There's no escaping the fact that AI is the hot topic of the moment. Just recently the news has been dominated with conversations around the latest Chinese AI platform, DeepSeek, which was developed at a fraction of the cost incurred by OpenAI and other US-based models. This interest has already spread across the membership sector, with 100% of membership bodies expecting AI to have an impact on membership within the next three years, according to the Memberwise Digital Excellence Report 23/24. But, in reality, AI take up is still very much in its infancy, used by only a minority of larger membership organisations.
That is undoubtedly going to change, as this recent Memberwise blog highlights. Membership organisations are uniquely positioned to start leveraging AI. With data silos proving such a big issue across the sector, AI and machine learning models can provide a modern, effective way to sort, analyse and understand your data, especially when it comes to engagement, personalisation and retention.
Membership organisations also have the opportunity to use AI to solve dilemmas, such as streamlining internal processes and improving productivity. But, as with anything this new and this powerful, there are pitfalls to be aware of. Within the AI space, we must be mindful of several issues: What are the limitations of AI? How can we use it ethically? Who owns the IP of AI's outputs? What happens when we place too much trust or rely on it too heavily?
In this article, we discuss the key considerations that membership organisations should be aware of when using AI, and how to ensure that you are using it effectively.
Maintaining human authenticity
A challenge for membership organisations is maintaining authenticity in all member touchpoints and interactions. Over-reliance on AI could make member communications and marketing feel impersonal and lacking the genuine resonance that human-produced content provides. You must be mindful that members may feel that automated messages, website chatbots and AI-generated content lack the cadence and nuance that only a human touch can provide. For example, if, like us, you are exposed to AI daily, you begin to see patterns in the content it writes. Certain phrases, grammar, and sentence constructions are overused, making spotting AI-generated text easy. Likewise, although impressive, AI images cannot recreate the accurate tones and imperfections real photography provides, making them easy to identify.
However, AI can still be a fantastic tool if used in ways that support, not replace, your content creation and member support mechanisms. For example, using AI as a writing aid is better than allowing it to write for you. It can suggest improvements to an existing piece of work, help develop the structure of an article or white paper, or be used to ensure your audience targeting is validated. These uses make processes easier, but still allow you to maintain your authentic brand voice.
In terms of chatbots, they can be great. This is demonstrated by the 5% of respondents to the Memberwise Digital Excellence survey who have said that they have been successfully using AI to resolve member challenges. It is, however, important to balance this with the opportunity to speak to a real person swiftly if the chatbot is unable to resolve the issue or answer the query.
The MTM Agency has discussed this topic in more detail in another blog post, the rise of chatbots.
Ethical concerns
Going beyond content creation and imagery development, the use of AI inevitably raises a number of ethical questions, such as the use of copyrighted data to train the models, algorithmic-based decision-making, and the potential for manipulation or deception. Ensuring AI systems used by membership organisations adhere to ethical principles like fairness, accountability, and transparency can be complex and challenging.
The extensive data collection and analysis required for AI-driven marketing raises privacy risks if handled improperly. For example, unsuitable notice, consent, or handling of personal data can violate privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Members may be uncomfortable with the level of personal information being provided to a third-party application. The overly opaque use of AI in advertising and marketing decision-making could also be seen as unfair or manipulative, especially if it's not disclosed to members and subscribers.
Having a robust code of conduct and strict GDPR compliance in place is essential for any membership organisation, so ensure your documentation is fully up to date with new technological developments and develop a method for educating staff and members alike on these rules. Being transparent about if or when AI is being used, what data is being collected and how the data is being stored ensures that members are kept in the loop and trust can be maintained.
Technological limitations
Current AI technologies may not yet be sophisticated enough to handle the nuances and complexities of membership acquisition and retention strategies, which could lead to lower engagement and, therefore, suboptimal performance.
Relying on the instincts of your own marketing experts in your teams is likely to be more successful than relying on AI alone to make decisions. Your teams should be living and breathing the brand and its audience and be up to speed with the latest developments in your industry, so they should be best placed to solve problems and be agile. However, AI can still support with additional industry insights, uncovering surveys and studies, validating concepts or refining strategies.
Navigating change
Integrating AI into existing team workflows can be disruptive and may face resistance from teams or stakeholders who are accustomed to traditional methods, so considering how to adopt new processes and how everyone will benefit is crucial to its longer-term success. Consider the specific goals you are trying to achieve using AI, and ensure that everyone understands the reasoning behind any workflow changes. Lead with the benefits of efficiency, productivity, and insight.
Over-reliance on AI
Placing too much trust in AI-driven processes and communication strategies, without human oversight, runs the risk of reducing member satisfaction and damaging the emotional connection your audience has with your brand. AI models are trained on large historical datasets, meaning they could miss rapidly evolving member needs and changing customer behaviours. Equally, your specific niche might be too narrow for AI to provide reliable information. Membership organisations thrive when their communications are informed by a deep understanding of their members' real needs and preferences. Without this understanding, membership and association brands may find their members become less engaged, with reduced loyalty and satisfaction metrics increasing over time.
Ultimately, remember that you cannot replace any human with AI. You can add AI tools to your people's toolkit to streamline certain tasks. Still, decision making must be led by human intuition and creativity first, with technology as a supportive second.
Legal considerations
It's important to say that we are marketeers, not legal scholars, nor are we experts in AI legal considerations. However, caveats aside, there are a number of still-to-be-answered questions about AI-generated content, images, or videos and whether it could infringe on copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rules. You must also be aware of regulatory compliance. For example, certain industries, like finance or healthcare, have specific regulations around the use of AI that must be navigated carefully.
Seeking the correct legal advice on such matters to ensure that you are covered is advisable. It is an investment that will bear fruit if you can avoid any potentially costly legal issues later down the line if mistakes are made!
In the end…
AI isn't going away. It will only grow in significance and needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. It presents membership organisations with a significant opportunity to boost engagement, streamline operations, and enhance the member experience. But, within that suitcase of opportunity, there's also a fair bit of unwelcome baggage. From ethics and privacy to legal and technical constraints, brands across the sector must navigate these potential pitfalls with care and diligence – because the cost of not doing so could be significant. By maintaining an authentic human touch, upholding your ethics and transparency, and creating (and following) clear guidelines around compliance, you can harness the full potential of AI without compromising your values or jeopardising trust.
In short, think of AI as an important addition to your team's toolkit rather than a replacement for human insight. Take a balanced approach, where strategy, creativity, and empathy remain at the forefront, and you can successfully leverage AI to stay relevant, deliver greater value, and strengthen relationships with your audiences for the long term.