Empowering intelligence with curiosity and conversation
As part of The Search Awards Programme we hear from Ravleen Beeston, UK Head of Sales at Bing Ads who talks about Empowering intelligence with curiosity and conversation.
Ravleen Beeston, UK Head of Sales at Bing Ads
Brands today are an enabler of experiences. Delivering engaging and personalised content requires data to sit at the heart of most meaningful interactions made by brands today. This is a great example of machines and humans thriving alongside each other.
Whilst many remain sceptical about the use of data and artificial intelligence, and believe a robot ‘take over’ is inevitable, it is time for brands to sit up and take note of the opportunity. AI is here for good, but it’s also here to do good.
Bing’s evolving proposition is useful for not only those searching, but also those looking to engage a captive audience through personalised experiences. For us, search goes beyond the ‘blue link’ results with nearly one in four searches on the Windows 10 taskbar now voice activated via Cortana, our personal assistant, which is powered by Bing’s search technology. This technology identifies the users traits and needs to become a truly anticipatory tool, answering questions to the answers we didn’t even know we wanted an answer to. ‘Who’ and ‘how’ questions are today’s fastest growing query type and will likely be made largely via voice search in the future, due to the intent revealed in the spoken word, which is key to the delivery of better results. This evolution is about taking the power of human language and applying it to technology, empowering us to achieve more.
The beauty of this relationship between technology and humans is that it feeds off something we do every day – communicate. This communication is a rich ecosystem for AI which can be used as a platform in which to apply intelligence to all technology. It has the ability to elevate our user experience beyond anything else we do online.
This marriage of humans and technology will be a driver of change in consumer behaviour. With the rapid growth of voice search, marketers now face the challenge of adjusting their marketing strategies to match this demand. By ensuring they make the most of the opportunities this new technology presents, brands have the ability to become intrinsically connected to the lives of their consumers.
At Microsoft, we are striving to ensure technology is used to preserve the values of the human race and use it in a way that protects and progresses society. Huge strides within this area are being made in search technology, with it’s ubiquitous nature, power and accuracy. AI complements both the creativity and emotion of humans and together they are more powerful than either is alone.
Bing Ads are a sponsor of The Drum Search Awards and more details can be found here www.thedrumsearchawards.com and on their website at www.bingads.microsoft.com