Dennis Mortensen, serial entrepreneur and CEO and Co-founder of x.ai, deeply understands consumers, content, and the role AI plays in forging the instant and enduring connections between the two. Here, he offers insight into how AI is changing storytelling – and how it may ultimately improve lives.
Topics that the event organizers requested:
- Discusses his background, prior ventures - media analytics
- Deeply understands a lot about the relationships consumers have with content
- Share some opinions on SW and AI is headed
- We are moving away from UI to a conversational AI
- Bettering lives (example experiences)
- What he is doing with x.ai / Amy and Andrew
- Not just about scheduling meetings
- We are putting the machine infrastructure in place
- What does that mean for the next gen of storytelling? Share some thoughts on how AI and the conversational UI are going to change the world as they know it
- Leave with questions - not answers - intend to be a little unsettling that they need to look ahead as their story format is changing
A NEW UI paradigm is arriving. // Pick the Golden Krishna open car example as the backdrop
Discuss background, prior ventures + anything you want to throw in about media analytics, the relationships consumers have with content
Traditional UX: Current default is SCREENS and APPS
Options are black and white.
User is fully in control of every outcome (but receives no decision assists from the software).
Entire knowledge base built over the last 20 years of interacting with software through GUI
BMW app example (or Diet Coke example)
13 steps to open the car door using the app
Walk up to my car
Pull out my smartphone
Wake up my phone
Unlock my phone
Exit my last opened app
Exit my last opened group
Swipe through a sea of icons, searching for the app
Tap the app icon
Wait for the app to load and try to find the unlock action
Make a guess with the menu and tap "Control"
Tap the Unlock button
Slide the slider to unlock
Physically open the car door (my goal)
Here's a specific example of an application succeeding within that UI paradigm.
BUT this is NOT just about fancy AI, it about the usual canvas disappearing. It's about invisible Software.
pick Alexa, Google Assistant, Facebook Messenger like backdrop (All text and voice)
Advances in tech (AI, compute power) mean new formats are possible. Conversational in the form of chat or voice. Distinguish range of capabilities from question answer bot all the way up intelligent agent as modes of interaction.
Goals in content will stay the same as what they’ve always been for your business (acquisition, engagement, whatever), but the formats are changing.
You won’t be interacting with your market/customers on the SCREEN or APP, your content will not be just something that exists on your website
Customers will be trained to expect better interactions by what other businesses are offering
Same BMW example, but now your car door unlocks automatically when your phone in the close vicinity (not conversational, but example of less friction) OR use
Diet Coke from hotel agent example
Banking fraud text example
Any interruption/bad design/error within this UI is likely to be friction to so visible that it works against you!!!
So how do we speak to our customers, or the more difficult task, how do we meet NEW customers within this UI?
Probably just big ass fonts asking this question
So how do we speak to our customers, or the more difficult task, how do we meet NEW customers within this UI?
Probably just big ass fonts asking this question
Suggestion 1: Data!
The Storytelling format is Data! (as in the data provides the agents information, which that can use as they converse about the world around them) //
Perhaps just some generic data slide. Perhaps a JSON formatted piece of code on some piece of, say, Hotel data. BUT make Data the clear answer.
Suggestion 2: Models! Can build on whatever data you have to connect with users and predict their behavior.
Users actually LIKE being sold to, as long as what’s recommended is correctly personalized to what they want. You feel a personal relationship with your software tools.
Bad example: whatever you just purchased follows you around the internet, Amazon image.
Good example: Netflix puts a huge amount of energy into their recommendation engine, from the shows suggested to the images to the order presented.
