How to use AI to build smarter DAMs
or can DAM pros be replaced with ChatGPT yet?
I was checking out ChatGPT and find it fascinating. Although it has been contradictorily called the end of white-collar workers and useless garbage due to confidently wrong answers, I think it’s pretty similar to any tool. It all depends on how you use it.
What is ChatGPT and how do you get started?
ChatGPT is a language model chatbot, trained by OpenAI, that responds with conversations. You can ask follow-up questions and correct mistakes in a back-and-forth dialogue. The tool is now open to anyone to sign up either on desktop or mobile.
Since the tool is still in its research preview, OpenAI is looking for lots of feedback and reviews. As a rule, I treat all beta tools lightly - querying nothing sensitive and not relying on it for professional solutions. But ChatGPT is already changing the behavior of its users. Teachers are dealing with students having ChatGPT write their papers, businesses like real estate are using it to create listings and it may even help workers negotiate their next raise. For now, I have found 3 usecases where it can help research topics, brainstorm ideas and entertain you on a long roadtrip.
Usecase 1 - a new Google:
Since Chapter GPT is trained by user questions, it is learning over time. Most questions you might ask of Google will work in ChatGPT with pretty accurate - if surface-level - results. You can regenerate the response and it will deliver another result that is slightly different. For now, it sometimes returns incorrect responses, so double checking with a secondary source is smart. How does it do on basic DAM queries?
What is digital asset management?
Digital asset management (DAM) is the process of organizing, storing, and retrieving digital files and media assets, such as images, videos, audio files, and documents, in a centralized repository. It aims to streamline workflow and ensure consistent access, usage, and control over digital assets.
Not bad - a Google search gives a similar response.
How about something more subjective?
What kind of companies can benefit from digital asset management?
Many industries and types of organizations can benefit from digital asset management, including:
Marketing and advertising agencies
Media and entertainment companies
E-commerce and online retailers
Manufacturing and industrial companies
Healthcare organizations
Financial services firms
Government agencies
Education and research institutions
Non-profit organizations.
Any company that creates, uses, and manages large amounts of digital assets can benefit from a centralized and organized approach to asset management.
Again, similar to Google, and a good starting point if you are building a business case for launching a DAM for any of those industries.
Usecase 2 - brainstorming
Here is where I think a learning system like ChatGPT can really become useful, and potentially a replacement for low-level content creation and research. That might mean real-live-people will need to upskill into curators. Here’s one example.
How would you categorize collections of logos for various brands over 10 years?
The collection of logos for various brands over 10 years could be categorized as:
Brand Identity Evolution - showcasing how the logos of the brands have changed or evolved over the 10-year period.
Industry Trends - grouping the logos based on common design trends or stylistic elements that were popular in the industry during the time frame.
Company Size or Market Segment - grouping the logos based on the size of the company or the market segment they cater to (e.g. tech startups, food and beverage brands, financial services firms).
Geographical Location - grouping the logos based on the geographical location of the brands (e.g. logos of brands from North America, Europe, Asia, etc.).
Year of Launch or Rebrand - grouping the logos based on the year they were launched or rebranded during the 10-year period.
These categories can be used individually or in combination to provide a comprehensive understanding of the collection and its underlying themes.
A DAM pro with years of experience could look at this list, consider the needs of their client, the collection they are managing and the options listed and make an educated decision on which method might work best. Or maybe none of these is quite right but the brainstorming and idea generation might inspire a solution.
Usecase 3 - fun
When your eyes start glazing over after testing queries and tweaking the questions slightly to get better responses, maybe it’s time for a break. I recently asked ChatGPT to update Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. My first query returned a bunch of events, but no musicality. So I added “rhyming” to the question. Better, but skipped several key world events in between. The winner?
Can you write an update to ‘We didn’t start the fire’ in the rhyming style of Billy Joel covering the past 34 years?
“We Didn’t Start the Fire (2023 Update)”
Reagan spoke, Berlin Wall fell, Bush the First and Desert Storm as well.
Clinton next with Lewinsky affair, Terror struck on 9/11, we all did care.
iPads, iPhones, Facebook too, Financial crisis, bailouts ensue.
Obama brought healthcare to the nation, Trump brought division, lost election.
COVID came, lockdowns galore, Vaccines distributed, science wins the war.
Biden takes office, peace restore, Racism, equality, culture wars.
We didn’t start the fire, But we try to keep it burning bright.
We didn’t start the fire, But we try to make it through the night.
Billy Joel will not be out of a job soon, but ChatGPT made a valiant effort. Music not your thing? Search for a recipe, party ideas, fashion history, latest tech trends or a Valentine’s Day poem tailored for your partner.
Who knows if ChatGPT is the last chatbot we’ll see or what improvements will come out in future versions. As a tool to decrease repetitive tasks, it can inspire the same response in people that DAM did 10 years ago. A mix of fears for job loss, excitement over the time saved and questions on how to best adapt to a new technological reality.
As we found with DAM, the ChatGPT tool might open up new career paths and uses as it is employed more broadly over time. Also like DAM, the ability to do the wrong thing faster means that pros using ChatGPT should continue to develop strategy for how to use the results intelligently. Whether you are looking for ways to categorize logos, name a series of events, plan which topics are worth adding to your tag library or another query, ChatGPT might give you ideas to improve your DAM.