The rise of AI and the surge in chat-based wonder-gadgetry has led to many concerns about impact on the job market. In this series, I've been exploring how AI is changing the landscape of work, beginning with its impact on imminent disruption to Recruiting industry in Part 1 and Organisational Development (OD) in Part 2. In this post, I want to explore the impact of AI on the professional discipline of Personal Branding.
Personal branding has become an essential aspect of the modern job market. It's about managing your online presence, reputation, and image to establish yourself as an expert in a particular field. Personal branding is crucial for anyone looking to stand out in a competitive job market and establish themselves as a thought leader in their industry.
With the buzz around AI, many are wondering how it will impact the field of personal branding. In this article, I'm exploring some of the ways in which AI is currently affecting personal branding, the advantages and disadvantages of using AI in personal branding, and the potential future developments in the field.
What do I mean by Personal Branding?
Personal branding is the process of establishing "you", the brand. It involves creating a unique image, voice, and message that distinguishes you from other people. Personal branding is essential in today's job market because it allows people to stand out from the competition, establish credibility, and build a following.
The field evolved significantly in recent years. In the past, personal branding primarily involved traditional marketing techniques, such as advertising, PR, and good old fashioned networking. But with the advent of the internet and social media, things shifted online.
Today more than ever, managing your presence and reputation is vital. That includes creating and maintaining a website, social media accounts, and other digital platforms too. Personal branding also requires the creation content, such as blog posts like this one, of articles, and videos that together showcase your expertise and establishes you as a go-to thought leader in your field.
So how is AI actually affecting Personal Branding?
AI is having a significant impact on the discipline. Here are three ways AI is currently affecting personal branding:
1. Social Media Monitoring
AI tools are already being used to monitor social media activity and identify trends and opportunities. For example, AI tools can analyse social media conversations and identify topics that are trending or generating buzz. If you know where to find it, such information can be used to inform content creation and establish you as an authority in a particular area.
2. Online Reputation Management
AI tools can monitor any online "mentions" and identify any negative or damaging content. That information can be used to address any issues and mitigate any potential damage to your reputation, faster than any other known method.
3. Automated Content Creation
As we're all finding out, AI tools can generate content automatically based on a few keywords and a topic outline. This can save you time and effort when you want to rapidly create content and ensure you're seen to be staying up-to-date with the latest trends and topics.
Are people in the profession already out of a job?
Despite concerns about the impact of AI on the profession of personal branding, here are four major advantages that your Personal Branding consultant may well be using already:
1. Time-Saving
Services and platforms that use AI, including ChatGPT-type applications, can now save a ton of time. This new class of tools is good at automating tedious and time-consuming tasks such as content creation and social media monitoring. That brings the freedom to focus on more strategic and high-level activities, like squeezing more clients in for the same price - nice!
2. Streamlining
AI is streamlining processes everywhere. It's now possible automate workflows, and to ensure tasks are completed efficiently and effectively. That might be taking place already on platforms you use, and you might not even know it. But the undeniable upside is that you're better organised and making the most of the time and resources before you.
3. Accuracy and Quality
These emerging tools will also improve the accuracy and quality of branding efforts. For example, automated content creation can ensure that content is well-written, relevant, and timely. They already are - they identify trends and topics and can ensure that content is fresh and engaging.
4. Deeper Insight
And who wouldn't want better insights into their personal branding efforts? By analysing social media engagement and providing insights into what's resonating with an audience, AI can be used to optimise content and messaging to ensure better quality of connection.
What about the downsides?
Despite the advantages , there are also some disadvantages to consider. I'll give you three examples:
1. Lack of Authenticity
One concern is that overuse of AI - especially GPT-class text generators - will lead to a perception of lack of authenticity. Automated content creation by definition lacks the personal touch that comes from writing content yourself (my contrarian side is slapping me about the head saying "yeah Pete but if you pay someone to write it for you, is that authentic? Was it ever?"). Nevertheless, perceptions are important and the mere idea that authenticity might be taking a hit will make it harder for people to establish a genuine connection with their audiences, due to the "meh effect".
3. Limited Creativity
Just as the calculator limited our ability to do long division and Google limited our ability to problem solve using our big brains, AI is also extremely likely to limit creativity in personal branding efforts. While it can certainly help generate ideas and identify trends, it may be some time before it can replicate the creativity and unique perspective that comes from actual human thought.
4. Overreliance on Technology
A related concern is that individuals may become over-reliant on this emergent technology and lose the ability to think critically and creatively. Echoing the warning in Canadian author Ronal Wright's excellent essay Progress Traps on the history of human civilisation, AI will very likely limit our ability to adapt to change, and in the field of personal branding as with any other, this could backfire and result in a loss of competitive advantage.
OK so what does the future hold for Personal Branding?
AI is already having a significant impact on the discipline, and it's likely that its influence will only continue to grow in the future. Potential future developments to look for include:
1. Increased Personalisation
We're likely to see a lot more personalised personal branding efforts in the wild. AI being used to create content tailored to specific audiences is not that much of a stretch!
2. Better Analytics
We'll certainly be seeing more advanced analytics and insights into people's personal branding efforts - and these will be more customer-driven than professionally provided. Self-serve will become the order of the day. We'll see more sophisticated social media monitoring and analysis tools that provide even greater insights into audience engagement and behaviour and offer to play some - potentially all - of the role the branding expert has built for themselves.
3. Integration with Augmented Reality?
Imagine it! AI could be integrated with augmented reality (AR) to create even more immersive branding experiences. For example, individuals could use AR to create interactive experiences that showcase their expertise and build their brand. That (AI-generated) woman in the picture could project herself onto your desktop - with the lion - for the entertainment value!
Wrap-up
Yes folks, AI is having and will continue to have a significant impact on the field of personal branding. And while there are advantages to using AI in the discipline, there are also potential drawbacks to consider. As this not-so-nascent technology continues to insert itself into our lives more overtly, it's certain that its influence on personal branding will continue to grow. It'll be up to the individual to balance the benefits and risks of using it in their branding efforts and adapt to changes in the field.
In my next post I'll be looking at the role GPT chatbots can play in generalised HR disciplines
Image credit: frostehh via Midjourney, an AI image generator. Unreal!
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