What is the current status of Internet monitoring? What are the various practices employed by companies? Did Internet monitoring progress over the years? I wanted to understand how Internet monitoring evolved by interviewing my colleague Aurélien Blaha at Digimind‘s premises. In this interview, Aurélien has given me an account of the different periods from the early days of the Web and social media until today. It was quite a broad retrospect of the activities since the last year, when his Grenoble-based multinational celebrated its 20th anniversary. In conclusion, I would like to say one thing: Internet monitoring is good, but you have to learn to listen better to your customers. Here is a summary of my interview with Aurélien.
First period of Internet monitoring: 1998*-2008
At that time, we were not talking about the social Web, rather, it was the beginning of the Web itself. Shortly after its creation by Tim Berners Lee, the Web was very challenging for most businesses: finding relevant information where too little was available. This situation lasted for about a decade.
To take full advantage of Internet monitoring, brands must learn to remain open to the requests and opinions of their customers. For many companies, it’s certainly a more difficult exercise than it seems.
Deep Learning is a term that has been used many times in recent years since the rebirth of artificial intelligence. But what exactly is Deep Learning? How to dissociate Deep Learning from Machine Learning? And above all, what is the purpose of it? To find out, I asked Luc Julia, author of the recent best-selling book “Artificial Intelligence Doesn’t Exist” [in French only] to answer a few questions. For this interview, I did not want to return to the main theme of the book which is widely discussed in the press and blogs (I recommend the video hereafter). Instead, I have decided to take advantage of the competence and expertise of a veteran of AI in Silicon Valley to look at the positive side of things and narrow down the subject. This chronicle was prepared as part of the AI Paris 2019 symposium, of which Visionary Marketing was a media partner.
Deep Learning: what is it and what is it for?
Luc Julia “has lived in Silicon Valley for twenty years, is one of Siri’s fathers, the iPhone’s vocal assistant, worked at Apple, and then Samsung, where he is one of the few non-Koreans to hold a vice-presidency position”, French business newspaper “Les Echos” tells us. His professor was Jean-Gabriel Ganascia, author of the “Myth of Singularity” [in French only]. Jean-Gabriel is also acclaimed as a philosopher, in addition to his status as an expert of AI. Here, I wanted to focus on a rather mysterious subject, Deep Learning, which I asked Luc to define.
I stumbled upon a ground-breaking piece of research by emlyon about Voice User Interaction (aka VUI) which redefines the role a voice activation in applications design. Whereas it is flavour-of-the-month to claim that voice is going to replace other user interfaces and namely touch, Margherita Pagani’s AIM Centre of research for artificial intelligence in value creation proved that both types of interfaces have different implications with regard to the way that users interact with brands, engage with them, and feel about them.
VUI – Voice User Interfaces — as used in smart speakers, but not only — is often touted as a miracle cure to user interaction issues. However promising this technology might be, and it is, there are no miracles and touch-based interaction should not be overlooked.
As Margherita Pagani points out, there is a possibility that users are not feeling very comfortable with voice interaction right now, but things may evolve in the future. As always with innovation, and despite what people think, patience is a key ingredient.
I interviewed Margherita last week to know more about the research, which will soon be published by the Journal of interactive marketing, and of which I will give you a few glimpses in this piece.
The role of VUI in consumer interaction with brands
Voice interaction (VUI) and brand interaction with users
Emlyon’s centre of Artificial Intelligence is looking at how new technologies and artificial intelligence improve user interaction. We study how technology can create new experiences and their impacts on marketing outcomes. One of the research areas we focus on at the research centre is the role of VUI (voice user interface) and touch in the interaction with the end user.
In this study, we compared the roles of modes of sensory perception, voice and touch and the two combined together, when brands interact with users. What motivated us to pursue this research was that more and more companies are now looking at new technologies to develop improved experiences of their interaction with the user. Continue reading “VUI (Voice User Interface) role in apps redefined by emlyon study”→
I attended the AI keynote of French secretary of State for digital Cedric O at the opening of the AI Paris 2019 conference, of which Visionary Marketing is a media partner. Thus, I listened carefully to his presentation, which covered Europe and France, their strengths and weaknesses. In the end, it was also a very revealing moment with regard to the relationship between politics and technology and innovation, with a well-targeted question by the audience: “What is AI to you?”
What does AI mean to a Secretary of State for digital in Europe?
Cédric O was an advisor to French President Macron for 2 years. He has not only worked on digital technology, but also on the involvement of States in innovation; and one thing that impressed him during these two years at the Presidential “Elysee” Palace is the financial side of technology that makes China and the United States two unrivalled Powers in that space.
360° view of a 360° presentation by French Secretary of State for digital Cedric O on AI. Fine, but what kind of AI is Cédric O talking about?
Cedric O: “With AI, Europe could be wiped off the map“
The risk is high, the minister said, that Europe could “be wiped off the map.”
Talk about digital transformation around you and you’re bound to hear more or less the same thing: “It’s about change management!” well, as a matter of fact, it’s not.
It’s a very different kettle of fish. Here and at in another piece by my good friend Karima Goundiam I’m referring to at the end of this post, one will start to understand why transformation doesn’t equate to change and why it matters.
