Are Today’s Marketers Old Factory Workers?
For centuries, technology and machines have replaced tasks traditionally done by humans, from labouring jobs to typewriters, from manually sending customer emails to running automated email campaigns.
Quoting Gmyrek et al. (2023, p.7),
“Current debates on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and jobs recall those of the early 1900s with the introduction of the moving assembly line, or even those of the 1950s and 1960s, which followed the introduction of the early mainframe computers.”
A similar pattern of evolution can now be observed with AI replacing jobs (Gmyrek et al., 2023). In the past, we have predominantly seen factory workers losing their jobs. Now, increasingly, the job losses also affect the marketing field, which was once considered to be led by human creativity and communication skills, not by machines.
The discussion of how AI is replacing marketing roles has become a hot topic after the wider adoption of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. However, we should not forget that AI has been replacing marketing roles already for years.
AI’s impact on marketing roles is becoming increasingly evident across multiple functions. Research shows that marketing areas such as SEO, content creation, social media management, email marketing, and marketing automation are already being reshaped or replaced by AI tools (Haritha & Resham, 2023). Other marketing functions feeling the shift include marketing analytics, research, content marketing, and customer relationship management (Atlihan, 2024). Elhajjar (2024) raises a provoking question whether AI could replace marketing managers, and suggests the job areas under threat are decision-making, planning and strategising.
Are these shifts simply part of the evolution of technology and machines replacing tasks traditionally done by humans? These examples reflect an evolutionary shift rather than a sudden disruption in the marketing field, showcasing the historical pattern of machines replacing humans over time.
This leaves a question open: Are today’s marketers old factory workers who are being replaced by machines? And what is the next evolutionary step forward for marketers?
References:
Atlihan, S. (2024). On the impact of artificial intelligence on marketing professionals and the future of marketing positions. [Master’s thesis, Universidade Católica Portuguesa]. Universidade Católica Portuguesa Research Repository.
Elhajjar, S. (2023). The current and future state of the marketing management profession. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 32(2), 233–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.2023.2166535
Gmyrek, P., Berg, J., & Bescond, D. (2023). Generative AI and jobs: A global analysis of potential effects on job quantity and quality (ILO Working Paper 96). International Labour Organization. https://doi.org/10.54394/FHEM8239
Haritha P., & Resham L. (2023). Impact of AI technology disruption on turnover intention of employees in digital marketing. International Research Journal on Advanced Engineering and Management, 2(03), 389–400. https://doi.org/10.47392/IRJAEM.2024.0055
