Top Brands That Leverage UGC Advertising

It’s no secret anymore that to increase, authenticity, trust and lead generation, brands are leveraging the power of user-generated content and found content in their advertising campaigns. According to Adweek, “85% of the users are found to be more influenced by the UGC than the content made by the brands directly.” We’ve had the pleasure of working with some of these brands on more than one occasion. Here is a list of brands that have experienced the positives effects of UGC advertisements with great spots!

1. FORD

   1. Summer’s Hard

   2. 119 Years of Building, 2022

   3. The Vast & the Various, 2022

   4. Ford Ranger, Fully Prepared, 2023

2. UBER

   1. Uber Eats, Get Anything

   2. Earn Like a Boss, 2023

3. Apartments Dot Com

   1. How to Stay Cool Without AC, 2023

4. ESPN

   1. Ready for Football, 2019

   2. NCAA Semi Finals, 2020/2021

5. OREO

   1. Stay Home Stay Playful, 2020

   2. Stay Playful, 2021

   3. Play is Waiting, 2022

6. PEMCO

   1. Healer of the Hail Storm, 2019

   2. A Lot Can Go Wrong in a Second, 2020

   3. We Insure Ambition, 2022

   4. A Lot Can Happen in a Second, 2023

While there are so many more brands that harness the power of UGC, these brands have done so on more than one occasion. To name a few, Tide, Hefty, Microsoft XBOX, Prudential, Care First Health, Pringles, Ritz Crackers and Delta Airlines. There are too many to name but these top brands know what’s up. If you’re a brand looking to learn more about how to

Current State of Remote Work 2023: The Evolution of the Work from Home Model

“As of 2023, 12.7% of full-time employees work from home, while 28.2% work a hybrid model” …. It’s also estimates that, “by 2025, 32.6 million Americans will work remotely.” (Forbes). I think it’s safe to say that the pandemic changed the workforce as we know it but what do management teams think and where is it headed? Certain CEO’s like Bob Iger are announcing that employees are expected to return into office at least four days a week soon and Drum recently reported that companies who “put up with [remote work] for a long time are finally getting sick of it.” Although some report being more productive at home, the data that companies are getting is proving otherwise. Here are there reasonings:

1.     Remote work is hard for new hires: the onboarding experience seems to take hold better in person than virtual they say.

2.     People work less: everyone says that they work more but some data sets are showing otherwise. People tend to work 3.5 hours less per week when working from home. However, the remote workers argue that they have a better work-life balance and are more focused when at home. Quality of work is much higher.

3.     Productivity is very low on days when everyone works remotely: certain CEO’s believe that when their whole team is remote, they are less productive overall. While we can’t speak for an entire group of people, most are just the same if not more productive.

It seems that higher ups are trying to remove remote work from the equation but we think that their efforts won’t pan out. People say that if they aren’t offered the option of at least hybrid work they’ll find a job that will. If bosses want their employees back in the office full-time they’ll have to make a stronger argument. We just don’t think that the “data” they have is feasible enough to require full-time in office employment with all the remote work benefits. Not only is it mentally better for employees, it is better for our planet. We love our remote business structure at Locomotive and we won’t be changing it any time soon.

Benefits of Working in the Ad Industry

We absolutely love what we do! We would scream it to the rooftops if we could. Not only are we part of the advertising industry, we are a niche brand that focuses on user-generated content and found content campaigns, so we get to work with agencies and content creators. We know there are pitfalls in any industry, including the Advertising game, but since we aren’t your typical ad agency, we don’t have to deal with many of the talked about issues. Here are some of our favorite things about working in the industry!

1.     You get to be creative! This is our top reason to work in advertising. Yes, we get a creative brief from our clients but that doesn’t mean we don’t get to use our own creative juices at work. Finding, sourcing, and clearing content is a very creative process.

2.     It’s a social environment: we love being social. It’s a big part of who we are and how we feel energized. In advertising, there is constant collaboration with others on your team. For us, it’s also with outside advertising teams that we’re working alongside. Not only does that mean it is a very collaborative industry, you also learn and grow often from others.

3.     Consistent work/income: as an entrepreneur, this doesn’t come without a lot of hard work and discouraging moments. However, if you have a passion for what you do, put in the time for lead generation and do a stellar job on your projects that generate WOM marketing, the business will come your way!

4.     Networking: there are a multitude of events that promote networking in the ad industry. Whether it be just a simple webinar or Cannes, one of the largest advertising events in the world each year.

