As a digital agency that’s been helping businesses win online since before Google and social media existed, we understand the importance of embracing new technology. We also believe in the responsible use of new technology, which requires thorough research, testing, and vetting before we recommend or implement any new tools or channels for our clients.
It’s no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to be more disruptive and impactful than any previous technology. To ignore it would be foolish and irresponsible for our business future and for our clients. To recklessly embrace it without thorough testing would be catastrophic. To that end, we have developed a thoughtful approach to researching, testing, and implementing AI both for ourselves and for our clients.
The following AI statement outlines how we are using AI today and is subject to change quickly as the technology and tools continue to evolve.
Core Belief About AI
Our core belief about AI is that it’s a tool to help improve the efficiency of our workflows and processes. It is not meant to serve as a replacement for the creative or strategic endeavors of our people, which are paramount to our success as an agency. AI is also not meant to be a substitute for the deep relationships we build with our clients. Developing a deep understanding of our clients’ businesses and objectives is core to who we are as an agency, and while AI can do many things, it cannot understand humans and their businesses to the same depth our trained and experienced professionals can.
In short, AI is here to assist us, not to replace the creative or strategic work we do to help our clients generate leads, revenue, and brand awareness.
How We Use AI
We encourage all Perrill employees to use AI in approved ways to improve their efficiency and workflows. In particular, we encourage usage of AI to automate low-skill tasks that allow our team members to spend more time on creative, strategic, and value-add work that AI cannot complete in the same capacity as our professionally trained team.
Common uses for AI at Perrill include but are not limited to:
- Competitive research
- Image creation
- Topic generation
- Chatbots
- Content outlines
- Style guide assembly
- Meeting recaps
- Data summaries
- Basic SEO tasks such as alt text generation
While AI can provide excellent assistance on daily tasks, we have strong policies in place against AI usage for any of the following:
- Analyzing confidential data with public AI tools
- Producing completed works of art or content that are published without heavy intervention by a human expert
- Automating bulk content creation in a way that violates Google’s Webmaster Guidelines
- Generating any website code that is not heavily vetted and tested by a trained programmer
- Developing any creative assets such as logos, website designs, icons, or other elements connected to a client’s brand
- Pretending to act as a human or representative of a business in a way that is misleading or harmful
Tools we regularly use at Perrill include:
- Microsoft Copilot
- ChatGPT Pro
- Gemini (Google)
- Meetgeek
- Sociable.ai
- Customers.ai
- HubSpot AI
All of these tools have been thoroughly tested and vetted by our team and are used in conjunction with our greater AI usage policy.
How We Research, Test, and Vet AI
With the rapid changes in AI-based technology, we recognize the importance in regularly discovering and testing new tools so we can help our clients stay ahead of the curve.
One observation we have made while testing AI tools is that most tools do not deliver on all their promises, and the information generated by AI tools can be inaccurate. That is why human intervention is almost always required before any work created by AI can be implemented in any capacity.
When encouraging our employees to test AI, we start with these questions:
- What are the low-skill tasks you could potentially automate without negatively impacting performance?
- What are the time-consuming tasks that take away from your ability to perform creative and strategic work?
- What are the elements of your role that you don’t enjoy that could potentially be automated without negatively impacting performance?
We encourage all employees to test new AI tools and uses in a structured setting. This includes:
- The establishment of an AI team that meets regularly to discuss new tools and uses that may positively impact each department’s processes and workflows
- Regular monitoring of tools and complete auditing prior to rolling out any tools for broader usage or usage on client accounts
- Thorough approval layers before any AI tools are developed, purchased, or implemented for usage on client accounts
Data Privacy and AI Usage
The privacy of our clients’ data is of the utmost importance to us. Any data that might be considered confidential regarding one of our clients must not be shared in any capacity with any public AI tools. This includes but is not limited to financial information, customer data, organizational structure, names of team members, and other information that cannot be easily found through a simple web search.
Long-term AI Vision
Perrill is committed to being a leader in researching, developing, and deploying technologies that improve our workflows and client performance. The future of AI is by no means certain, but we know the future of marketing and business will include AI. By using AI responsibly, effectively, and ethically at Perrill, we will deliver faster and better results for our clients while allowing our team members to spend more time focusing on their top strengths and skills.