Unless you’ve completely logged off from the digital world over the past year, you’re sure to be aware of the current rapid developments in artificial intelligence – especially OpenAI’s ChatGPT language model. Despite all the discussions, news and social media posts, though, many questions still remain unanswered:
- Is all the hype really warranted?
- What are AI tools actually capable of?
- Do I need AI, and what can it do for me?
- Is my job on the brink of extinction, or is it all just scaremongering?
- How can I use this new technology PRODUCTIVELY in my professional environment?
- Will AI make all human contribution superfluous in the future?
At Leinhäuser, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the latest developments in AI and will continue to do so. We believe that’s the only way to get a full picture and understand how AI might meaningfully be implemented into our workflows and service offerings. Understandably, many of Leinhäuser’s clients have been asking themselves the same questions — we are, after all, currently experiencing an unprecedented and rapid technological upheaval.
“Artificial intelligence will have a more profound impact on humanity than fire, electricity and the internet.” – Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet
That’s why, in early October, Leinhäuser dedicated an entire day to exploring AI. Clients from different industries as well as external experts mingled with internal Leinhäuser colleagues with knowledge and experience in this area as part of the DonnersTALK event series, to consider together what the future might hold. Together, they explored how AI can be used to make a meaningful difference to our efficiency and an opportunity to exchange our experiences with the technology to date.
Higher, faster, further: Can AI help us achieve greater precision and speed in the communications arena?
This was the tagline for the first Leinhäuser DonnersTALK.
Since AI is highly topical, it came as no surprise that the response from was overwhelming. After only a short while, the event team had to close the initial registration list and establish a waiting list!
We had the privilege of hosting Jörg Müller, VP Business Innovation at glomex GmbH, a ProSieben subsidiary, as keynote speaker. With his software engineering background, Jörg was able to provide us with deep insights into AI. His keynote address “The Revolution is Rolling: A Survival Guide for Businesses in the AI Information Deluge” was a comparison and consideration of the different routes the future might take and showed us where we currently stand. The panic currently churning through companies and the media was put into perspective, and all participants were encouraged to stay informed and develop their own opinions.
As for myself, I’ve been exploring the topic of AI intensely for quite some time now. I was able to thread my knowledge and experience through my talk entitled “Is AI the end of SEO? What can AI do for copywriting, and is prompt engineering actually compatible with SEO?” I mainly focused on the technical possibilities of creating texts with the help of AI. To me, it was important to demonstrate AI’s strengths and weaknesses, and to present the latest trends. A good chuck of time was also spent focusing on whether and to what extent all this affects (multilingual) search engine optimization.
Extensive discussions ensued, not only in the half-hour Q&A, but also throughout the extended lunch break. All kinds of cases, different experiences and positions were laid on the table. In the end, the keynote speakers and panelists weren’t the only ones swapping stories; everyone who participated in any capacity that day immensely enriched this AI event.
As we say in Germany: “After theory comes practice.” Following the keynote speeches, we embarked on a practical exercise. In the afternoon, I joined Nina Alsberga, Abigail Keiper and Elisabeth Leise from the Leinhäuser team as well as Jörg Müller on a panel in which we demonstrated how various AI tools already play a key role in the everyday work life of audiovisual teams, copywriters and translators. Here, too, the audience was encouraged to participate in the discussion, share their own experiences and pose questions.
The exciting atmosphere carried through the subsequent panel discussion with Marta Schuman, Head of Corporate Languages at DHL Group, Heike Leinhäuser as Managing Director of Leinhäuser Language Services, René Andreovits from the Leinhäuser Tech Team and Jörg Müller. Marta Schuman’s insights into how DHL’s Language Service is using AI, strategically deploying it for greater productivity and using it to quickly and efficiently execute internal projects captivated everyone in the audience and prompted multiple questions from event attendees.
It was precisely the openness of the entire exchange, the curious inquiries and honest answers that made this DonnersTALK a real benefit for all participants. The differing perspectives and levels of experience with AI turned the event into something extraordinary, and feedback afterward was consistently positive. So, it isn’t surprising that our AI discussions continued into the evening, complemented by cool drinks and soft beats from Leinhäuser’s resident DJ.
All in all, the event was incredibly valuable. It was an opportunity to learn more about AI (for some, a chance to release inhibitions and experiment with such tools for the first time) and network with our peers. Artificial intelligence is indisputably here to stay, and its development is as rapid as it is complex. The inaugural AI DonnersTALK will certainly not be the last event on this topic at Leinhäuser.
About the Author: Udo Leinhäuser is Co-Founder of Leinhäuser Language Services GmbH and was Managing Partner until the end of 2012. Since leaving the company and founding iSEO.works, he has remained closely associated with Leinhäuser Language Services and has since worked with local and international clients as a specialist in SEO and International Search Engine Optimization. He deals extensively with AI and its implications in the context of SEO. Email: udo@i-seo.works