Don’t get us wrong, working in the ad industry requires a lot of grueling hours but it is also a very gratifying job at the end of the day. There can be high workloads and intense pressure to be creative on a deadline. But let’s not forget that pressure creates diamonds! Seeing content that we found and cleared in the final commercial is the biggest reward! With that being said, advertising is not for the faint of heart and it should really be considered when deciding on a career choice. But the diversity of the projects keeps careers interesting all the time. This style of work will require a lot of multitasking skills. We work hard and we play hard. Your hard work will be showcased publicly in the spotlight so it’s important to understand this as well as how the industry can be fast-paced and high-energy at times. We love keeping things interesting in our work life so it’s the job for us but will it be the job for you?

Plastic Free July 2023

1 million plastic bottles are purchased every minute (Tenstsile) and it’s estimated that 75-200 million tons of this plastic is currently floating around in the ocean (Recycle Track Systems). If you know us as a brand, you know that we’re passionate about the environment and doing our part to lower emissions to reduce climate change. That said, this month is plastic free July. We ask that you please join us the movement to set forward lifestyle changes that we can pass to future generations. You can start with something as simple as buying a reusable water bottle and coffee cup. If you want to get really into it, you can avoid using single use plastic bathroom supplies by making your own mouthwash. The choice is yours but here are some tips for you to get started for plastic free July.

1.     No more take away cups! Buy a reusable water and coffee cup

2.     Use bar soap for hand soap: this will reduce single use plastic vastly.

3.     DO NOT BUY BOTTLED WATER!!! a good option is Liquid Death canned water!

4.     Buy reusable shopping bags: most states have actually banned them now so we’re on the right track!

5.     Buy less and/or buy in bulk! Choose to buy larger quantities and use reusable bags to store the items if you can. Buying less can also reduce the amount of plastic pollution.

6.     Buy glass Tupperware containers: These can be found on amazon or even at your local Hobby Lobby now. Typically, the lids are made of bamboo

7.     REFUSE PLASTIC STRAWS! There’s really no reason to use a straw to begin with. We’re not children….

8.     Find a local refill store: there are plenty of refill stores that promote sustainability now. You take your own glass containers and they have an array of options for bathroom supplies, household cleaners, etc.

9.     Stop using balloons and plastic decorations: yes, they’re cute but they’re terrible for the environment. Use sustainable decorations.

10.  Ladies, buy reusable sanitary items: there are plenty alternative to tampons and pads now, such as cups, etc.

It seems overwhelming at first when you start trying to live a plastic free life. However, once you start, you realize that it isn’t as difficult as you thought. We can attest to this. We frequent our local refill store for cleaning supplies, shampoo, conditioner, laundry powder, and dishwasher pods. At this point, we even make our own mouthwash! We understand that it’s not totally feasible to be completely plastic free 100% of the time but it’s just important to do your best as much as you can. When you can’t, make sure to recycle the plastic items you had to purchase. Good luck! We hope this helps you start your plastic free journey!

The Horn Effect

We wrote an article recently on the halo effect and touched briefly on its ugly sibling, the horn effect. But, we didn’t’ dive too deep into the topic so we wanted to circle back here today and chat about it a little. The human brain is such an amazing organ. It categorizes through the lenses of our experiences, creating cognitive bias. The horn effect occurs when we have a negative first impression of something and let it affect how we see every everything about that thing. We tend to see this bias come up a lot in the hiring process, unfortunately. We’ve all heard how important it is to make a good first impression. This is one reason why. When the horn effect takes hold of our judgement, we tend to underplay good traits and a negative impression is much stronger than a positive one. Understanding the halo and horn effects can help prevent strong cognitive biases in the workplace. If we begin to understand how they work we can see them and begin to break them down.

Supporting Content Creators

“44% of content creators say their creator business is their family’s primary source of income,” according to The Tilt, but only “12% of those full-time creators make more than $50K in annual income” (Linktree). If you do the math here that’s not a whole lot of rich and famous for these people. Well, maybe a little bit of famous, minus the rich. Depending on where you live, $50,000 isn’t a whole lot for one person to make annually, especially if they have families to support. We’ve been working with content creators for almost a decade now and we truly love supporting them. They’re the best kind of client we work with. Usually they’re just normal people with no frills attached. They easy to communicate with and grateful to license their content to us for our campaigns. Thus far, we’ve paid out over $1,500,000 to content creators since Locomotive Contents formation. Here are some ways that you can support some of your favorite content creators or even friends who may be part of the creator economy.

