Article
Marketing Letters

Soul and Machine (Learning)

By: Davide Proserpio, John R. Hauser, Xiao Liu, Tomomichi Amano, Burnap Alex, Tong Guo, Dokyun (DK) Lee, Randall Lewis, Kanishka Misra, Eric Schwarz, Artem Timoshenko, Lilei Xu and Hema Yoganarasimhan

Format:Print

Abstract

Machine learning is bringing us self-driving cars, medical diagnoses, and language translation, but how can machine learning help marketers improve marketing decisions? Machine learning models predict extremely well, are scalable to “big data,” and are a natural fit to analyze rich media content, such as text, images, audio, and video. Examples of current marketing applications include identification of customer needs from online data, accurate prediction of consumer response to advertising, personalized pricing, and product recommendations. But without the human input and insight—the soul—the applications of machine learning are limited. To create competitive or cooperative strategies, to generate creative product designs, to be accurate for “what-if” and “but-for” applications, to devise dynamic policies, to advance knowledge, to protect consumer privacy, and avoid algorithm bias, machine learning needs a soul. The brightest future is based on the synergy of what the machine can do well and what humans do well. We provide examples and predictions for the future.

Keywords

Machine Learning; Marketing Applications; Knowledge; Technological Innovation; Core Relationships; Marketing

Citation

Proserpio, Davide, John R. Hauser, Xiao Liu, Tomomichi Amano, Burnap Alex, Tong Guo, Dokyun (DK) Lee, Randall Lewis, Kanishka Misra, Eric Schwarz, Artem Timoshenko, Lilei Xu, and Hema Yoganarasimhan. "Soul and Machine (Learning)." Marketing Letters 31, no. 4 (December 2020): 393–404.