Shawn Cheng, founder and lead strategist of Curious Bear Management, believes the jury is still out on whether AI has peaked in usefulness for meetings-related tasks.
"It's too early to tell," Cheng said. "We're really just in some way taking a break."
Cheng is an experienced events industry professional who has worked with many emerging technologies. He experiments with AI tools like ChatGPT and advocates for improving the relationship between event planners and tech providers.
Cheng's skepticism towards AI's current capabilities stems from his work with the "#EventprofsBreakShit" initiative, which he has been involved with for the past four years. The project aims to create a transparent testing environment for event technology, allowing planners to provide honest feedback to vendors.
First Impressions Can Be Deceiving
Cheng was initially impressed by the accuracy and speed of AI-generated content, which led many, including him, to quickly adopt and implement the technology.
However, the more Cheng has used AI, the more limitations he has encountered. This prompted Cheng and others in the industry to reevaluate their use of AI. Cheng sees this as a necessary transition to understand the technology's capabilities and limitations.
He has become more cautious in his approach over the past year.
Cheng noted that AI-generated content can lack substance and a unique voice, especially in the creative industry. He also pointed to emerging challenges about copyright and intellectual property.
Despite concerns, Cheng believes there are promising applications in the meetings industry. He sees the technology's current state as transitional, with users reevaluating its capabilities and limitations. Cheng believes this pause is a healthy step in its evolution.
AI Capabilities Managed by Expert Human Guides
Cheng envisions a future where AI experts work with organizations to help implement the technology effectively. These experts – on staff or external – should have a deeper understanding of the technology, its capabilities, and its limitations.
The AI expert would help the organization, including event planners, understand how to leverage the technology. This can take the shape of creating compelling content or graphics for specific platforms or use cases.
Cheng suggests that organizations would be better equipped to address concerns about privacy, copyright, and other emerging AI-related issues with an AI expert guiding the implementation.
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