For independent contractors and (small) business owners, a so-called business book is traditionally something that either helps us solve a business problem–or teaches us something new. Untraditionally, a business book can also be something simply entertaining, anywhere on the scale from frivolously distracting to outright hilarious.
So, here are two “business” books. What’s the common thread that runs through them?
Each of them represents a survival manual in its field, whether you’re trying to survive the AI revolution or make that decision about whether to quit your job and join a cult.
Marketing Artificial Intelligence:
AI, Marketing, and the Future of Business
By Paul Roetzer and Mark Kaput,
Holt, 2022
To us consumers, AI offers convenience and personalization. Think of the Amazon suggestions you get, the fact that Gmail finishes your sentences, and Google Maps making sure you get to your destination…not to mention Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, and zillions more apps and platforms collecting your (and our) data. When it comes to marketing, though, how can marketers and AI-driven machines work seamlessly? How do we cut through the noise and focus on the data that really matters? What are the implications of, say, using AI to create content? Then there’s my favorite question of all: Do we really want AI to restructure our sentences and paraphrase our ideas, à la create sales emails and ad copy? And how about a virtual influencer like Lil Miquela?
This book answers all these questions and more. It is an ideal starting point for consumers who want to know what’s really going on inside their Roomba, for example. Marketing Artificial Intelligence is also for marketing creatives who are worried that AI could steal their jobs (Know thy enemy, I always say), as well as all those looking for a roadmap to integrate the superpower of AI in their operations–with a grain of wisdom.
Not sure this book is for you? Start by listening to an interview with the authors.
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
by Amanda Montell,
Harper Collins Publ., 2021
When we think of cults, we think of Scientology, the Moonies, the Doomsday Church. How about CrossFit, Multi Level Marketing groups or that Instagram influencer you follow? They might not be cults in the conventional sense of the word, but there is something “cultish” about them. Linguist Amanda Montell analyzes language patterns that “cult” and “cultish” leaders and organizations use to gain an appealing/spiritual status.
“Words are the medium through which belief systems are manufactured, nurtured, and reinforced,” writes Montell. And yes, language is critical when you want to determine whether an organization has become too cultish for comfort.
But before we start pointing fingers, Montell continues, “language doesn’t work to manipulate people into believing things they don’t want to believe; instead, it gives them license to believe ideas they’re already open to. Language […] reshapes a person’s reality only if they are in an ideological place where that reshaping is welcome.”
Too busy to read this book? You’re in luck, the book has a nice segue: the podcast “Sounds Like A Cult” hosted by Amanda Montell herself.