enthusiasm for a transformative technology by sending expectations skyrocketing and setting the stage for disappointment. Nonetheless, Stanhope believes that AI is a game changer for the marketing and advertising industry, and will herald a "renaissance in creativity".

Worldwide spending on cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI) systems is predicted to increase 59.3% year-over-year to reach $12.5 billion by the end of 2017, according to an International Data Corporation (IDC) spending guide. That number is forecast to almost quadruple by 2020, when spending on AI is predicted to reach more than $46 billion. If "personalization" was the marketing buzzword of 2016, then 2017 is the year of "artificial intelligence." As more cloud vendors tout their own AI systems, however, could AI be over-hyped? Joe Stanhope, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, says a cultural dissonance exists with AI, thanks to science fiction, and that many people have a preconceived notion about what artificial intelligence really is.

AI has received a lot of hype in the marketing community -- and for good reason, too. As research and advisory firm Forrester Research notes in its report, "AI Must Learn the Basics Before It Can Transform Marketing," AI-powered marketing applications promise numerous benefits, including efficiency and speed, smarter decision making, and optimized customer journeys and campaign performance. But this hype, or in some cases overhype, has caused some confusion within the marketing industry. Here are five AI myths outlined in the report, and the truths behind them. AI has actually been around for decades.

The benefits of AI products for business processes are apparent. The problem is getting to the stage where an organization is able to reap those benefits. That process can be more difficult, time-consuming and expensive than more traditional productivity app implementations. No topic is off limits in this expert guide devoted to Salesforce's much-hyped cloud-based BI platform. This email address is already registered.