Artificial intelligence, or AI for short, has become a big buzzword in the marketing world over the past few years. But recently, AI has become all the rage in the events industry as well. What is artificial intelligence and how will event planners be using it in the near future?

Table of Contents

What is AI Exactly, and What Role Can It Play In Events?

You’ve probably noticed that the event industry has begun to adopt more and more tech solutions, most of which seem to market themselves as offering AI features. It should be noted that while some solutions actually use artificial intelligence, many simply use sophisticated algorithms, and not necessarily AI in the strictest sense.

For instance, you may yourself use a matchmaking app during your events. And it may have even been marketed to you as offering AI features, but these apps really use sophisticated algorithms that execute instructions that have been programmed into them.

So then what is AI really, and how will it be used in the event industry?

In a nutshell, AI, or machine learning, takes data, evaluates it and learns to make decisions for itself over time. When it comes to the events industry, AI will soon help planners create better experiences for their attendees by using machines that can make even BETTER decisions than they themselves can.

Aventri’s networking engine is an example of actual AI already being used in the industry. This piece of technology includes a feedback loop. When the engine makes suggestions to event attendees, should they accept these suggestions, the engine “learns” from this data and gets more and more sophisticated, allowing it to make even better suggestions in the future.

While there are currently few technologies on the market that are using actual artificial intelligence (and not just the complex algorithms), it’s just a matter of time before event planners are FULLY leveraging AI to increase leads and engagement for their events.

Here are some ways event planners will be using artificial intelligence in the not-too-distant-future.

Automatically Generated Text

Content is and always will be king. The first interaction your prospective attendees have with your brand is through the copy on your website. What if one day the best copywriters weren’t humans but machines?

In the near future event planners may be using AI to deliver powerful copy that is fully aligned with their attendees’ goals and values. Simply input a few keywords and… voila… powerful content is automatically generated.

Face Recognition ID

Every event planner wants to make a great first impression with their attendees. Know what makes a really BAD first impression? Long waiting lines during check-in.

In the near future, AI will make face recognition a thing at events, which will make for far more efficient check-in processes. This technology will combine AI with biometrics and will be able to authenticate attendees lickity-split, saving your team time and your attendees headaches and frustration.

Event Translation

Though we are finally starting up with in-person events again, the fact is, the pandemic taught us that hybrid events, that offer a digital component alongside the in-person portion, is a great way to widen audience reach. Often this widening requires our event be translated into different languages for an International audience. Soon, AI technology may be used to develop instant translation apps.

Customized Chatbots

Chatbots are already being used in most industries to deal with mass communication issues brands face with customers and prospects. I mean let’s face it, event planners don’t have the time or mental bandwidth to answer every single question prospective attendees might have.

And it’s not just your attendees that sometimes need to get in touch with you for answers to their questions. You also need to offer 24/7 support to vendors and presenters as well. Customer service chatbots will be a cost-effective way to extend support without having to allocate some of your budget to extra staff.

Admittedly, current chatbot communications leave much to be desired and come across as not very human. But with advancements in AI technology, your attendees, venue partners and presenters may never guess they are interacting with a machine!

The Wrap

Ready or not the future is nearly here. AI technology will definitely impact the way we design, plan and run events. And as long as you’re ready and understand what sorts of features your organization might benefit from, AI should help you to increase your events’ leads and engagement.

Okay, so maybe we don’t possess the intelligence of a machine, but we have some pretty good skills that can also help you increase your events’ leads and engagement right now. If you could use some help planning your in-person or virtual events, just reach out to us!