1.     Amplify their voices: share their social media posts. Talk about them to friends who might be interested in what they offer. This one is the most important. It’s more important to share content from creators who are closer to us than those that we don’t even know. Help them expand their brand through engagement.

2.     Buy their stuff: this can be through using their discount codes for certain brands they are affiliated with or just buying something they sell through their website. If they have merch, buy that. if they sell a service, try it out.

3.     Write them a review: word of mouth is great, but we all know that people really do read reviews. If they write blogs shoot them a comment of feedback.

These creators put a lot of time and hard work into their craft, whatever that niche may be. It’s important to support them and help them grow their brands just like any other business. For many, this is a full-time gig. They’re very different from influencers in more ways than we can count. Join us in supporting the creator economy around the world!

Skills for Success in Advertising

Advertising is a very creative field and if you have a passion for what you do, everything you create will embody this. It’s a very social driven field as well, especially since we specialize in user-generated content. As in any business there are specific traits that will lead to success. Here are our top 5.

1.     Social media savvy: any brand should be good at social media nowadays. With advertising though it’s very important to keep up with trends, post and track your ad campaigns just to name a few reasons why this will be important to success. For us, it’s important to sourcing our content from people.

2.     Creativity: Duh but we have to put it. Chances are that if you’re in advertising you’re probably already creative. The ad industry will allow you to really hone in on your creative strengths.

3.     Collaboration: brainstorming will be important in creating good ads. You have to be able to work well with others. Listening actively and implementing ideas is key but also taking constructive criticisms.

4.     Computer skill: two words for you… digital media. Photoshop and Illustrator are very important to know how to use. You will definitely spend a lot of time on your computer so having skill in this area will make your day to day much smoother.

5.     Research skill: important for case studies, competitor, etc. If you have these skills then it makes the R&D phase streamlined

Creativity ultimately drives good advertising but there are a number of things that go into making a successful business in advertising. Our niche is UGC, so it requires a lot of research and social media skills. Traditional ad agencies require a lot of backend and include the production side of things too. No matter what part of the ad industry you’re in, one thing is for sure, it is constantly changing and evolving. Being adaptable in this industry will make your brand a huge success!

Creating a Marketing Strategy That Stands Out

We all know how to create a marketing strategy but with every brand out there doing the same things, how do you make your marketing stand out from all the rest? With advertising overload, it is very important to make your brand stand out. Every brand will start out with the same with usual 7 step guide to create their marketing strategy: 1. Build a marketing plan. 2. Create buyer personas. 3. Identify goals. 4. Select the right tools. 5. Review media. 6. Audit and plan. 7. Create it. Great! Now, you’ve got that same start as every other company out there. So now, let’s talk about some extra things that will help give you that extra push to be different in a sea of similarities.

1.     Mobile Friendly Everything! We’re all on the go a lot nowadays and that means looking at things from our phone most of the time. Your sites must be mobile friendly. If I can’t read it from my phone, I don’t want to read it. Period!

2.     Be Unexpected: put your ads somewhere exciting and new. Think outside of the box. Where do your potential customers hang out?

3.     Hook Em’ & Reel Em’ In: we all know that people have short attention spans. You have to hook the audience in immediately and keep them interested if you want your campaigns to succeed. You can get as creative as you want here. Use UGC, interactive ads, etc. Make your campaigns so temping that someone stops what they are doing just to see what it’s all about!

4.     Flaunt Your Differences: we push everyone to celebrate their difference outside the workplace, so doing this for your brand should be no different. What makes your brand stand out from the rest? Be proud of this and show it off. Why are you the best? Be confident but not cocky. You want your message to be seen as genuine but nobody likes vanity.

5.     Be an Innovator: know what’s happening at the forefront of your respective field. What’s the newest topic that everyone is buzzing about. For example, since we’re in the business of social media to grab good user-generated content, we focus on trending challenges and the like. This helps us stay ahead in our niche about what’s going on in the social world.  

6.     Lead with Creative: leading with overly data driven insights will kill your campaign. People tend to, “prioritize the experience of buying and using a product over the performance of the product itself” (McKinsey & Co.) Focusing on the creative aspects of your marketing campaign will, in turn, lead to good metrics down the line.

