Artificial intelligence is something that we have yet to see in the world of digital advertising. While big data sets the fundamental stages for it, Google may be the factor in AI becoming a part of our lives through search and advertising. This evolution starts with their recent acquisition of a company in the U.K. that has the capability of using artificial intelligence on a basis close to the vision of a HAL 9000.

How will artificial intelligence help companies that want to have a smarter way of targeting customers? Before it begins, it’s going to help Google first as part of their usual plan of spreading the wealth.

Google and DeepMind

DeepMind is the U.K. company that Google decided to acquire based on the former’s artificial intelligence technology that’s yet to be deployed in anything useful. The idea is to eventually employ it into Google’s search engines so search can become much more intuitive and help us find things before we even know we want it.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because big data is already doing that to some extent. Even though it takes what’s already known and assembles it into a bigger picture, it’s not really good at being intuitive. Artificial intelligence as it stands now comes closer to a real brain and not only figures out what we want, it also goes figures out variables that makes it feel like it’s reading our minds.

While that might sound eerie, it works based on a new concept of artificial intelligence DeepMind reportedly uses. It combines data that’s already known with unknowns so it’s literally forced into thinking for itself and coming up with its own conclusions. Yes, you could say it’s a forced free will in some respects.

This may pose its own problems once AI becomes like we’ve seen in futuristic sci-fi movies. In the immediate term, it’s something that advertisers could potentially salivate over. This same AI technology can easily be applied to shopping experiences online that are unlike anything seen before.

Artificial Intelligence and the Google Factor in Providing Smarter Advertising
Artificial Intelligence and the Google Factor in Providing Smarter Advertising

Will Google Become a Shopping Leader?

According to the report on the acquisition of DeepMind, it’s possible Google will employ the technology into their Google Shopping pages. In another year or two, it means you may be seeing products that are perfect for your lifestyle and more accurate than big data ever accomplished.

How many times have you seen products accumulated from big data that were just slightly off from what you really wanted? Artificial intelligence will give the impression it’s reading your mind as part of that intuitive targeting method. Shopping for the holidays may already be done based on the more intelligent portrait of what you really want or need.

In targeted advertising, this could be a compelling shift in persuading people to take action on something. If we thought it still seemed too automated with big data, AI will personalize it to a tee and come up with nuanced variables that push emotional buttons.

This may be all available from Google very soon, which means the progression into talking with a super intelligent Siri is around the corner. We’ll just hope she has the common sense to warn you about maxing out your credit card when buying the hyper accurate recommendations from Amazon.com.