Rise of the machines: Are robots after your job?
(Article orignally featured in Marketing Week)
Should marketers fear for their jobs or embrace the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, so they can adapt now and stay relevant in the future?
By Mindi Chahal 12 Jan 2017
It has been predicted that machines will eventually overtake human intelligence thanks to the advancement of computer power and increase in data collection. But while fears that robots will one day wipe out the human race might be extreme and distant, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) does have the potential to disrupt brands and those working within them in a far more immediate way.
So does that mean marketers jobs are at risk, and that a new way of thinking is required in order to adapt to this transformed employment market?
Programmatic buying and other automated techniques are already having a huge effect on marketing efficiency and the way the industry operates, and marketers at all levels now need to consider how AI and machine learning might affect their roles.
As Bank of England Governor Mark Carney stated in December last year, we are “in the midst of a technological revolution” that will “destroy jobs and livelihoods well before new ones emerge”.‘
Intelligent agents’ or AI will destroy 6% of all jobs in the US by 2021, according to research by Forrester, which shows the biggest effect will be felt in transportation, logistics, customer service and consumer services. A study by Oxford University suggests the top five jobs at risk of automation are loan officers, reception and information clerks, paralegals, retail salespeople and taxi drivers and chauffeurs.
"These things don’t destroy jobs, they just change what jobs are needed."
Larry Kotch, Brainbroker
A separate study by Oxford University and Deloitte at the end of 2015 suggests that for marketers specifically the risk is less pronounced. For ‘marketing associate professionals’, it is fairly unlikely (33%) that their jobs will be automated over the next 20 years and for ‘marketing and sales directors’ it is very unlikely (1%).
Meanwhile, a poll of 800 senior marketing and sales professionals across the EMEA region, conducted by Oracle, shows the use of emerging technologies is set to surge by 2020.
It reveals that 78% of brands expect to provide customer experiences through virtual reality in the next four years, while 80% of brands will be using chatbots for customer interactions by 2020. It also finds that 48% of brands have implemented automation technologies in sales, marketing and customer service, with another 40% planning to do so by 2020.
Need for experts
But rather than destroy the need for a human workforce, there is an argument that the move towards automation will simply create new and different jobs.
And as technology use grows so does the need for experts on that technology. For a marketing professional, understanding how and when to use automation tools and managing these will be a big part of the role in the future.“
These things don’t destroy jobs, they just change what jobs are needed,” says Larry Kotch, co-founder of Brainbroker – a startup aimed at helping brands blend technology and talent. Instead, he says it “pushes people into the managerial, consultative and search function rather than the implementation function”...