The MarTech Laboratory: AI in marketing education

The MarTech Laboratory: AI in marketing education

Exploring the intersection of marketing and advanced technologies, the MarTech Laboratory is a joint project led by Ulster University and Liverpool John Moores University.

With artificial intelligence being a key driver of innovation in marketing, the MarTech Laboratory is investigating a variety of practical ways in which their students can harness AI. The use cases of AI in this domain include:

• Personalised marketing, where customers see messaging that is tailored to their interests
• Predictive analytics, which allows future trends to be forecasted based on past patterns
• Chatbots and virtual assistants, to provide users with attentive, on-demand support
• Real-time social media analysis, to understand present trends and make decisions accordingly
• Market research, where generative AI is used to conduct initial research into a particular market

MarTech Laboratory’s work centers around their #6SCommunity: Student-led, Specialist-supported, seeking to enable Startups, Social Enterprises, Sustainability-focused, and Social good projects. By working with a wide range of stakeholders, they are able to spread cutting-edge practices to a wider range of entrepreneurs, thus adding social, environmental, and commercial value.

In one project, the laboratory explored how AI can be integrated into marketing within the tourism industry. This initiative involved a series of workshops designed to educate startup professionals and entrepreneurs in Africa on how to leverage AI to support a high-level, strategic approach. These workshops covered various aspects of AI, from basic concepts to advanced applications, emphasizing its potential to transform the tourism industry.

The laboratory has also conducted work to understand younger generations’ perspectives on the ethical implications of AI. One such project included a detailed survey examining various dimensions of AI ethics, such as the influence of ethical practices on the willingness to use AI tools for education, and the importance of training students how to use AI ethically. The findings from this survey highlighted that a significant portion of respondents are concerned about the ethical implications of AI. Furthermore, there was a strong consensus among respondents on the importance of educational institutions providing training on the ethical use of AI tools.

Continuing their focus on AI use and its implications in Higher Education, the lab is in the process of conducting focus groups to inform the development of a new survey instrument to understand student perspectives in higher education contexts, and it aims to develop a practical toolset to support better pedagogic outcomes for students and educators alike.