7.     Ask Experts: don’t be afraid to ask for help! Ever! Have brainstorming sessions with experts in your company or from outside sources. Find out who has the most knowledge of the product, concept, theme, etc. for your new marketing strategy. Ask: What are the challenges I need to solve? What are 1-3 benefits of the product/service? Any special things to consider when creating the campaign?

8.     Use Emotions: UGC really comes in handy here! When you elicit an emotional response from the audience they are compelled to like and share it, which in turn will increase your engagement. It also humanizes your brand.

9.     Personalization: your audience should come first always. Use their first name in marketing emails, etc. Make sure that they feel seen as a person and that they’re not just another number on your papers.

Lastly, you will want to test and use data to always improve on your campaigns. We say create with the message in mind but always follow the data afterward. If something isn’t working be ready to pivot at any given moment in order to reach the right people in the right ways! It takes a village to create an amazing marketing campaign so be open to new ideas from the team and most importantly, have fun!

Increasing Brand Advocacy

We all know that word of mouth marketing is the best type of marketing. So, how does a brand increase its brand advocacy among its loyal audience? Well, it all starts with making sure that your audience and employees are happy. People who enjoy working for you will speak highly about your brand. The same goes for your audience. They can do so through reviews, word of mouth, social media, blogs, etc. UGC is a BIG component here and it’s what we specialize in. Organic brand advocacy is unparalleled. It has a farther reach and it is trusted far more. There are a couple of other things that your brand can do to increase its brand advocacy.

1.     First, you have to identify the specific reasons what people love about your brand. Find customers who love you and through who is engaging and see what it is that they love.

2.     Focus on relationships. Fostering the relationships that you already have through personalization and great customer service is a start. Give more and ask less.

3.     Be an inspiration of authenticity! People want to see that brands are humanized. Showcase your employees. Use UGC in your ad campaigns. Most importantly, walk your talk. If your brand stands for something, stick to it.

4.      Be grateful. Be approachable. Show your customer appreciation publicly and make sure that you feel approachable on social media and other forms of digital spaces.

5.     Reward those that advocate for you. We love a good loyalty member program but it’s also important to give rewards for those who advocate for you on a deeper level. Offer a referral program

The biggest point here is putting your audience first and when you do make sure that it is authentic. People see straight through bs. Cultivating a rapport where there is a two-way communication humanizes your brand. Increase your brands audience through using the one you already have. It’s genius really. Just foster the relationships that are already to create new ones down the line.  

Let’s Get Visual: Importance of Visual Hierarchy in Advertising

“It’s a visual world, and people respond to visuals.”

-Joe Sacco

The eyes are the window into the soul! But, how do you reach your audience on a deep level through visual mastery? Well, you can achieve this through using the selective arrangements of particular visual elements in a specific order of their importance. This is otherwise known as visual hierarchy. Elements are laid out logically and strategically to guide the viewer through their visual journey. Users tend to act very quickly to decide whether or not they want to stay and read or watch something or not. Their eyes will follow predictable reading paths that are culturally influenced. For example, westerners read left to right whereas Asian cultures will not. These patterns can be followed or broken in order to bring the reader’s attention to certain points on advertisements. You will want to put the most visual things first to make it stand out so they won't miss it. Here are the particular components that can be manipulated to grab the user’s attention:

·      Size: users will notice larger elements faster

·      Textures and styles: rich textures stand out over flat

·      Color & contrast: this will draw the eyes toward something  

·      Alignments: this helps create focal points

·      White spaces: helps create emphasis

·      Proximity & repetition: creates unification

There are a couple of questions when creating your ads to find out where you want your visuals to go, such as: what do you want to draw attention to? What actions do you want users to take? What do the eyes naturally land on? Poor visual hierarchy will confuse the reader and then you’ve already lost them in the first few seconds. The right visual path will get your viewers interested at the get go and keep them engaged to stay. The importance of this in advertising could not be stressed enough. The intent must match the execution.

Corporate Cannibalization

Hello Clarice…. Wait wrong type of cannibalism. Well, now that we have your attention let’s talk about the cannibalization effect in marketing. What is it? How does it work? Cannibalization is a loss in sales that is caused by an intro of a new product that in turn, displaces older ones. This can be done by one’s own company or a competitor. There are a few types of cannibalization: planned, through discounts, and through e-commerce.

