Artificial intelligence: The game changer?

# tags: Artificial Intelligence , Technology , Cascais

We’ve been talking about artificial intelligence and its impact on events for a few years now, but 2024 was the year when the industry took firmer steps towards utilising it.

Artificial intelligence (AI), simply put, is a technology that makes machines capable of performing tasks that usually require human thought. Generative AI is the technology capable of generating content, be it text, images or other types of formats. It is a technology that discovers patterns, searches for data, translates, answers questions and makes predictions, and is capable of performing tasks with great speed and precision. These tasks are improved with the data collected. This technology, which is the subject of this text, can bring immense benefits and opportunities to the industry and, of course, some risks.

In MPI’s (Meetings Professionals International) Meetings Outlook Fall 2023, a survey showed that the industry has positive feelings towards this technology and that it will be increasingly present in the ‘toolbox’ of event organisers. 22% of respondents use generative AI regularly, and 50% have positive feelings towards it. 30 per cent believe in AI’s ability to make experiences and events more interesting.

AI was one of the top three defining trends of the year in The Eventex 2024 Events Industry Trends Report. AI is expected to influence every aspect of an event, from planning and proposal creation to communication with attendees, maximising the impact of events.

Back in 2019, Vítor Hugo, technical consultant at AVK, a Portuguese company, published an opinion piece in Event Point in which he stated that ‘the biggest change that AI is bringing to events is the personalisation of recommendations for event attendees, exhibitors and products, on an unprecedented scale.’ Since then, much has been written on the subject, including in Event Point, and it seems that the expression is now on the lips of (almost) everyone who works in events. In addition to the personalisation that Vítor Hugo was talking about, the optimisation of time (in administrative tasks) and the data-driven approach to events are clear benefits.

In a major interview in 2023, also in Event Point, Miguel Carneiro, CEO of Shake It, a technology provider, went further and said that artificial intelligence will have an impact not only on events, but on society in general. ‘I think the leap forward, from the point of view of organising events, is going to be, first and foremost, in content. We’ve already seen demonstrations, in a very short space of time, since the GPTs of this life arrived, of image creation, script creation, video creation, video editing. From logistics to technology, to audiovisuals, I don’t think any of these are exempt from the impact of artificial intelligence.’

In another interview by the same expe, he says: ‘At events, we’re already in a position to give a briefing on DALL-E to get inspiration for a KV and ChatGPT can be asked to propose topics for a scientific programme for a congress. All this in seconds,’ he emphasises. ‘It’s a very powerful tool,’ which can be used by event organisers ‘to make their work more efficient,’ says Miguel Carneiro.

In a recent interview, Miguel Pires, from the Nervo agency, pointed to AI as a challenge and a trend. He believes that AI ‘is no longer just something that arouses curiosity, but something that is being integrated into our work methodology and even into the proposals we put out on the street. And it’s no longer just about using the plaµorms that are available, where you pay a subscription and

suddenly you’re going to generate some images or ask ChatGPT some questions. We’re going beyond that. We’re already working on the so-called LLM [large language model], in which we can develop specific things for the experiences we’re creating,’ he adds.

“The next big thing”

In a small survey of the sector, we found that the majority of respondents have already ventured into artificial intelligence and use it regularly in their work, namely in translation, content and image creation, research, scripting and summarising, and as inspiration. The vast majority use ChatGPT, but there are other tools mentioned: Canva, Stockimage, Deepl, Copilot, Grammarly, Bard, CopyAI or Midjourney.

Among the concrete benefits they point out: design, content creation, time management, preparing proposals, saving time on day-to-day tasks, personalisation. In the future, these professionals believe that aificial intelligence will be ‘a major ally’ that won’t replace the human aspect, but can help in many aspects of the event. Including the following:

Planning and logistics

In this chapter, AI can help with contacting paicipants, sending automatic emails, creating chatbots and virtual assistants, for example. These are increasingly sophisticated tools that can be used for different functions at the event. Automating answers to questions, providing personalised suggestions – in the attendee’s language -, suggesting sessions, networking opportunities and real-time suppo, among others.

AI can help decide which destination or venue to choose, predict the staff required or ideal for the event, the amount of food needed. In short, it saves organisations time and resources, leaving time for what ma©ers most: strategy and the attendee experience.

Personalisation

Personalisation is one of the current trends in the sector and AI is certainly helping to achieve this. According to a McKinsey study, for example, 71% of consumers expect personalisation from the brands they interact with. Knowing the individual preferences of participants, for example through social media analysis, can make it possible, for example, to hand out a personalised bag on arrival at the event or to serve their favourite drink at the cocktail pay without having to ask for it.

These are remarkable gestures that remain in the memory of those who experience them.

AI can give recommendations for activities at the destination according to the paicipant’s tastes, and in the area of gamification and facilitating networking, the possibilities are immense. Personalisation not only increases satisfaction, but also participant engagement.

Decisions based on data

With all the technologies at their disposal, event organisers can access a vast array of data. With this data, AI can make predictions that can help improve the event, for example in terms of staff, space occupied, etc., but it can also help with personalisation, as we saw earlier.

Filinto Francisco, from Rise, a Portuguese AV Company, in an interview with Event Point, points to AI as an increasingly relevant trend ‘with growing data analysis playing a key role in the events sector’.

Analysing and interpreting data in real time is an appo that can be crucial to the success of an event, for example in terms of analysing the movement and dynamics of attendees, which stands they go to, which sessions they attend, whether they interact, etc. Post-event, this information is also crucial in order to be better aligned with participants’ expectations for future events. In terms of ROI (return on investment), artificial intelligence can help by providing metrics.

Content and marketing

This is where everything seems to be most advanced. Tools like Chat GPT and the like have brought a whole host of opportunities. Ideas for events, themes, speakers, creating the agenda, creating descriptions, polls, biographies, composing emails, transcripts, translation, you name it, the possibilities are vast.

In terms of promotions and marketing, the possibility of helping to create social media posts, videos, images, promotional materials and press releases.

Ethical implications

There are precautions to be taken. According to a white paper by The Hague & Paners Convention Bureau and Ottawa Tourism, the ethical implications of using AI to organise events raise concerns.

63% of association buyers surveyed are very concerned or slightly concerned about the ethical implications of using AI to organise events. The document states that 63% of respondents believe that governments should legislate on the use of AI in the organisation of events. However, 65 per cent do not think that these same governments have the necessary knowledge to be able to legislate effectively. The professionals surveyed are concerned about the use and retention of data obtained by technology companies through AI: 20 per cent said that AI technology providers are not very reliable and 13 per cent said that they are not at all - and this 33 per cent exceeds the 27 per cent who showed confidence.

For 52 per cent of respondents, one possible solution is the creation of an international standard (ISO) covering the use of AI at events; in this chapter, 29 per cent said ‘maybe’ and 7 per cent agreed.

Although in a much smaller universe, the white paper presents results for the corporate segment. Half (50%) of the corporate event organisers surveyed are slightly concerned about the ethical implications of using AI to organise events. In addition, 71 per cent think that governments should legislate on the subject, which is the same percentage as those who don’t believe that governments have the necessary knowledge to do so. Half (50 per cent) of those surveyed trust their technology suppliers, while 28 per cent were concerned about the reliability of these suppliers.

Natália Rosa, CEO of Big Ambitions, warned at the APAVT Congress (Portuguese Travel Agencies Association) this year that: copyright belongs to AI, unless the text is edited; the user should always check the facts and be careful about the information they share (sensitive information should not be shared).