Build the systems, and then implement AI within them.
It sounds like a simple concept, and philosophically speaking, there’s no wrong way to use AI.
However, its power can be amplified considerably when it is guided, guarded, and pointed in a unified direction. The best way to do that is to leverage it within a system.
Imagine a business has centralized brand guidelines, a design system, or unique voice/content structural rules. Quite simple, and many businesses have this today.
Pre-AI, these systems enable design teams, web teams, content writers, and other experts to operate efficiently; components and templates could be reused, and if there is a grey area, there is a source of truth that can be referenced (and potentially built upon to solve future grey area problems).
These systems compound, and the result is a chain of many small actions, sometimes across multiple people, that are molded and refined at various steps to create an output that resides with someone else.
Today, establishing and adhering to these systems enable AI operators to operate in a bounded way which amplifies the vision and mission of the business, while still moving faster.
The major hurdle businesses face today is when people operate outside of these systems. Unrestrained AI usage not only works outside of these systems, but begins to create its own systems: what the brand should sound like, what the campaign should be, what the secondary color is.
One of the most powerful things a brand can do is present a unified front. Without careful consideration of this front, business’s own well-meaning employees are unknowingly chipping away at what makes it unique in the first place.