1.     Planned: a company offers a new product to replace an old one. Think of when Apple rolls out a new model. This sometimes converts new customers from other brands

2.     Discounts: happens when a brand offers discounts frequently and buyers begin to expect it. They move toward buying only products that are discounted and thus, the full price items cannibalize

3.     E-commerce: happens when a brand puts more emphasis on online sales than brick and mortar.

Most times, cannibalization of a brand’s own products is unintentional but sometimes it isn’t. It can be used as a strategic marketing play. A few benefits are reviving old product lines and bargain alternatives can prevent your competitors from undercutting your brand. That being said, there are some risks to self-cannibalization. It could dilute your value and create market saturation. Cannibalization is unavoidable eventually but can also be used as a marketing tactic to push certain products/services. Bon appetite.

Native Advertising

How do you know a native ad when you see one? There are a couple of tell-tale signs, such as a small icon in the top right corner, it’s marked as “suggested post,” or recommended for you.  Native ads are paid advertisements that fit “natively” on the web page you’re on. They don’t look like traditional ads and typically don’t disrupt the user’s interaction on the page. They can also be in feed, search and promoted listing as well as content recommendations. There are some good benefits to using native ads instead of traditional.

Pros:

·      Resonates without being intrusive

·      Optimize targeting capabilities

·      Captures audience’s attention

·      They perform better: 5-10x higher CTR (Outbrain & CMI)

·      High credibility

Native advertising can help build trust and drive more traffic to your website while fighting ad fatigue. Native ads increase purchase intent by 18%, according to Outbrain. However, that all being said, there are some cons to native ads. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows.

Cons:

·      Hard to measure metrics

·      Carries and element of deception if done improperly

·      It’s labor intensive and time consuming

Digital spaces are a great place to find new audiences and reach the ones you may already have. Native advertising works great because they fit with the content that users are already interested in. This means that it is highly likely that they will be interested in reading about your product/service when they see the ad on the page. It’s a more organic interaction that takes place where they won’t feel like they’re being sold something. They’ll be more apt to engage if it doesn’t feel like a sale.

The Halo Effect

Immigrant Heritage Month

America is built on the backs of our forefathers, most of which immigrated from other countries in search of a better way of living. Here at Locomotive, we are no different either. Our grandparents were from Italy and Ireland. This month is a time to celebrate Immigrant Heritage. Here is a quote from the White House this month on the subject.

      “America is more than a place; it is an idea.  It is the idea that everyone is created equal and deserves to be treated equally throughout their lives and that everyone should have a fair shot and an equal chance to get ahead.  That is what has drawn people to our shores for centuries.  It is what makes us who we are.  And that very idea of America has been advanced by immigrants from every part of the world — my ancestors and yours.  Their dreams-built America, and during National Immigrant Heritage Month, we celebrate their courage.”

-President of the United States.

Here are some ways that you can help support our Immigrant Heritage:

1.     Support immigrant communities: stand up to discrimination and/or volunteer

2.     Challenge stereotypes: share stories that counter negative stereotypes

3.     Educate yourself: know the reasons behind immigrations and the contributions of immigrant populations to our society

4.     Use your voice: use social media platforms to voice positive messages to tear down barriers that create anti-immigration rhetoric

However you decide to support this Immigrant Heritage Month, remember that it a celebration of all that our country is built upon. Without our immigrant ancestors our country would not be what it is today. Without those immigrants joining our country today, it will not be where it is headed tomorrow. Let us join forces to become the best version our country that we can be! 

Earned Media

Who doesn’t love free publicity? That’s exactly what earned media is. Coverage for your brand through organic means. It can be though reviews, media coverage, mentions, social shares, etc. As nice as it is to get that free shout out, it is also the most difficult to achieve. Let’s think about a consumer review. We all use them. What’s the first thing that most people do after they read a review somewhere? The answer is that they visit the website of that business and on average they will read roughly 10 before they go the site, according to Local Consumer Review Survey, 2020. We can’t stress the importance of getting positive earned media, whether it be through a Google review, an Instagram share, or media coverage. Here are a few tips to ensure that you will get a rave recommendation through earned reviews no matter where it comes from.

1.     Create interesting & engaging content: if people resonate with your content they will feel compelled to share it.

2.     Create good media relationships: it’s always nice to have a few media friends. Make sure to nourish those relationships through equal benefit.

3.     Make your audience happy: good customer service for the win always

4.     Use all your channels: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Make sure that you’re always posting, engaging and consistent with your voice on all your channels.

5.     Authenticate your expertise: you can do this through writing articles, social media as well as client testimonials.

