On a positive note, AI tools such as ChatGPT or Midjourney increase productivity. However, this also means that fewer copywriters, graphic designers and marketers will be needed in the future. How can a “person affected” not be afraid of this?
Anyone who fears for their job because of AI tools must have done a pretty bad job so far. You often read sentences like this, dripping with arrogance, online. And they are annoying. Because they imply that something like this could never happen to you. Because you only deal with things that can never be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence. Because you yourself are a fountain of clever ideas, a volcano of creativity and a rock of style. Or something like that. Well, pride comes before a fall. The Dunning-Kruger effect sends its regards.
Mediocre is enough for many customers
One problem is certainly that most customers are satisfied with mediocre quality. Many people buy their bread rolls from discount stores, their furniture from Ikea and their clothes from H&M. It is cynical to claim that traditional bakeries, joineries and bespoke tailors simply need to deliver better quality and they will be back in business. After all, a high-priced quality strategy may work for a certain clientele, but not for the masses. Customers often lack the money, and sometimes the will, to buy expensive products or services. But it is not only the customers, it is also the companies that are to blame for this development. The equation “high price = high quality” has not been true for a long time – as Stiftung Warentest regularly proves.
ChatGPT & Co. will push down prices for texts
If Richard David Precht is delighted in the “Lanz & Precht” podcast that AI tools are finally taking over “routine mental work” from humans, then he is right to be pleased from his position. Artificial intelligence should indeed be a big step forward for humanity. For the individual, however, it can mean a small step into the abyss. Concrete example: A company needs an SEO text with 1,000 words and now has the choice of having it generated by an AI tool at a low cost or hiring a copywriter for 500 euros. Of course, there are various factors that play a role in the decision. And of course, in individual cases, the copywriter may be lucky and land the job. However, in the long term and for the large number of copywriters, there will be fewer jobs and lower pay. Of course, copywriters themselves can use AI tools and thus counteract the development by producing texts more efficiently and cost-effectively – which is also nicely described in the video “ChatGPT in SEO: possible applications in everyday work” by Seokratie. However, as it is unlikely that the demand for SEO texts will increase significantly overall, competition will become tougher. Period.
Artificial intelligence will hit marketers hard
It will rarely be the case that AI tools completely automate tasks. Just as even in highly automated production halls there are still people who carry out certain tasks or check quality, ChatGPT, Midjourney and other AI tools will not replace humans 100%. Especially since not only is expertise required to formulate the orders (“prompts”) for the AI precisely, but know-how is also needed to be able to correct any errors. Kevin Chromik impressively demonstrates what I mean by this in the video “ChatGPT programs apps in 10 minutes“. While he can be pretty relaxed as a computer scientist, a classic shortage occupation, things look bleaker in other sectors. In 2020, well before the current AI boom, Deloitte’s study “The jobs of the future” for the “advertising and marketing” sector found that although demand will increase slightly, 24% of jobs will be lost by 2035, i.e. one in four jobs.
No one knows how disruptive artificial intelligence will be
In general, the time factor plays a major role. Nobody knows how quickly technical developments will progress and how disruptive they will be. They are all just predictions. A classic example: in 2006, hardly anyone could have guessed how quickly smartphones would become established and how profoundly they would influence our everyday lives. Looking to the future, nursing robots with artificial intelligence could be an absolute game changer in the healthcare sector, for example, and make many nursing staff redundant. But how long will it take until care robots are technically mature, hospitals and care homes can afford them and the robots are accepted by those in need of care? One, two or three decades?
Structural change will be tough for the PR and communications industry
Unlike in the care sector, the upheaval in the PR, communications and advertising industry is likely to be much faster. Just how painful structural change can be can still be seen today in the Ruhr region. The coal crisis began at the end of the 1950s and the region is still struggling with it today. And just as not every miner becomes a nurse, not every copywriter becomes a butcher, not every marketer becomes an educator and not every illustrator becomes a doctor. If you consider other economic developments in addition to the loss of jobs due to AI, such as the high energy costs in this country, supply bottlenecks and increasingly strong foreign competition in the manufacturing industry, it can be scary.
“Axel, are you afraid of artificial intelligence?”
Anyone who knows me already knows that I am neither Goethe nor Schiller. Nor am I David Ogilvy or Armin Reins. In other words, the future could be difficult for me professionally. However, being hostile to technology or being a luddite doesn’t help either. On the contrary, you have to embrace change, keep learning, keep developing and stay optimistic. Despite everything. What I read on kindernetz.de gives me hope: “Foxes are extremely adaptable. Whether it’s forests, semi-deserts, the coast or high mountains up to 4500 meters – foxes can find a habitat anywhere.” And I am a fox 😉
PS: Of course, new formats, perhaps even entire industries, will emerge on the basis of artificial intelligence. John Oliver already showed the potential of “AI storytelling” in a very illustrious way in 2022:
