AI Reshaping Online Advertising Tasks
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the online advertising landscape. What was once managed manually by marketing teams is now increasingly handled by AI technologies that can analyse, optimise, and execute campaigns in real time. While this shift brings significant efficiency gains, it also raises important questions about the future of marketing roles in online advertising.
The Rise of Automation in Online Advertising
AI provides significant advantages compared to humans completing the same tasks in the key areas of online advertising areas such as media buying automation, audience targeting across regions, and campaign optimisation. AI can generate real-time data on the performance of various advertisement formats and placements (Sands et al., 2024). It would be challenging and incredibly time-consuming for a human to produce the same information at the same speed and scale as AI technologies. As a result, many tasks that were traditionally performed by marketers are now being automated, allowing businesses to operate faster and make decisions based on real-time data.
Key Areas Where AI Is Replacing Human Tasks in Online Advertising
We can identify four main areas in online advertising that are being transformed by AI:
- Analysis of advertisement performance
- Analysis of consumer insights
- Creation of advertisements
- Media planning and buying.
AI has been widely used for a while to analyse large volumes of customer data and develop highly targeted campaigns. As pointed out by Türksoy already back in 2022, AI has significantly reduced the time required for data analysis, often completing in seconds in comparison to humans, who might take hours or days to complete the same tasks. As AI takes over repetitive and data-heavy tasks in online advertising, marketing roles are evolving towards a more strategic in nature.
AI-led shift in marketing is making marketing roles more technical. There is a growing demand for professionals who understand AI tools, data analysis, and potentially also machine learning. AI-related marketing skills will be highly sought after globally. There is a possibility that marketing work will be concentrated to a smaller group of highly skilled professionals who can manage and optimise AI systems (Kar, 2023).
The Future of Online Advertising and Marketing Roles
Looking ahead, AI agents may take over the role of a human marketing analyst, and they will be used to analyse marketing campaign performance and recommend future action steps. However, human marketers will still play a crucial role in setting up these AI-led systems and ensuring the quality of AI-produced outputs (Barry, 2025).
While some marketing tasks in online advertising are being replaced by AI, new opportunities are emerging for those who are skilled in using AI technologies. For businesses, this means when using AI strategically, it can enhance efficiency, improve performance, and free up time for more strategic work.
References:
Barry, N. (2025). The role of artificial intelligence in the future of work: Insights from the marketing field [Master’s thesis, University of Vaasa, Finland]. Osuva.
Kar, S. (2023). Impact of artificial intelligence on digital marketing. International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management. 7(08), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.55041/IJSREM25001
Sands, S., Campbell, C., Ferraro, C., Demsar, V., Rosengren, S., Farrel, K. (2024). Principles for advertising responsibly using generative AI. Organizational Dynamics, 53(2), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2024.101042
Türksoy, N. (2022). The future of public relations, advertising and journalism: How artificial intelligence may transform the communication profession and why society should care? Türkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi, 40, 398–407. https://doi.org/10.17829/turcom.1050491