You have to “earn” your earned media. Nothing is truly free and free publicity is no different. You will have to strive to create a brand name that is reputable and stands the test of time over and over again. Once you do this though, you can reap the rewards of word of mouth marketing and possibly earned media.

Marketing Mix Modeling

The purpose of marketing mix modeling is to understand how various marketing inputs are driving the business metrics of a product or service. A simple way to put this is what is working and what’s not? Otherwise known as MMM, it will determine how each marketing input is contributing to a sale. In turn, you will determine how much to spend on each aspect. There are incremental drivers and base drivers that promote marketing techniques.

1. Incremental: generated by marketing activities like TV, print ads, digital spends, discounts, social, etc.

   1. ATL (above the line) marketing: non-targeted with a wide reach

   2. BTL (below the line) marketing: specific, direct ads on targeted audience

   3. TTL (through the line) marketing: mix of both

   4. Competition

   5. Halo effect

   6. Cannibalization effect

**more on these last two in future articles**

1. Base drivers: reached without any ads. Equity over years being the driving factor

   1. Price

   2. Distribution

   3. Seasonality

   4. Macro-econ variables

There are a few reasons to implement MMM, some of which we mentioned already,

1. Efficient spending

2. Efficient execution of campaigns

3. Scenario tests

You can really go down the mix marketing rabbit hole online. There is a vast amount of knowledge out there on the topic that includes words like regression analysis and mathematical equations. We only wanted to touch the surface of the MMM waters in order to hopefully inform someone who didn’t know about it. Now it’s your turn to dive in.

Attention Economy

Did you know that, according to Forbes, we are exposed to an average of 6-10 thousand pieces of advertising per day? That is a lot of information and actually our brains only have a scarce number of things that it can take in with attention. This means that as advertisers, we must stand out from a sea of others in order to reach our audiences. Attention economy was coined in the late 60’s by a guy named Herbert Simon. It’s defined as, “a state in which cognitive resources are focused on certain aspects of the environment rather than on others,” according to the American Psychological Association. With attention there is always an exchange. You focus on one thing to ignore another right? Recent technology is making infinite amounts of information available to us and making our attention that much harder to obtain. So, how do brands go about getting the attention of their audience in this sea of information? Well, data collection in order to personalize is a start. One way to avoid data collection is contextual advertising that will place ads in places where your audience already will be. This avoids any mistrust from your audience as well. We’ve written articles on increasing memorability of ads through creativity and this is another way to stand out from the crowd. UGC and found content can also enhance your ads attention grabbing content while creating trust. Trust is going to be key here for getting and keeping your customers long-term in the digital world. People don’t want their data sold to the highest bidder. Resonating with your customers and respecting their privacy simultaneously is the way of the cookieless future!

AI Bias

“100% of organizations will be using AI by 2025,” Forrester estimates. One of the benefits of AI is that it can hopefully contain less bias than humans and none at all if programmed correctly. However, it will depend on who programs the machine learning. Humans are the ones who choose what data that the algorithms use and how the results are applied. It will require many tests from many different individuals in order to avoid unconscious biases. But what are some proper steps that programmers can take to avoid these biases? First, educate all staff on responsible AI. Second, let your audience know what you’re doing and be transparent with how your AI algorithms work to make predictions. Lastly, have a team on deck to do damage control if your audience feels that they have been unjustly treated due to AI bias. Here are some other ways to prevent AI bias:

1.     Use synthetic data sets: the data from the real world can be very bias. This helps prevent that issue through using statistically representative versions of real sets.

2.     Test and test and test: make sure to test models before and after. As we said above, the more eyes on these tests the better.

3.     Create an industry standard for AI: have regulations and rules to creating AI algorithms. We think that some point in the near future there will be legislation implemented across the U.S. in order to keep AI in check. Until then, create a standard within your company that prevents AI bias as much as possible.

AI has some impressive potential, such as helping diagnose breast cancer & other diseases earlier. It will also help in processing loan application in banking, chatbots for any website, it will be utilized in real estate to analyze markets, property prices etc., and this list could go on forever. That being said though, it will be extremely important to prevent AI biases in algorithms because there are serious implications if not. It has the potential to harm people through deepening systemic racism, sexism, etc. Some are promoting socio-technical solutions that take into consideration social impacts of bias as well as technical. Since bias can harm humans, such as affecting whether they get a home loan or acceptance into a school, it’s important to program in the societal and systemic impacts that biases can have. We couldn’t agree more with this strategy. Although we still have a long road ahead of us, we’re confident that our country will do its best to regulate AI in the coming years.  

