Author:
As Lead Developer on many events and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) enthusiast, I know there are some simple but powerful ways AI can make the event experience truly innovative for all audiences. This is not about replacing human interaction, but about examining the ways that AI can augment the event experience.
Here are five ways you can use AI to level up your audience experience.
Personalization. By using recommendation engines and recording how users interact with your event content, you can tailor and personalize the delegate experience. Whether it’s pre- or post-event communications, or your event keynote, you can use data to understand the interests of delegates and tailor the communications they receive. You could personalize the event agenda based on a person’s job role or customize their registration process based on their interests. You can also identify trends in real time and promote content to other attendees who may share similar interests. And the best bit? You can use this technology whether your audience is in the conference room or at home.
Virtual assistants. Virtual assistants are a great way of making information consistently accessible to a large audience, and most can be integrated with existing services like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. The increasingly sophisticated technology also means that people can feel like they are having a “human” conversation. Most can also converse in multiple languages – another benefit for those holding events across different countries and time zones. A great example is the QnA maker from Microsoft’s Cognitive Services. It allows you to feed in your event FAQs and will automatically generate a chatbot service, which can be integrated into any platform. You can even add a personality to the bot.
Audience sentiment. Many event leaders use tools to allow attendees to comment during an event. AI can give this tech an extra boost by analyzing the overall thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the audience using sentiment analysis. Software like Text Analytics gives you a clear way to see the most prevalent opinions or how people are feeling during a speech, without having to wade through multiple comments and analyze the sentiments yourself.
Marketing and communications. Pre- and post-event communications are vital to set the right tone for your event and to keep the conversation going long after delegates have left the building or shut down their laptops. If you are collecting data through a website, QR codes, or an app, this could be used to create a personalized event pack (virtual or physical). You could even make suggestions on the content delegates might like to see next. Video Indexers use AI to allow films to be searched by keyword, speaker, or even objects in the video. If you know what the delegates are interested in and can cross-reference this with your content, they are much more likely to want to engage with your post-event communications.
Networking. Perhaps you have asked delegates about their specific business interests and goals in your pre-event communications. What do they want to get out of this event? Software like Grip or ExpoPlatform can help with this, as they use AI to learn about the goals and interests of your delegates or sponsors and link them up based on facts, rather than chance.
All of this means your delegates will receive a more personalized, relevant, and valuable experience, whether your event is hybrid, virtual, or you are all back in the conference room together. AI is not a replacement for human judgment, but it can enhance and speed up certain processes, so that your event is more likely to hit the mark now and in the future.
