When you speak with colleagues, friends or family, how often do your views on what AI is and what it can truly do align? For decades, AI has occupied our imagination. The reality of AI today is remarkable, but it looks very different to what science fiction would’ve led us to believe.

Now a firm fixture in everyday life, using AI feels as routine as making a cup of coffee. It powers smartphone features, shapes personalised streaming recommendations and acts as a search companion for recipes, DIY projects or even new homes.

Introducing reAImagine – The Media People’s AI Summit

This January, we welcomed clients to our new Leeds office for a two-day AI summit. Together we explored what AI is, how clients currently use it in their workflow, and how we can apply it responsibly across our industry in the future.

AI is the future – What does that mean for marketers?

For better or worse, AI already sits firmly within your life and the lives of your customers, and it continues to evolve at speed. Keeping up with AI developments is one challenge. Deciding where your business stands on its functionality and monitoring appropriate use within your organisation is the other.

AI myth-busting

One AI fits all

We often speak about AI as a single entity, but it’s an umbrella term for a broad ecosystem of different technologies with distinct functions. The AI tools most of us use day to day are large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini. Increasingly, customers are using these platforms as search engines, and businesses are relying on them as workplace tools, placing them at the centre of day one discussions.

Discussion points:

Q: ‘When you hear the word “AI,” what comes to mind first?’

We explored the question everyone asks: what can AI actually do? Here’s what emerged from the discussion.

AI possibilities

• The time-saving tool
  In fast-moving industries, productivity drives progress. AI removes many repetitive or time-consuming tasks, freeing people to focus on work that delivers meaningful outcomes.
• A creative bounce board
  When our creatives face a blank page, AI can offer a valuable back-and-forth to get the ideas flowing.
• Your speediest research assistant
  LLMs can find and summarise the existing literature around a topic much quicker than a manual search. They can also automate repetitive tasks like citation, so all that’s left to do is review.
• Data processing and analysis guru
  Data analysis is one of AI’s strongest capabilities, delivering useful insights almost instantly.
• Quick drafts and edits
  If you struggle to self-edit, structure your writing or summarise your thoughts, AI is great for producing your first draft or round of edits.

AI limitations

• AI can’t replace human creativity
  AI reorganises and recombines existing information well. However, it can’t create truly original perspectives, draw on lived experience, or explore emotional nuance. Genuine creativity and powerful ideas still come from people.
• AI needs human input
  AI still requires human instructions to provide an output. The quality of its output depends heavily on the quality of the prompt.
• AI output requires human quality assurance
  AI can make mistakes. Human scrutiny and critical thinking remain essential to prevent inaccuracies, poor-quality output or a loss of depth in the work we produce.