




































AGORA International Journal of Economical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijes 

ISSN 2067-3310, E-ISSN 2067-7669 

Vol. 17, No. 2 (2023), pp. 34-40 

 

34 
 

THE IMPACT OF AI ON MARKETING: OPPORTUNITY OR 

THREAT? 

 

M. FORNAZARIČ 

 

Milena Fornazarič 

Ljubljana School of Business, Ljubljana, Slovenia 

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7175-7687, E-mail: milena.fornazaric@gmail.com  

 

Abstract: Today we are talking about a new generation of AI, about generative AI, which came 

into mass use at the end of last year. Artificial intelligence is useful if we know how to use it 

and it has certainly been fundamentally changing the marketing universe for some time. In 

marketing, AI tools help in customer segmentation, in finding new customers who show 

propensity to buy, in product recommendations, in sales, in customer support, in the production 

of advertising messages, in the generation of responses on social networks, in purchasing 

behavior research, in algorithms for predicting buyer behavior, etc. ChatGPT and related 

technologies are the reality of individuals and organizations. New technologies develop very 

quickly and exponentially, where we do not know where and how the development will go, but 

we know that changes will happen. It is best to start preparing for the changes today. AI is not 

so much a technological change as it is a business change in organizations that requires change 

management, strategy and vision. 

Keywords: AI, marketing, changes, Chat GPT, technology 

 

 INTRODUCTION 

 There are many unknowns, there is also a lot of coordination, what is AI in marketing 

anyway. One of the very useful definitions says: AI marketing refers to the advanced approach 

of using artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing to automate, optimize, and improve elements 

of the marketing procedure and process. You can also leverage AI to make more informed and 

data-driven decisions through the insights AI marketing gathers through its data collection, 

hence improving overall marketing (Sauter, 2023:2). The aim of the article is to listed some of 

positive and negative impacts of AI on current practices in marketing. 

 

 Generative AI and global economy 

 Breakthroughs in generative artificial intelligence have the potential to bring 

sweeping changes to the global economy, according to Goldman Sachs Research. As tools using 

advances in natural language processing work their way into businesses and society, they could 

drive a 7% (or almost $7 trillion) increase in global GDP and lift productivity growth by 1.5 

percentage points over a 10-year period (Goldman Sachs, 2023). The percentage of respondents 

who say that their company uses AI has jumped from 22% in 2018 to 50% in 2023. Nearly half 

of respondents, 46%, say that they have experimented with generative AI, and 27% say that 

they use it regularly (Boston Consultancy Group, 2023:3). 

 

 AI is changing the marketing universe 

 

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7175-7687
mailto:milena.fornazaric@gmail.com


Milena FORNAZARIČ 

35 
 

 Today we are talking about a new generation of AI, about generative AI, which came 

into mass use at the end of last year. Artificial intelligence is useful if we know how to use it 

(Meden, 2023, p. 1), and it has certainly been fundamentally changing the marketing universe 

for some time. In marketing, AI tools help in customer segmentation, in finding new customers 

who show propensity to buy, in product recommendations, in sales, in customer support, in the 

production of advertising messages, in the generation of responses on social networks, in 

purchasing behavior research, in algorithms for predicting buyer behavior, etc. 

 There are many unknowns, there is also a lot of coordination, what is AI in marketing 

anyway. One of the very useful definitions says: AI marketing refers to the advanced approach 

of using artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing to automate, optimize, and improve elements 

of the marketing procedure and process. You can also leverage AI to make more informed and 

data-driven decisions through the insights AI marketing gathers through its data collection, 

hence improving overall marketing (Sauter, 2023:3).  

