by Maor Sadra, CEO at INCRMNTAL
Multiple tech companies have made layoffs of late. Google and Microsoft both made redundancies in their AI and cloud divisions in the last few months, which follows a leaked memo at the start of the year, suggesting Google plans to make mass layoffs – up to 30,000 – in its bid to be the “world’s most advanced, safe, and responsible AI“. Another major player, IBM announced a strategy to replace upwards of 8,000 jobs with AI, and Amazon, Meta and Snap have also axed hundreds of roles recently.
The AI-phobes among us are viewing this as confirmation that the advent of generative AI technology will indeed see humans replaced by robots as the world edges ever closer to a dystopian future. On the other side of the fence, AI-philias view the technology as the greatest thing to happen to the world of advertising and other industries, and something that must not be curtailed at any cost.
So, should the industry be clamping down on AI now to avoid potential mass redundancies or are fears around AI being blown out of proportion?
Not just hype
First thing’s first, the reason AI is so feared is because it’s so powerful. We’ve seen advances over the past year that could only have been imagined previously. Although AI has been used in its more primitive forms in advertising since the 90s, it truly hit the mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT. And the speed and tenacity with which it has infused almost every digital asset from design, content, music, influencers, games, and more, is incredible and its potential seems unbounded.
Generative AI is a technology that’s here to stay. Its ability to learn and improve means the capabilities we’re seeing now are only just the beginning. Given the extent to which it’s already enhanced all aspects of advertising from creatives, targeting, placements and measurement, the potential for how it could transform advertising in the future is immense and something the industry should harness.
But that still begs the question of whether its potential should be carefully managed to avoid job losses?
The redundancy conundrum
It’s easy to see why people are fearful about AI when headlines appear about one of tech’s biggest employers planning to cut 30,000 jobs due to AI innovation. But the truth behind Google’s proposed restructuring is that many of those hires would have come as a result of acquisitions Google has made and were always roles designed to get its advertising division to the level it is. And Google Ads is an incredibly powerful self-service advertising engine, which has not relied on human intervention for some time.
There’s no getting around the fact that AI’s ability to automate will result in roles being lost or changed but it’s not mass redundancies we’re going to see, but new roles created to accommodate this flourishing technology. It’s not the first time advances in tech have resulted in job losses or changes either; the installation of self-checkouts in supermarkets meant less cashiers but on the whole, these roles were assigned elsewhere in businesses.
Man or machine
That’s not to say we don’t need to tread carefully with AI though, it’s certainly not a technology that can be left to its own devices yet, and will likely always require some form of human micro-management. Being so nascent there is a high reputational risk for businesses that don’t manage it effectively. To work, generative AI relies on data being entered into it, and if that data is bad or inaccurate, what AI produces will be the same. Therefore, the industry needs individuals skilled at communicating with machines to get the best out of them, and we’re going to see this particular skill set be increasingly in demand from this point onwards.
It’s also important to consider that AI can only learn from what’s gone before and when it comes to creative and content in advertising often what is needed, and most engaging for consumers, is fresh and exciting campaigns that move advertising in a new direction. And this is something that – at present – can only come from human minds.
Yes, AI will result in job losses and changes, but it will also result in new opportunities and positions, many of which we’re not even aware of yet. As with any technology in its infancy, it needs to be nurtured with care, but providing this happens, AI will grow up to be the greatest asset the advertising industry has ever-known.
