AI & Event Planning: How to get started today

When it comes to AI, the events industry has been quick to embrace the possibilities, while educating professionals on its limits. Curious about the potential, and cautious about the implications, event professionals are now at various stages of experimentation and expertise.

In this article, we're breaking down the key use cases, utilization tips, and prompts to help you get started. And if you want to take a deeper dive into it, you're welcome to download our free AI guide for event professionals.

For your workflow

Understanding the capabilities and limitations of generative AI is key to harnessing its potential.

For event professionals to whom organization and efficiency are crucial, AI can help with ideation and automation of administrative tasks, saving dozens of hours with each event.

Tools like ChatGPT, NotionAI and browse.ai can keep you up to speed on industry news, come up with ideas for content, help you get off the blank page and get the ball rolling.

Ways to use AI tools for an optimized workflow:

• regularly track certain websites and extract relevant news to save time spent browsing and keep you up to speed
• seek out ideas, recommendations, content suggestions and agenda outlines from generative AI tools
• automate what you avoid doing, create momentum within your workflow
• have AI tools assess data and generate valuable insights
• simplify in-depth information

For your events

For event planners, there is a multitude of benefits to incorporating AI tools. We've divided them into three sections: planning, event production, and post-production.

Instead of trying to optimize everything at once with a different tool for each action, identify where you often feel blocked in your workflow. Whatever you tend to struggle with, there is likely some way that AI tools can at least get you started.

With tools to keep your workflow moving steadily, you can focus on strategic and creative elements in ways you haven't had the time for in the past. That's how you can use these tools to not accomplish your work for you, but to help you take your work to the next level.

Planning

• generate ideas for themes, activities and more
• browse, track and summarize relevant industry news
  
• creating event briefs
  
• sourcing venues and vendors
• scheduling
• generate promotional materials
• personalize invitations, track RSVP
• interactive event websites

Event production

• content adapted to brand and audience
• optimize matchmaking for impactful networking
• personalize experiences
• chatbot for customer services
• assistants to answer questions
• ticketing and insights

Post-production

• analytics and actionable insights
• analyze attendee sentiment
• long-term content cycle
• monitor social media presence of event/attendee posts
• transcribe event conversations, speeches and sessions to share with wider audience
• turn event content into videos

Use cases, how-tos, prompts, and cost

In an effort to provide a clear view as to what tools are out there, our guide has a chart with 15 tools that could be of use to you. For each tool, we provide a use case, a short brief on how to use it, a prompt when relevant, and the cost of the tool.

The areas in which these tools help range from idea and content generation, to attendee-related matters, networking and matchmaking, webpages and presentation, and more.

Here are five out of the 15 tools we outline in the guide:

Understanding the hype

We've all dabbled in existentialism when it comes to artificial intelligence, with one-off innovations and sci-fi movies of the past. So why the widespread hype now?

The recent worldwide hype surrounding AI can be largely attributed to the launch of ChatGPT. Beyond that, it is due to the development of Large Language Models, which we explain for a more comprehensive understanding in the guide.

Unlike previous AI technologies, ChatGPT does not require extensive technical knowledge, making it accessible to a wide range of users. Its ease of use and ability to be leveraged by any company, regardless of size or expertise, led to an unprecedented adoption rate.

Within just five days, ChatGPT gained one million users, far surpassing the speed at which popular platforms like Netflix and Airbnb had hit the same milestone. This rapid adoption reflects the user-friendly and conversational nature of AI tools like ChatGPT.

It's the dialogue that sets it apart. One could say, its seemingly human nature is the differentiator.

The limits of AI

There's a lot to cover when it comes to the limitations and “what not to do” with these tools, given that AI scientists don't even know the full scope of the implications of this technology.

The main limitation:

• generative AI tools like ChatGPT aren't search engines, they are predictive tools that create the most probable answer based on the prompt they are given
• this causes them to confidently output things that are not true

Here's the low down:

• never enter sensitive information into an AI tool
• always verify outputs: checking for accuracy as well as bias
• give credit where credit is due
• engage in critical discussions surrounding ethical implications of this technology and don't let it slide when AI is no longer new and shiny and as exciting
• AI won't do everything for you, and it shouldn't: use the extra time you have on your hands for those things you've never had time for

Ready to take your knowledge of AI to the next level? Curious to see the 10 other tools and examples in the chart? Get your free guide today.