 A study by Gartner predicts that by 2024, AI-generated content will account for 30% 

of the total content produced by enterprises. By automating content creation, companies can 

save time and resources, allowing their marketing teams to focus on higher-level strategic 

initiatives. Gartner predicts that: By 2024, 40% of enterprise applications will have embedded 

conversational AI, up from less than 5% in 2020. By 2025, 30% of enterprises will have 

implemented an AI-augmented development and testing strategy, up from 5% and 2021 

(Gartner, 2023:1). In a recent Gartner webinar poll of more than 2,500 executives, 38% 

indicated that customer experience and retention is the primary purpose of their generative AI 

investments. This was followed by revenue growth (26%), cost optimization (17%) and 

business continuity (7%) (Gartner, 2023:1). Gen AI has captured interest across the business 

population: individuals across regions, industries, and seniority levels are using gen AI for work 

and outside of work. Seventy-nine percent of all respondents say they've had at least some 

exposure to gen AI, either for work or outside of work, and 22 percent say they are regularly 

using it in their own work (McKinsey, 2023:1). 

 When we talk about marketing, we assume that it is a holistic approach to marketing 

that emphasizes the holistic understanding of our customers and the satisfaction of their needs, 

which focuses on creating consistent and connected marketing activities through all 

communication channels (Kotler, et al., 2016:347). The authors start from the assumption that 

significant changes are taking place in consumer behavior, for which the Internet enables 

greater expectations and the expected consistency in communication with brands. Holistic 

marketing allows companies to integrate different communication channels in a coherent 

marketing plan, which enables more effective communication with customers. Customers 

expect a multifaceted experience that includes all aspects of integration with the company, from 

advertising, social media, mobile applications, sales support to customers, etc., which increases 

customer satisfaction. It is easier and more efficient to measure the success of marketing 

campaigns, since holistic marketing allows all channels and activities to be connected in a single 

data analysis system. This makes it easier for brands to understand which channels are more 

effective than others. Brands must also express the values of their customers, who are 

increasingly sustainable and expect social responsibility from brands. Holistic marketing 

therefore enables companies to develop elements of their own competitive advantage, as they 



THE IMPACT OF AI ON MARKETING: OPPORTUNITY OR THREAT? 

 

36 
 

are more comprehensively and efficiently equipped to meet the needs of their customers and 

respond more quickly to changes in the market environment. 

 

 Positive effects of changes in marketing with the use of AI 

 In addition to processing existing data with algorithms that accurately predict 

customer purchasing behavior, predict trends and enable the creation of personalized marketing 

campaigns, improved user experience increases marketing efficiency, and thus also the value 

and ROI of companies. 

 According to Eurostat (2023), the number of Slovenian companies that use AI in 

marketing and research is higher than the average in Europe (22.8% in Slovenia compared to 

the EU, where the average is 12.6). In Slovenian advertising, AI tools are mostly used in sales, 

the development of AI tools in advertising agencies and the research sector is relatively 

balanced between the development of employees and the use of already developed tools. The 

biggest obstacle to using AI seems to be that they do not consider AI technologies useful. 

Ethical considerations and concern about invasion of data protection and privacy do not seem 

to be an issue (Eurostat, 2023). 

 

 A more personalized consumer shopping experience 

 AI improves the buying process of customers because it gives a more personalized 

experience and more accurate results (Meden, 2023:2). Customers have an easy shopping 

process that is accurate and personalized. We address the customer in a personalized way when, 

e.g. in the online store we present a certain product, we offer the possibility to compare it with 

similar products, sometimes also to test it, and above all with the help of AI conversation bots 

can answer typical questions of customers, which responds in real time. Buyers get an answer 

to their question immediately, which is why the purchase decision is faster and more efficient 

(Meden, 2023:2). The use of personalized addresses is especially suitable for the creation of 

customized landing pages, the use of email marketing and the selection of products (Sauter, 

2023:2). 

 

 Better customer segmentation 

 AI will address customers in a personalized manner, based on activities on the 

website, mobile application, activities in the physical store, based on demonstrated interest in 

communication (on social networks), and above all, the company will take into account the 

customer's interest in addition to classic segmentation. More targeted communication has 

improved conversion rates and targeting specific keywords (Sauter, 2023:3). By using 

predicative algorithms, we can predict trends, more easily follow the changed purchasing habits 

of customers and optimize marketing campaigns. 

