At The Crossroads: An Exercise In Cool

A while ago, I was at Home Depot to buy some under-cabinet lights. We wanted some that were motion-activated so they would light up in the morning when you went to get coffee, especially in the winter when it was still dark. The options that did not require electrical work (in other words, battery-operated) were limited. At the time, there were no rechargeable ones and only some that required adding and changing batteries.

Over time, the batteries would last only a month or so, and the design made it hard to remove, change batteries, and replace them. It was a pain in the butt and expensive to keep them going. Eventually, I just gave up trying to keep up with their limited battery life. I knew there had to be better options because I found some that we use in the bathroom, which are motion-activated and rechargeable, and work great.

I thought about going to the store again to see what was available, hoping to find USB rechargeable replacements. Then, while I was on Amazon, I searched for under-cabinet rechargeable lights, and there were dozens of options. Some have bright white light, while others have warm LEDs, and others cycle between both. Some are long, while others are round pucks. Some came in sets with remotes, and some let you change colors for kitchen mood lighting… (REALLY?).

I found a set that was only $17 and could be delivered by the next morning. I chose the warm light versions. They also included metal plates that made it simple to remove the magnetic lights and put them on the USB cords to recharge. I have to say that the new versions are better, simpler, and just plain cool!

New and Cool

I have to admit, there is a lot of cool coming at us every day. This includes almost every program I use (Asana, Grammarly, Nimble), social media (Facebook, LinkedIn), and even WordPress websites (Elementor Pro will generate text and images for you).

I occasionally get distracted from what I am doing and play with these tools, but then I find myself going down a rabbit hole that often becomes a waste of time, or at least an experiment or exercise in cool that does not generate the results I had in mind when I took the bait.

This is especially true when it comes to AI image generation. I start with a basic prompt and get some images, but when I don't get the results I want, I will try different prompts and keep trying until I get close.

I tried an exercise using Google Gemini. I prompted it to “Make me an image of a man at the crossroads of technology and time.” Above is the image that was produced. It was not even close to what I had in mind, but it took about 3 minutes to try a few versions.

Then, I went to Adobe Stock (photos) and used the same prompt to search, finding options that were closer to what I expected. (That image is below.) Honestly, there were so many different ideas and concepts that I didn't imagine that I would find a better way to express my point.

Of those two options, one was free, but not quite what I had in mind. I spent more time trying to prompt my way into success. The second was a search of existing images. It expanded my view of possibilities and was (I believe) more creative. It took less time, but it cost me $3 to license. That gives me a paper trail in case someone tries to claim copyright violations.

Striking a Human Balance

There is no doubt that AI can do amazing things. There is also no doubt that AI is changing, improving, and creating new opportunities for business. What is in doubt is that AI is going to become the most efficient and effective way to communicate.

AI scrapes the internet (including your own content) without paying royalties or use fees and synthesizes that into what it believes you are asking it to do. It also does so with varying results. More often than not, it is missing experience, emotion, and enthusiasm. It usually produces overly generic content, over the top, and overused marketing speak.

I had a client take what was initially written by a creative professional I hired and feed it into AI. It came out as generic, uninspiring, and had erased the relational and conversational tone of the original. It started out with the phrase “In a world…” which is (to me) the marketing equivalent of nails on a chalkboard.

That said, there are times I have used AI to create or improve content in small bites in ways that I could not find via stock media or just rephrased text in a more focused and concise way that really improved communication effectiveness.

I believe that AI can be a useful tool for improving our work, but I don't think it's ready to replace humans in creating relational-based communication and compelling content.

Closing Thought

I knew there was a better, cost-effective option for getting a cup of coffee in the dark. I believe there are valuable tools available in AI and communications. I realize I could find better AI tools if I looked hard enough, but that could become a full-time job.

Hundreds of AI tools are being created and released almost daily. I get 1-2 LinkedIn connection requests from people trying to get me on the phone to show me their new AI tool or platform. Even just playing with the new AI features in programs I already use and love can eat up minutes or hours in a day, with varying results.

One thing will remain the main thing: Can and will what you create (either with or without AI) get attention, create action, and bring relationships closer? Business is about people. People are as busy as you. Your content must be inviting, creative, and different than what most AI can currently create.

It still takes humans to imagine, create, and assemble pieces of AI-generated content to build interest, trust, and success. Just like my new under-cabinet lights, interest, trust, and success will have to be recharged from time to time, and it's going to take some human interaction to make that happen.

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Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.