In today’s digital landscape, AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s everywhere. Brands frequently find themselves at a crossroads when it comes to ad targeting and content creation: do they embrace AI, reluctantly accept it, or avoid it? The article originally provocatively titled “Will you snog, marry, or avoid AI?” zeroes in on this dilemma—arguing that there’s no avoiding AI’s appetite for data. When we talk about online content, companies have “little choice but to allow AI scraping robots access to their media – text, images, video.”
🤝 Love: A Fleeting Flirtation with AI
- What it looks like: AI tools on a limited scale without complete integration, such as automatically generated social media posts.
- Why it’s appealing: Its low cost, quick turnaround, and ease of experimenting make it popular.
- However, watch out: This may result in a fragmented brand tone and superficial use of the technology.
Key takeaway: Small test cases are fine, but without strategy, your AI flirt becomes meaningless.
💍 Marry: Full AI Commitment
- What it involves: Deeply integrating AI throughout operations, including chatbots, predictive analytics, personalized customer journeys, and automated content creation.
- The upside: Benefits include scalability, data-driven customisation, and significant efficiency gains.
- The challenge: There is a possibility of bias, unethical behavior, and deterioration of the brand voice in the absence of clear boundaries.
Key takeaway: Marriage means responsibility—invest in governance, brand alignment, and human oversight.
🚫 Run away: Trying to Keep AI at Arm’s Length
Manifestation: Blocking AI indexing, avoiding AI-created content, manual control over everything.
Short-term draw: Brand purity and privacy control.
Long-term disadvantage: Missed efficiencies, decreased discoverability, and falling behind.
Key takeaway: Avoidance could result in obsolescence in a world where artificial intelligence is expected.
🧭 The Article’s Core Argument
The original article highlights that, whether you like it or not, AI scrapers can already access any anything that is online, including text, photos, and videos. The actual queries are:
- How do you optimize that access?
- What safeguards and controls do you incorporate?
- Where can you actually improve your marketing efforts with strategic AI adoption?
✅ Recommendations — A Balanced AI Strategy
| Stage | What to Do | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluate | Examine the technologies that are currently in use and the content that is being scraped by AI. | What you cannot see, you cannot control. |
| Plan | Select goal-aligned pilot AI technologies (e.g. chatbot, predictive email). | Strategic pilots build proof without spending a lot of money. |
| Govern | Set ethics guidelines, approval workflows, and transparency. | AI can scale problems quickly—guardrails are essential. |
| Iterate | Use data to test what works—tone, timing, format. Optimize. | Continuous improvement turns AI into an asset. |
Final Remarks
The “Love, marry, or run” metaphor isn’t just catchy—it’s a mirror. It encourages marketers to ask themselves an important question: Do you view AI as a casual fling, a lifelong partner, or taboo?