2023 saw brands flocking to AI like bees to the honeycomb, buzzing with digital innovation. 🐝
From creative powerhouses to organizational wizards, these brands harnessed AI to revolutionize how we work, play, and create. Let’s dive into 10 standout examples of companies using AI, featuring the likes of Canva, Notion, and Wistia.
Banafshe is a writer and creator who loves long walks on the beach (kidding?). When she’s not selling you on her puns or her pop-culture analogies, she can be found at the busiest intersection in her city with her headphones. Which are totally not falling apart.
Welcome to the digital renaissance, where AI (artificial intelligence) isn’t just a futuristic concept, but the driving force behind today’s most innovative brands. From intuitive customer service tools to predictive analytics and beyond, 2023 has proved that AI is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a need for staying competitive in a rapidly evolving market.
AI has gone from buzz-word territory (you could even argue it’s becoming too common of a word) to being a game-changer in the marketing universe. In 2023, some brands have not just embraced AI; they’ve given it a big bear hug (take a moment to really visualize that). In this year-end review, we’ll explore how different brands are not just riding the AI wave, but are shaping it to revolutionize their services and redefine user experiences.
Without further ‘ado, let’s look at 10 of the brands that have made significant strides with AI in the past year.
1. Canva: your AI art director
Picture this: Canva, already a design darling for those of us who wish we were more visually inclined, decided to give its users superpowers in 2023. Canva’s AI in 2023 is all about intuitive design assistance. Their Magic Design feature suggests layouts, color schemes, and fonts based on the content type and user preferences—predicting trends and providing users with modern designs. With AI, Canva transformed from a simple design tool into a creative assistant who’s always on the design pulse.
2. Notion: your organized assistant
Notion said, “Let there be order!”—and there was. Integrating AI into its already versatile toolset, Notion offered personalized organization solutions this year. Notion’s AI—launched in 2023—is super-duper-smart. It auto-categorizes notes, suggests project timelines, and even drafts summaries from meeting notes. This AI integration makes project management and personal organization seamless and intuitive, saving time and boosting productivity. Notion AI is like an assistant that knows you better than you know yourself, helping to prioritize tasks and manage projects effortlessly, plus being your ghostwriter on the downlow.
3. Spotify: your personal DJ
Spotify has always been about personalization, but, in 2023, they’ve cranked it up even more. With their new AI feature, Spotify isn’t just suggesting playlists, but creating them based on their users’ listening. Spotify’s new feature—AI DJ—can generate custom playlists based on listener habits and moods. This feature mixes tracks seamlessly while adding personal touches that make you feel like you’re listening to your own personalized radio. It’s the perfect blend of algorithmic precision and musical artistry. A dose of Taylor Swift or a dash of Metallica? Spotify’s got your tastes figured out.
4. Wistia: your AI-powered video platform
Wistia’s always made video hosting look easy. But with a whole range of AI tools that they’ve developed—from auto transcripts and captions to auto-generated event descriptions and an AI-powered educational content search tool—Wisita is helping audiences streamline their video marketing even further in 2023. They’ve rolled out even more game changers this year: their AI-powered video highlights is a major time-saver, finding the most compelling moments in your videos. Wistia believes that creators who use these AI tools and features to their advantage while maintaining a human touch will see the best outcomes, and that’s evident in how their brand operates.
5. Grammarly: your AI writing partner
Grammarly is a staple of any marketer’s toolkit by now, but with the help of generative AI, this writing assistant has gone beyond just grammar. GrammarlyGO uses the power of generative AI to help marketers ideate and accelerate team and individual productivity. By clicking one button, folks can compose, ideate, rewrite, and reply with a ready-to-go AI co-creator that understands their communication goals. Writing in your voice using customizable profile options for tone and getting re-writes on your content at the drop of a hat are just some of the things Grammarly has added to their repertoire with the help of AI. Who doesn’t want a personal editor who’s always on call?
6. Duolingo: your customized language coach
Duolingo‘s AI in 2023 is on another level (and we mean beyond the level 2 French we always get stuck on). Duolingo is no longer just teaching languages—it’s adapting to how you learn. Duolingo’s AI offers personalized learning paths and customized lessons based on your learning speed, strengths, and weaknesses. It’s an adaptive learning environment akin to having a personal language tutor. Struggle with verbs? It’ll give you a verb workout. Love quizzes? Get ready for a trivia bonanza.
There’s also Duolingo Max, which utilizes ChatGPT-4 to create even more personalized learning experiences for users. Duolingo Max max-imizes learning by introducing two new AI-powered features and exercises: Explain My Answer—where users can enter a chat with Duo to get a simple explanation on why their answer was right or wrong and ask for examples or clarification—and Roleplay—which allows learners to practice real-world conversation skills with world characters in the app.
7. Adobe: your AI-infused creative suite
Adobe has been all about one thing this year: Generation AI. By levelling up Adobe Sensei to Adobe Sensei GenAI and powering up all Adobe tools with AI, Adobe chose to step into a new era of creativity and productivity in 2023. The brand was also busy launching Adobe Firefly this year, a generative machine-learning model that takes simple text prompts (in over 100 languages) to generate images, text effects, and color palettes, with the ability to also create all-new content from reference images.
The latest version of Adobe Creative Cloud includes new generative AI features that put even more innovation in the hands of creators of all types—built right into creative workflows that designers and content creators use every day.
8. Shopify: your sidekick store manager
This year, Shopify combined all its mighty powers with the latest advancements in AI to provide more personalized support for various tasks—from copy generation to store building, marketing, and customer support. Shopify Magic was introduced: a suite of free AI-enabled features integrated across Shopify’s products and workflows to make it easier for users to start, run, and grow their businesses.
Oh and there’s more: alongside Shopify Magic, you get your very own AI commerce assistant in (the admittedly adorable) Sidekick (pictured above). Trained to know all of Shopify with full access to all the context, data, and expertise necessary, Sidekick can generate highly personalized support for Shopify users. It’s safe to say that Shopify knocked it outta the park this year on the AI front.
9. Mailchimp: your AI-powered email marketer
Mailchimp‘s 2023 foray into AI elevates email marketing to a new level of precision and personalization. By embracing generative AI, the platform is redefining how businesses connect with their audience through smarter, data-driven email strategies. Mailchimp’s AI includes features like predictive segmentation, which groups customers based on predicted behavior, and AI-enhanced A/B testing tools that automatically determine the most effective email content, layout, and send times for different audience segments.
But even more impressively, Mailchimp launched the Email Content Generator in 2023, which uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 technology to create marketing copy that users can drag and drop into emails they send to existing and prospective customers. This feature is the latest addition to Mailchimp’s AI toolkit for marketers, along with features like Creative Assistant and Content Optimizer.
In 2023, these brands have not just adopted AI; they have integrated it into their core, offering personalized, intuitive, and predictive experiences. AI is no longer just a backend tool; it’s front and center, enhancing user experience and creative potential. It’s exciting to see how these brands will continue to innovate and push the boundaries of what AI can achieve in the brand landscape.
Here’s to 2024!
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