AI landed like an atomic bomb nearly two years ago. While the initial response was one of great fascination, the ultimate results have so far been mixed. AI went from being a wonder to a punchline as people routinely post odd or even dangerous suggestions that they have received from generative AI software.
Nevertheless, it is a tool that can do for free what people in software development, customer service, marketing, and other professions do for a salary. Is this technology a major threat to the future of employment?
In this article, we try to answer that question by taking a look at what AI is good at in the context of marketing, and what it can’t yet do.
Will AI Replace Marketers?
The concern of job displacement in the context of AI marketing is real. It’s also a little overblown. Here’s why:
- AI, though impressive, is not good enough to work without careful human supervision. There will always need to be someone there pushing the buttons. Also
- Marketing requires differentiation. It’s actually one of the primary features of any good marketing campaign. Brands want their voices built into every campaign. You can’t necessarily build that differentiation with AI alone.
That last point requires some elaboration. Why can’t ChatGPT create a revolutionary social media campaign for MadeUpCompany.com?
Because ChatGPT is universal where MadeUpCompany.com wants something very specific when developing its brand voice. Anyone can use generative AI. Everyone who does use it has access to the same tools. Yes, you can direct its responses through clever prompts, but there are ultimately limits to how different you can make them.
Here’s an example of a ChatGPT exchange designed to illustrate this point:
Prompt: Write a marketing Twitter caption for MadeUpCompany.com–an environmentally focused brand that sells luxury pet furniture.
ChatGPT said:
“🌿 Pamper your pets, protect the planet. 🌎✨ At MadeUpCompany.com, our luxury pet furniture is eco-friendly and designed with style in mind—because your pets deserve the best, and so does our Earth. 🐾 #SustainableLuxury #EcoFriendlyPets”
The Tweet isn’t terrible. It’s also not that good. Certainly, it won’t be unique. Why not? Take a look at how Chatty G handled a similar prompt on a separate thread:
Prompt: Give me a marketing Twitter Caption for PremierPetFurniture.com–a luxury pet furniture company that is focused on sustainability
ChatGPT said:
“Luxury meets sustainability at PremierPetFurniture.com 🐾🌱 Your pets deserve the best, and so does the planet. Explore eco-friendly, handcrafted furniture that pampers your pets in style. #LuxuryPetFurniture #EcoFriendlyLiving #SustainableStyle”
Do you see how similar these captions are? Not only are they both bland, but they contain some of the exact same wording. Anyone using AI to produce written content on the internet will run a serious risk of incidental plagiarism, which will kill their search engine results.
We should also add that the second output is inaccurate. Where we told ChatGPT that the furniture was luxury, it raised the stakes to “handcrafted.” Now PremierPetFurniture.com needs to either hire a carpenter or scrap the caption entirely.
Marketers dependent on AI will also just produce boring content—a huge no-no in marketing. The Chatty G Tweets could be used as a starting point from which a marketer can revise and improve the output, but what is the point of that? By the time they’ve crafted their prompt and edited the response, they will have spent more time than it would have taken to write the caption manually.
Great! So AI is Irrelevant to Marketing
Well, we didn’t say that. AI can accelerate workflows. It’s very good at processing data and delivering clear, actionable insights from that information. This is extremely helpful in marketing and could have major implications for how tomorrow’s marketers direct their ad campaigns.
It can also be used to brainstorm ideas. While a serious marketer wouldn’t want ChatGPT doing its writing for them, they may use the platform to brainstorm. No, it can’t write a great social media caption, but it probably can help you develop a well-thought-out post schedule.
To this end, AI may actually jeopardize some marketing jobs. A firm that once needed seven people may get by with five by using AI to accelerate its workflows. More efficient firms can afford to be leaner.
Worried about AI?
If you are worried about AI that is understandable. Some people will inevitably begin looking for ways to pivot into careers that they few as insolated from the risks of artificial intelligence—healthcare, education, even jobs involving manual labor.
Other people will work on upskilling. Developing talents that will allow them to work more efficiently alongside AI. If you are working in marketing right now, you probably do not have a major reason to worry about being completely replaced but it never hurts to diversify your skillset.
Conclusion
A few decades ago, “experts,” sounded the warning bell. Business technology was getting better and better. Soon, human accountants would no longer exist. There are dozens of alarmist articles published by major outlets that are now laughed at. Obviously, we still have accountants.
Software makes their job easier, maybe, but it hasn’t replaced them. The same will most likely be true of so many of the jobs that are being influenced by AI today. Why? People still like having a human touch. Take customer experience as an example. CX could theoretically be almost completely automated using chatbots and other AI-powered technology.
Will it be? Probably not. Brands don’t just want to “technically solve,” their customer’s problems. They want to distinguish themselves from the competition by delivering personalized, brand-specific support.
The same could be said of many other professions. Software engineering. Telehealth. HR. Just because something can be automated doesn’t mean it should be.
