Everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence (AI), but how much do event planning professionals really know about it and the opportunities for using this tool in day-to-day activities?
By Angela Kryhul
Ottawa Tourism and The Hague & Partners Convention Bureau joined forces to better understand the potential impact of AI by surveying associations and not-for-profit organizations primarily in North America and Europe.
In the resulting white paper—Ethics and Education: Essential requirements for successful use of AI by association event organisers—the authors conclude that “AI is not just inevitable, it is a reality, here and now. AI will change the way we work; it is already doing so in the way we shop, drive, create documents and organize data. Why, therefore, should we believe for a moment that it will not change the way we organize events?”
The authors say the potential for AI goes far beyond generating content, images and marketing materials, and has the potential to enhance productivity and make data usage and manipulation more effective.
Through roundtable discussions and surveys conducted with industry executives last fall, the researchers found:
> Despite 63% of associations/not for profits already using AI to some extent in their event organizing work, 73% are not telling their delegates and stakeholders that they are doing so;
> 26% are upskilling in the use of AI, while 23% say they never intend to;
> 63% think governments should regulate the use of AI, however 65% don’t believe governments have the knowledge to legislate;
> 63% of respondents are concerned about the ethical implications of using AI in event organization.
Understanding AI
During roundtable discussions, researchers discovered that the majority of participants did not fully understand AI and its potential. Their knowledge was typically limited to generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, however they expressed interest in understanding the business case for using AI.
Despite this lack of understanding, on an emotional level, the survey respondents appeared to be positive about the impact of AI on their work, with 57% either quite or very positive and only 4% quite or very negative, leaving 38% ambivalent at this point in time, according to the white paper.
Most common uses
Among those currently using some form of AI, most of the tasks are related to marketing (58% of respondents) and content curation (51% of respondents).
ChatGPT is by far the most cited tool or system mentioned. This suggests that the industry is only scratching the surface when it comes to the use of AI, the white paper states.
“Such responses clearly show a naivety and lack of understanding when we consider that AI is already in use in so many areas—whether it be the computers that help fly the planes to events, online tools to build registration systems, or indeed the growing number of features integrated into something as ubiquitous as Microsoft Office,” the report states. “Just because we aren’t actively choosing to use AI for a specific task, doesn’t mean it isn’t already affecting our lives and our work.”
Visit the Ottawa Tourism website to download the white paper.
Published February 2024