 

  Cost aspects and savings 

 As early experience shows, the need for repetitive tasks will be reduced. Most of the 

answers or questions that customers address to the content of the website are repeated. With 

well-structured data, AI will be able to answer them on its own. We will need fewer people in 

contact centers to answer questions. It is expected that the productivity of those individuals who 

will use AI tools will improve compared to those who will not learn it. The use of AI can 



Milena FORNAZARIČ 

37 
 

improve the effectiveness of marketing efforts, leading to higher ROI. This can include 

optimizing ad placement, adjusting bid prices, and targeting specific audiences (Sauter, 2023:3) 

 

  Changed the way of communication with customers 

 We expect that at the expense of conversational interfaces, communication with 

customers will be faster, the customer will also be able to quickly get more accurate answers 

that will be generated by AI, for example to his email address (Meden, 2023, p.3). The content 

of the message is already and will be adapted differently for different individuals. AI, especially 

by understanding the unified communication of an individual on various digital platforms, is 

changing digital marketing, where it connects social networks, online stores, customer 

responses... In addition to better customer support and the preparation of appropriate 

personalized marketing materials, especially sales documents, it is easier to analyze data 

(especially in large quantities), market research, etc. 

 Benefits of AI in digital marketing (Sauter, 2023:3): 

 Analyze customer behavior 

 Increase customer engagement 

 Detect churn tendencies 

 Anticipate purchase preferences 

 Predict future trends 

 Personalize marketing campaigns 

 Increase conversion 

 Target past customers 

 Enhance ad targeting 

 

 Understanding customer needs and preferences 

 When it comes to unstructured data, AI tools already know how to process it well in 

real time, form a recommendation for a possible purchase to a customer who is still on the 

website, comments, a customer satisfaction survey are possible, AI detects potential problems 

and can adjust them. AI is also excellent at detecting trends in the market. This can include 

insights into customer behavior, interests, and preferences, as well as sentiment analysis of 

customer feedback (Sauter, 2023:3). AI tools also make it possible to read the emotions of 

customers in the purchasing process (McKinsey, 2023:2). Research shows that customer 

expectations are changing, 43% of customers are starting to replace traditional ways of finding 

products or service recommendations with tools like ChatGPT, 70% want wider 

implementation of generative AI in their interactions with organizations, 30% of customers are 

willing to pay more to use certain virtual services based on the use of AI (Capgemini, 2023:1). 

 

  AI as a sales tool 

 Virtual and augmented reality are already important marketing tools in the field of 

sales, enabling a more authentic and personalized shopping experience. Brands will have the 

opportunity to connect sound with AI and gain the opportunity in the meta universe to create 

sound environments that will attract visitors, potential buyers (Salzman, 2023:3). Optimizing 

content for voice search is becoming increasingly important as more people use voice assistants 



THE IMPACT OF AI ON MARKETING: OPPORTUNITY OR THREAT? 

 

38 
 

such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant to search for information, while augmented reality 

(AR technology) connects the real and virtual worlds and improves the shopping experience. 

(McKinsey, 2023:3). By analyzing customer data and transaction patterns, AI can detect 

suspicious behavior and prevent fraudulent transactions. This can include strategies such as 

monitoring for unusual transaction patterns and identifying suspicious IP addresses (McKinsey, 

2023:3). 

 

 Negative effects of changes with the use of AI 

 AI response control 

 With modern generative systems, control is not the easiest, since there is no desire to 

limit them on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is necessary to prevent intentional 

offensive, obscene or inappropriate provocations on the part of users that can force the AI to 

give answers that are not appropriate. How to control that both AI and users do not cross the 

line of decent and acceptable communication in their behavior? 

 

 Unrelated data in the company 

 In companies, especially larger systems and those that operate in several markets, not 

only local, we come across a lot of data in an unconnected, aggregated state. If we want to 

develop our own conversational bot, we need to make sense of the data according to some key 

and connect it in a way that will be understandable by modern AI that works on large language 

models. If the data is not relevant enough, we get bad answers. All the time, the answers must 

be controlled so that the content is not offensive, biased or fabricated. A significant challenge 

in the use of AI in marketing is ensuring the credibility and integrity of data (Sauter, 2023:4), 

since AI works on the basis of predicative algorithms based on data. Incomplete databases are 

the reason AI results are unreliable. At the same time, it is also worth emphasizing the issue of 

privacy and data protection, as well as the fact that different AI tools have different rules for 

protecting the privacy of users, as well as their own conditions of use. 

