Our contemporary digital environment

 

“Alexa, can you please call Mom?” 

Wait, Am I really talking to a machine? 

  

Indeed. It’s not science fiction anymore, artificial intelligence has reached a new level. It is part of our contemporary digital environment, which is composed of elements that look more and more like futuristic movie we used to watch few years ago. Let’s have a look: 

# Artificial intelligence  

Today, artificial intelligence are two words that can be linked to pretty everything. From Poker - where it has been found that AI can beat professional players, and this can “pose a risk to the online gaming ecosystem”- to sustainable investment – where the machines can find information “presented in incompatible ways because of the lack of reporting regulations” - but also, and more surprisingly, artificial intelligence is transforming art; with digital dance for example, and even literature (Alexa, have you been able to write a few lines today my dear?). 

# Human microchip implant  

Elon Musk is hoping to put a computer chip into our brain. Why so? First, to help quadriplegics control smartphones for example, but also to control machines remotely, as the electric signals sent by the brain would be translated into action. Would you like to know more? Just watch the following video: 

Yes, it’s only a project at the moment, but some chips are already implanted, such as the ones to control tremors in people with Parkinson's disease. 

# Social media  

Social media have completely revolutionized our environment and the way we interact to each other and with brands and companies. Basically, social media is impacting all kind of relationships. It is very present on commerce, we can dialogue with other customers miles apart from us, we can be targeted by companies with ads that have the exact right message for our profile, and so on. With social media, we can get a new job while we were not even looking to change (thank you LinkedIn). Social media help marketers to increase website traffic or to target the right customer. 

# The new job (digital nomad) 

The digital environment has also its own job, the so-called digital nomad. You can drink your mojito in the Bahamas while working for a Chinese startup. Well, it appears that the reality of being a digital nomad is a little bit more different, with common misconceptions. First, it’s hard to have proper wifi at the beach. It’s a challenge to enjoy the time travelling as you need to get the job done. Moreover, if you want to do your work well, you will need a stable environment, which means that it's hard to hop from one city to another. 

# Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) 

Are you familiar with the acronym SMAC? It stands for Social, Mobile, Analytics & Cloud. In today’s marketing, these four words represent major areas of importance for marketing.  

 

As mentioned before, social media have a huge impact on companies and on they operate. It’s THE tool to know and target your audience. 

It’s no secret, not only people are connected, they live, sleep, eat (take a shower?) with their mobile phone. Marketing campaigns should not be mobile-friendly, they have to be mobile-first.  

Data. Data. Precious data. They are now very easy to collect and are very useful to take future marketing decisions. But marketers need to know how to use and interpret those data. This is when analytics arrive on stage. 

The cloud is a nice word for something that has saved millions of holiday pictures taken with a stolen phone. With the cloud, we can have access to our files wherever we are. For marketers, it means they can collaborate on common projects from all over the globe.

  

# Sharing economy 

The sharing economy. Another digital revolution. It isn’t a new concept, but technology has made the transactions easier. We all know Uber. It’s one of the best examples to illustrate the impact of the sharing economy on a traditional industry; transportation. But the sharing economy can also be found in the consumer goods sector (think of ebay), professional and personal services; taskrabbit to find contractors, and even in healthcare. With Doctor on demand, you can have virtual visit to doctors and psychologists.

What will be the next traditional sectors to experience changes because of the sharing economy? 

Well, these six elements are only a part of our giant contemporary digital environment. 

But now, maybe the question would be more, what is not part of the digital environment? You may be like me and go living remotely in the Swiss Alps (here exactly), you would still find 4G...