Gun Violence Awareness Month 2023

It’s no secret that gun violence is at an all-time high in the United States. “Every day more than 300 people are impacted by gun violence in the U.S.,” (Brady Campaign). It’s a little crazy to us how divided this country is over gun laws when we’ve seen so much devastation as a result of the lack of restrictions nationwide. We are firm believers that individuals should have the right to bear arms but in today’s society there should be strict laws that prevent the wrong weapons from going into the wrong hands. That being said, that’s an article for another time. The purpose of today’s article is to bring awareness to the ways that one can act to help end gun violence during the month of June.

1.     Support gun violence prevention events near you

2.     Make sure your guns and others closest to you keep them locked up in the home

3.     Join a movement

4.     Act to restrict/ban AR-15 style weapons

5.     Wear orange

6.     Share information on social media channels

Here are some shocking statistics to get you thinking (NY State Division of Criminal Justice):

·      Every day more than 100 Americans are shot and killed in the U.S.

·      Access to a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it 5x more likely that the woman be killed

·      Access to a gun triples the risk of death by suicide

No matter what your stance is on gun law, it’s obvious that America needs to take some action in order to prevent more gun violence because the momentum hasn’t slowed down. If anything, it’s gotten worse over the past decade. When others travelling from other countries come here there is now a travel advisory warning them of possible gun violence. That speaks volumes to where we are with this situation in our country. It’s unique to our country alone. It’s sad and hopefully in the coming years the issues will be resolved.

AI Ethics

Artificial intelligence has been a hot button topic for a while now. We’ve written a few articles on it and where we think it’s going. We can tell you that our inboxes are flooded with blogs and news on the topic every day to the point it’s getting a little annoying. That being said, we don’t think AI is going anywhere. In fact, it’s probably just getting started. While we hope it doesn’t take jobs and is used as an added tool in the arsenal for employees, we can’t say for sure how it will pan out. One area of interest when discussing AI is the ethics. As humans, we have cognitive bias from our life experiences, whether we realize them or not. We’d like to think that because AI is machine learning it does not have those biases and that’s what makes it more efficient. However, we must remember that humans program the machine and therefore, must follow certain rules and regulations in order to not infringe upon human rights & civil liberties. The academic community has come up with The Belmont Report as a guide for algorithmic development & experiment.

1.     Respect for persons: this focuses on consent and autonomy of individuals to protect them.

2.     Beneficence: similar to healthcare ethics “do no harm” in order to keep AI algorithms from amplifying biases from race, gender, etc.

3.     Justice: fairness and equality of who reaps the benefits of machine learning.

a.     Equal share

b.     Individual need

c.     Individual effort

d.     Societal contribution

e.     Merit

There are a few hot issues with AI ethics for now. They include:

1.     Impact on jobs: we touched on this above but it happens every time some new tech comes out that will vastly change our lives. We think that roles will shift but not be taken over. There will need to be people who oversee the AI and all the duties it performs. Therefore, one job may turn into another but not disappear altogether.

2.     Bias & discrimination: this has happened in the past with AI when training data leads to biases. It’s important, as we stated above, to program the system to be unbiased and not discriminatory. Although difficult, crucial and may take years to refine.

3.     Privacy: this is an issue now as it is with the digital world we live in and 3rd party cookies. States are coming up with new laws to protect user data but how will AI deal with personal data? Most users don’t even know that their data is being used to make decisions that may affect them. The answer has yet to be seen.

4.     Accountability: there aren’t any legislations yet to control AI practices since it’s so new. This is why ethical guidelines have been created but there needs to be some sort of repercussions for unethical uses. We see this coming into play in the coming years as AI advances.

5.     Singularity: think Class of 09’ on Hulu. The scary thought that AI will surpass humans and develop its own thoughts and ideas.

Ethical issues can create problems for businesses, such as legal issues, brand damage, product failures and, in turn, loss of revenue. Understanding AI will be important for everyone in the near future if not already. AI ethics are being taught in some high schools and middle schools for the next generations in order to keep it in check.  No brand wants to be the one that accidentally puts out machine learning that is discriminatory or get sued for copyright infringements. In the next few years it will be a balancing act to create the best practices and laws as artificial intelligence grows at a rapid rate.