Marketers say AI leaders like Sam Altman (center) and Dario Amodei (right), pictured here with Narendra Modi (left) at the India AI Impact Summit, need to revamp the AI industry's brand.
Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images
How do you solve a branding problem like AI?Marketers have some ideas, like borrowing from P&G's marketing playbook or creating a think tank.It's no secret that AI is getting a bad rap. Boos at college graduation speeches. AI-related layoffs. Pope Leo XIV has even gotten in the ring, calling for AI to be "disarmed.""It brings back memories of Big Oil, Big Tobacco, Big Pharma," David Aaker, vice chairman of the consulting firm Prophet, told me.Ad veteran Rishad Tobaccowala told me the AI industry's leading spokespeople — Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei — "need to tone down" their public statements on topics like job destruction and their assertions that massive US infrastructure spending is necessary to compete with Chinese firms."The person on the street doesn't care about competing with China," Tobaccowala said. "They care about their electric bills and their jobs."A November study by the PR firm Edelman found that 87% of people in China trust AI, compared with just 32% in the US.
