From programming to statistics to machine learning for marketing

Abstract

With artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) taking the spotlight recently, it is imperative for all marketing professionals to cultivate an understanding of what these entail from a practical point of view. It is valuable to know how AI and ML arose from computer programming, some of their strengths, and some of their risks. It is useful to have a game plan for how to approach this powerful, new technology. This paper describes ML through the lens of prior programming methods and describes what it can and cannot do, while introducing some of the risks associated with using ML for marketing.