According to Sam Altman, “AI will (one day) handle 95% of marketing work done by agencies and creatives”. One might argue that as the founder of Open AI (a non-profit research organisation aiming to advance friendly AI for the benefit of humanity), he has a vested interest in making such remarks.  

While there is strong evidence to support this prediction, focusing on it in isolation would be remiss of us. Instead, I implore you to shift your perspective. With challenge comes opportunity, and opportunity is abundant here if you consider the following: 

As it stands is predictive and or generative, not creative. The aggregated belief from the experts is that this is the slowest and least effective AI will ever be. This means that there is a closing window of opportunity to adapt. AI today exists as a powerful enabler for agencies to refine a new competitive advantage IF they can crack the code of adoption.  

91% of marketers are already using AI in their jobs. Experiential marketers typically harness AI in one or more of the following five ways, with the overarching intention of increasing efficiency, effectiveness and personalisationi: 

1. Trend prediction and analysis: Trendspottr, Zignal, Jasper Ai 

2. Personalising experiences: Chat GPT, Midjourney 

3. Campaign messaging: Chat GPT, Jasper Ai, Microsoft Copilot 

4. Gamification and user engagement: Midjourney, Vidnoz,  

5. Curating UGC: Creatify, Midjourney, 11ElevenLabs, Vidnoz 

While these intentions seem well thought out, the same level of consideration hasn’t been applied in all aspects.  

Only 21% of marketers say their organisations have established policies governing employees’ use of AI. Further to this, only 32% are mitigating inaccuracyii.   

The problem is the big AI companies don’t provide a handbook, which means that most people are using AI like a hammer and of course, every problem becomes a nail. Everyone has been left to make sense of how to improve its output. Sports Illustrated fired their CEO after their AI scandal at the back end of last year and even the likes of the mighty GOOGLE have been caught out for lack of verification protocols on their AI, Gemini, which produced offensive historical imagesiii.   

Many have been spooked by Altman’s prediction but ironically aren’t doing the right things to secure the future of their careers. This unbridled, wild west-anything-goes mindset needs to evolve. At this rate, it won’t be AI that steals your job, but the marketer who has mastered AI manipulation will.  

Key opinion leader Ethan Mollick is a great source of insight into how our mindsets need to evolve. He says, “It’s helpful to understand this moment as one of co-creation.” The AI of today will progress from this moment into one of the following 4 scenarios:  

1. This is as Good as AI Gets: I think this is the most unlikely of the four. 

2. Slow Growth: Most exponential growth starts slow and hits a barrier. As the role for AI grows in our lives the more aspects it will disrupt.   

3. Exponential Growth: AI companies might use AI systems to create the next-gen of AI. Much like the scenes depicted in the movies, once this process starts it is hard to stop. Risks will become more severe and less predictable. AI will become hundreds of times more capable than it is today.  

4. The Machine God: Machines reach the “AGI” stage, Artificial God Intelligence, with some form of sentience. They become as smart and, in many ways, more capable than humans. There is, ironically, no reason to suggest that human intelligence should be the upper limit, but there is also no reason to suspect that this might happen.  

While I don’t know whether AI will obtain God-like sentience and render us all useless, what I do know from my years in the industry is that there are two enduring truths: 

Truth 1: Creativity will always find a home. Instead of being fearful of our AI future, we should instead consider how AI will make us better at our jobs. We should ask ourselves how we can create more distinctive experiences that deepen meaningful exchanges using AI as a sparring partner not enemy.  

Truth 2: The more digital our worlds become; the more people will crave human experiences. The need for human connection is enduring and ensuring that AI starts the process but that a human finishes it will keep that authentic and real creativity. 

As experts in creativity, our role is to push brands to deliver more for the world, not just their consumers. This means that we don’t have time to fear AI.  

No matter how many times I turn the AI Rubix cube in my mind, I keep coming back to one thing. The quality of your results with any AI system lives or dies in your understanding of the input into that system.  

This input not only defines the quality of your output for your task today, but it also defines how well you ensure your career as a marketeer for years to follow. This is how you truly adapt to change and maintain as much of the human fabric in your brand experience as possible. 

Resource directory for the curious: 

Here is a short list of key opinion Leaders that have interesting views on AI:  

• Ethan Mollick, Professor of Management and Co-Director, Generative AI Lab at Wharton 

• Sam Altman, Founder of Open Ai 

• Zipporah Allen, Chief Business Officer at Strava