The Brands Are Alright (with Surrendering Their Digital Ad Business?)

 AI + people equals augmented intelligence, as one industry pro tells it. And that's the direct things are going for a lot of companies jumping aboard the artificial intelligence and machine learning bandwagon. While algorithms are nice, oversight's a must. Otherwise, you get Facebook and Google's situation where the algorithm's too vast to even control anymore. Are brands alright throwing themselves into that deep water? Some seem alright with it for now -- but at what point does the lack of control outweigh the benefits of a large audience?Your full rundown of video publishing and personalization happenings are below. See anything else we need to include? Let us know.The Argument for Augmented Intelligence [The Drum]While artificial intelligence is meant to help us humans with things like computation, memory, perseverance, precision and speed, which are all great things, when you extend the definition to augmented intelligence it then allows us to see how AI can help to augment more human things like abstraction, breaking rules, judgment, nuance, listening and storytelling.Why the Advertising Industry Believes Facebook is Invincible [Business Insider]"Facebook is a commanding platform. You just can’t shut it off without doing any damage to your brand. “That's because, for the most part, marketers have found Facebook ads highly effective in driving business results.” “Facebook is a great persuasion tool, period," an ad agency holding company executive, said on the condition of anonymity. "Whether you’re trying to influence people to vote a certain way or you’re selling a product, Facebook works at scale."Is Machine Learning the Future of Marketing? [TheNextWeb]Machine learning means using predictive analytics and intelligent automation to formulate data-driven predictions. It allows marketers to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data. In a recent survey of top marketing influencers, 97 percent said that the future of marketing will actually be a combination smart people armed with machine learning – in other words, that machine learning is the future of marketing.Do Facebook and Google Have Control of Their Algorithms Anymore? A Sobering Assessment and Warning [Poynter]We no longer really understand how these complex algorithms work. We don't understand how they're doing this categorization. It's giant matrices, thousands of rows and columns, maybe millions of rows and columns, and not the programmers and not anybody who looks at it, even if you have all the data, understands anymore how exactly it's operating any more than you'd know what I was thinking right now if you were shown a cross section of my brain. It's like we're not programming anymore, we're growing intelligence that we don't truly understand.Adidas Ups its Personalization Game with New Mobile App [Retail Dive]"The app gets to know the consumer's sport and style preferences and learns from his or her behavior and interaction with Adidas across all our digital touch points. The most relevant news stories, articles, blog posts, videos and events announcements are surfaced to engage with the consumer on what they are passionate about. It will take into account preferred sizes and colors and shows availability based on the consumer's country location."With Browsers Playing God, Publishers Must Find New Religion [AdExchanger]We’re done with talks of the duopoly. With mobile video exploding and TV turning digital, there are at least five, if not 10, big companies that will affect publisher revenue in the future, including Apple and Amazon. The right way to profit in the long haul is to stay above board and partner, partner, partner. Publishers can’t rely on the tech giants to keep them afloat. They need to work together to make it easier for advertisers to buy at scale without a middleman.Group M Explores State of Video Advertising [MediaPost]Disrupt Your Marketing: Understanding What AI Really Means [Exchangewire]How Salon Media Group Built its Video Content Strategy [eMarketer]Disgruntled Snapchat Publishers Look Eagerly to Redesign [AdAge]How Brands Can Use Big Data Without Creeping People Out [The Week]AI Will Assist Creative Professionals, Not Replace Them [VentureBeat]