 

 Lack of empathy 

 Humans are generally distrustful of messages generated by AI, especially when a 

problem arises that AI cannot solve without human help because it lacks empathy. Companies 

also have the opportunity to develop their own sources of competitive advantage, i.e. 

combinations of human intervention and generated responses. AI can automate tasks that are 

routine, analyze large amounts of data, optimize marketing strategies, but it is not precise. In 

addition, she lacks creativity, intuition, ability to see the big picture and understanding of 

complex emotions and motivation (Sauter, 2023:3). The issue of intellectual property and 

copyright is also unclear. 

 

 Distrust of employees 

 If we know how to formulate questions correctly, i.e. i. prompt, we will get more or 

less useful answers. As it seems, routine jobs in marketing (writing electronic responses, data 

analysis, press releases, writing other marketing texts, etc.) will give way to more strategic ones, 

which require more consideration and knowledge that AI does not yet possess. AI will not 

replace humans, but it will change their work. AI is unlikely to replace marketing employees, 



Milena FORNAZARIČ 

39 
 

as it lacks creativity. However, according to the BCG survey, 86% of employees believe that 

the use of AI at work will require additional training, almost 30% believe that the employer will 

take care of the responsible use of AI, and as many as 36% believe that AI will replace their job 

(Boston Consultancy Group, 2023:3). 

 

 The impact of AI on people's mental health (fake news, deep fakes, trolls, etc.) 

 Deliberately inaccurate information that has flooded the world web, the media, 

destroys our ability to rely on scientists, facts, institutions (Salzman, 2023:4). Fake news, 

disinformation, influencing elections and democracy, mistrust of institutions, politics, media, 

affect people, their fears, which is related to mental health (depersonalization disorder 

(Salzman, 2023:4), when people feel alienated and have a reduced sense of reality. The ethical 

use of AI, which takes into account users' privacy and is based on their consent to data 

processing, is a prerequisite for the transparent use of AI (Sauter, 2023:4). The use of AI also 

has positive effects on employees (Microsoft, 2023:4): increasing productivity, increasing job 

satisfaction, enabling greater creativity and opening new jobs. The same survey found that the 

time employees spend on Microsoft Teams has tripled since February 2020, 70% employees 

would delegate tasks to AI if it would reduce the amount of their work, 49% fear that they will 

be replaced by AI, twice as often management believe that AI will increase productivity rather 

than reduce the number of jobs, and 89% of managers believe that their employees will need 

new skills to support AI exploitation. However, wage pressures, the need for restructuring and 

less competitiveness due to skill equalization will be expected (Microsoft, 2023:4). 

 

CONCLUSIONS 

 ChatGPT and related technologies are the reality of individuals and organizations. 

New technologies develop very quickly and exponentially, where we do not know where and 

how the development will go, but we know that changes will happen. It is best to start preparing 

for the changes today. 

 Generative AI can bring new business models, new business opportunities and create 

new jobs, but the biggest challenge is the speed of change, as well as the lack of knowledge 

about AI and the resulting lack of AI strategies. With increased productivity, costs are expected 

to decrease, the range of new products and services will increase, processes and business models 

will be transformed, and there will be less need for certain services, as changes in customer 

behavior will also change their expectations. 

 It is also worth mentioning the elements of responsible use of AI, from data protection, 

copyright issues, ethics and influence on decision-making, and risk management. 

