🤦🏻♂️ 3 epic AI messaging fails

Originally published in the weekly AI for Admins newsletter. Subscribe for free.

Messaging matters.

I was a journalism major in college and a newspaper reporter/editor briefly before changing careers to education.

I’m always paying attention to the way we communicate ideas.

AI is rolling out. Big corporations are trying to figure out how to talk to us about it.

Some are getting the tone right. (Example: I believe Microsoft does a nice job showing the role of AI in its productivity ad and its everyday AI companion ad.)

Others? They just don’t get it. At all.

They may be good at developing products. But talking to us about the products — and envisioning how they might impact our lives?

Poor.

Poor, poor, poor. I’m disappointed.

This is a moment — an opportunity! — to cast a vision on how this looks when it’s done right. “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

And some of the very biggest companies are missing the mark.

This is important to us as education leaders. It’s our job, too, to communicate the vision — the “why” — to our teachers, students, and community.

If we want to make a great first impression, let’s learn from the mistakes of these ad campaign blunders.

It’ll also help us better understand the role of AI in our work and personal lives.

1. Google’s “Dear Sydney” ad

The ad (YouTube): A young girl loves running and looks up to Olympian Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Her father uses Google Gemini to help the daughter write a letter to Sydney to tell her how inspiring she is.

Why it fails: They use AI to replace the daughter’s humanity. “Gemini: help my daughter write a letter telling Sydney how inspiring she is.”

• This could have been a beautiful moment between father and daughter … but Google frames it akin to a business executive who asks his assistant to buy a birthday gift for his kid.
• The Gemini response on screen: “Here’s a draft.” It’s already perpetuating that misconception that AI is just a way to do the thinking for us.
• The dad says: “… I’m pretty good with words, but this has to be just right.” It implies that the daughter is going to screw it up if she does it herself.

How it could have been better: Gemini could have been a thought partner. The girl could have said, “I don’t know what to say” or “I don’t know how to start.” Gemini could have helped them come up with ideas to get them going — much like students do when using AI as a writing assistant.

Lesson for education leaders: Consider what our humanity brings to the table — and fight to preserve it.

2. Apple’s “Email summary” ad

The ad (YouTube): A woman sends her coworker a “pitch”, which clearly the coworker hasn’t read. She reads Apple’s email summary of the pitch back to the woman as if it’s her own summary. The woman says, “Great! I’m going to tell them you’re interested.” The coworker looks at the camera, very pleased with herself.

This one irked me immediately. Not sure if it has gotten the widespread discontent that my other two ads here have, but I think it should.

Why it fails: It blindly hands decision-making to artificial intelligence. There’s a big difference between the summary and the decision.

Let’s use a summary to get to the core of the message so we can make a human decision ourselves.

In the ad, the coworker just mindlessly parrots the summary … and when the woman implies that the coworker has made a decision, she doesn’t confirm it or deny it. She has completely removed her humanity from the equation.

How it could have been better: After reading the email summary, the ad could have done a close-up with a voice-over where she quickly thinks, “What do I think? Oh, yes, this is great because (reason). Let’s do it!” That puts the decision — informed by an AI summary — back in the hands of the human.

Lesson for education leaders: Look for ways that AI can augment human thinking, creativity, and abilities — not replace them. If our students (and teachers) let AI make the decisions we’re uniquely equipped to make, it leads us to obsolescence and forsakes what makes us special.

3. Apple’s “Crush!” ad

The ad (YouTube): Some sort of industrial crusher/compacter machine crushes all of these artistic tools and materials. When the compactor opens up, there’s a new iPad.

Why it fails: It’s a classic case of “trying to send one message but actually sending another.”

• Intended message: Your iPad has incredible creative capabilities.
• Actual message: Your iPad renders all of these hands-on tactile creative activities obsolete.

Lots of people — creatives, especially — saw it as a slap in the face to their work. They already perceive technology as a threat to the art and craft that they love. They’re trying to maintain a foothold on their creative outlet. They saw it as the ultimate diss from Apple.

How it could have been better: It could have shown these activities being magically sucked into the iPad … cans of paint pulled into the iPad to show creating visual art. At least that way, it’s communicating the concept that the human craft matters and it can be done in a different way.

It could have shown in-person art augmented by technology (to show value to hands-on, human-made art).

Or an even better way? Wild idea here … just use the iPad! Show it making art and music and video.

Lesson for education leaders: We have to be crystal clear about our vision. If there’s too much ambiguity, people can misinterpret what we’re trying to say.

First, we have to actually know what we want to say — what we believe, what our vision is, how we want the world to look — before we can accurately communicate it.

And second, we need to make sure the message we communicate matches the vision. Do a focus group — ask a few people about your messaging to make sure it has its intended result.

Let’s get the message right

First impressions. The first message you send has a ton of impact. Let’s think clearly and carefully about what we’re really trying to say — the actions we want to take and why we really want to take them.

Then let’s craft some clear messaging about it. And don’t just assume that the way you said it will communicate what you want it to communicate. Be sure by asking some people how it comes off.

Artificial intelligence can have a great impact on education when used responsibly and in the right ways. We need to be clear about what we believe that to be.

We also have to acknowledge that AI is a flashpoint — a trigger button — for many people. Sometimes, even the term “AI” can be interpreted in completely different ways by different people. Is it the technology? Is it killer robots? Is it a threat to our jobs? Deepfakes? Automation and data analysis?

Clarity helps us all make sure we’re speaking the same language.