It seems like AI is everywhere these days. Every other headline, advert and opinion piece (including this one) seems to mention the technology. As a result, you don’t have to go too far to hear someone ringing the last call bell for anyone working in creative roles. Designers, writers, videographers. We’re all doomed, it seems. But are we, really?

As a writer, I naturally have a vested interest in NOT losing my job to ED-209. But I also firmly believe that the death of human advertising is still a way off. Here are three reasons why I believe this.

AI is new and exciting

All forms of advertising benefit from being ahead of a trend, or on-trend at the very least. With AI being a new, exciting and much-talked-about innovation, it makes sense that brands are exploring how they can reap the benefits. Inevitably, that means using it for advertising, and then shouting about it for all the world to see.

But the thing with trends is… they change. AI is undoubtedly here to stay; it’s already doing remarkable things in the world of customer service and scientific research, but its ability to captivate audiences will dissipate. They’ll move onto the next big trend, whatever that might be.

The obvious answer is often boring

Our brains really don’t make much sense. We can see loads of hard evidence telling us exactly why a certain car, phone or games console is the best, only to go out and buy something completely different. Why? Because we like it. We’re irrational and we like what we like, even if we know it’s not the best.

AI doesn’t really do irrational. And that means it doesn’t always produce content we’ll like. Humans don’t always think logically. Instead, we form connections based on emotion, memory and lived experience. That can result in some utter garbage ideas, unquestionably, but also some standout gems. Take the Cadbury’s Gorilla as an example. It’s totally illogical as an advertising campaign, but you all remember it, don’t you? If all advertising was done by AI, you’d never get anything like the Cadbury Gorilla again, and the industry would be a darker place as a result.

Marketing is about differing yourself

Tone of voice. Brand image. These are factors businesses agonise over. But if we were to switch to an entirely AI-based marketing world, they wouldn’t really hold much value anymore. That’s because, while AI can produce content based on the information you input, it’ll always produce a similar, if not identical, result based on that information.

By comparison, if you give several humans the same brief, they’ll produce wildly different results from each other, including things you wouldn’t have thought of.

So, while consistency might not be quite on the same level as if everything was produced by a single AI platform, you will find little gems and human elements that’ll push your identity forward.

Bring it on, HAL 9000

These AI movie references aren’t getting more recent, are they? Regardless, while I have no doubt AI is on track to change our lives, I don’t think it’ll steal our jobs any time soon. Hopefully it’ll wait long enough for all of us to retire.