 AI models will get smarter, they will support all forms of data, text, images, audio, 

video, they will have up-to-date data, often in real time. They will often be industry oriented 

(e.g. for marketing). Marketing is one of the fields that, even after a year of commercial use of 

generative AI, is exposed to major changes, both in terms of the speed of individual tasks 

performed by advertising agencies, as well as the quality of the agency's work performed 

(graphics, pitch preparation, production of texts, media posts, especially on social networks), 

as well as certain new services (media buying in real time). Technology goes hand in hand on 

the one hand with fears and on the other with high expectations for cost, content and time 



THE IMPACT OF AI ON MARKETING: OPPORTUNITY OR THREAT? 

 

40 
 

efficiency of employees. Lack of current knowledge on how to use existing and developing AI 

tools is a big problem. 

 AI is not so much a technological change as it is a business change in organizations 

that requires change management, strategy and vision, skilled, empowered employees and large 

amounts of data. ChatGPT is just the beginning. 

 

REFERENCES  

1. Boston Consultancy Group. (2023, June). AI at Work: What people are saying. 

Retrieved November 23, 2023, from https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/what-

people-are-saying-about-ai-at-work 

2. Capgemini and Salesforce Collaborate to Enable a New Era of Generative AI Powered 

Customer Experience. (2023, September). Retrieved November 27, 2023, from 

https://www.capgemini.com/at-de/news/press-releases/capgemini-and-salesforce-

collaborate-to-enable-a-new-era-of-generative-ai-powered-customer-experiences/ 

3. Eurostat. (2023). Artificial Intelligence by Nace. Retrieved November 27, 2023, from 

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-

explained/index.php?title=Use_of_artificial_intelligence_in_enterprises 

4. Gartner. (2023). Gartner Experts answer the Top Generative AI Questions for Your 

Enterprise. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from 

https://www.gartner.com/en/topics/generative-ai 

5. Goldman Sachs Report. (2023, April). Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved November 23, 

2023, from https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/artificial-intelligence/ 

6. McKinsey & Company. (2023). The State of AI in 2023: Generative AI's breakout 

year. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from 

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-in-

2023-generative-ais-breakout-year 

7. Microsoft. (2023, May). Microsoft Build 2023: AI Redefines Software Development 

and Future of Work. Retrieved November 27, 2023, from 

https://news.microsoft.com/en-hk/2023/05/24/microsoft-build-2023-ai-redefines-

software-development-and-future-of-work 

8. Salzman, M. (2023, November 10). 9 ways AI Marketing can grow your Business 

(with Examples & Tools). Retrieved from https://www.engati.com/blog/8-ways-ai-

will-change-the-future-of-marketing 

9. Sauter, E. (2023). The 5 impacts of artificial intelligence on marketing. HBI 

Communication. Retrieved November 20, 2023, from https://www.hbi.de/en/blog/the-

5-impacts-of-artificial-intelligence-on-marketing/ 

 

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/what-people-are-saying-about-ai-at-work
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/what-people-are-saying-about-ai-at-work
https://www.capgemini.com/at-de/news/press-releases/capgemini-and-salesforce-collaborate-to-enable-a-new-era-of-generative-ai-powered-customer-experiences/
https://www.capgemini.com/at-de/news/press-releases/capgemini-and-salesforce-collaborate-to-enable-a-new-era-of-generative-ai-powered-customer-experiences/
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Use_of_artificial_intelligence_in_enterprises
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Use_of_artificial_intelligence_in_enterprises
https://www.gartner.com/en/topics/generative-ai
https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/artificial-intelligence/
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-in-2023-generative-ais-breakout-year
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-in-2023-generative-ais-breakout-year
https://news.microsoft.com/en-hk/2023/05/24/microsoft-build-2023-ai-redefines-software-development-and-future-of-work
https://news.microsoft.com/en-hk/2023/05/24/microsoft-build-2023-ai-redefines-software-development-and-future-of-work
https://www.engati.com/blog/8-ways-ai-will-change-the-future-of-marketing
https://www.engati.com/blog/8-ways-ai-will-change-the-future-of-marketing
https://www.hbi.de/en/blog/the-5-impacts-of-artificial-intelligence-on-marketing/
https://www.hbi.de/en/blog/the-5-impacts-of-artificial-intelligence-on-marketing/

