Artificial Intelligence, Structure of Knowledge, and the Future Directions for Macromarketing

In this essay, we explore AI critically from the perspectives of the corpus and structure of knowledge, human control of knowledge-based processes (including business decision-making and public policymaking), and capitalist ideology. We present a preliminary test of our argument with a re-analysis of a corpus of citizen visions of desirable and sustainable futures across 30 countries in Europe, demonstrating how pre-trained AI provides findings that appear convincing but in effect lack situational and contextual understanding and depth. Indeed, AI relies on the data that has been used in its training. Our conclusions discuss how capitalism through AI aims for advanced forms of productivity and efficiency that pose new challenges to marketing as an embedded cultural practice. We offer some suggestions for ways macromarketing scholars can help overcome some of these challenges.