AI can provide several benefits to the marketing industry, including automating tasks, improving efficiency and embellishing creativity. But is there a danger we become too dependent on the tool, and how can we as marketers maintain a human touch?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has well and truly entered the chat. It's become a game-changer across many industries, and marketing is no exception.

From generating personalised content to analysing customer behaviour, new AI tools are constantly emerging, promising to make our work faster, easier, and more efficient. However, its rapid rise brings concerns. Many are questioning whether it will genuinely help us be better at our jobs or if it threatens to dilute the human creativity that has long been at the heart of our industry. While AI is undoubtedly good at many things, there's a risk that it could lead to generic, uninspired content that fails to engage.

As Thomas Walters, Europe CEO and co-founder of Billion Dollar Boy, aptly puts it: "The beauty of AI is its ability to analyse vast amounts of data and produce insights at lightning speeds. But the biggest danger of AI is that we become too reliant on it."

Industry experts offer their insights on AI's potential to enhance marketing efforts and its potential risk to creativity.

AI in marketing: faster, cheaper, better?

AI is often praised for its efficiency. By automating repetitive tasks, it allows us to focus on more strategic, high-value work.

AI excels at processing huge amounts of data and offering real-time, actionable insights. From automating customer data to personalising messages and even optimising campaigns, it can help brands connect with the right people at the right time. The result? Faster execution, better targeting, and more effective campaigns.

Lareina Yee, senior partner at McKinsey & Company, highlights how AI can directly impact a company's bottom line: "AI enhances marketing by enabling hyper-personalised experiences, reducing customer acquisition costs by up to 50%, and increasing marketing ROI by 10-30%."

Still, it comes with its own challenges, and marketers should be wary of alienating customers: "There is a fine line between personalisation and privacy. AI can feel invasive if brands don't manage data responsibly, compromising customer trust and potentially loyalty," warns Yee.

For many marketers, the appeal of AI lies in its ability to save time. Routine tasks like generating social media posts, drafting emails, or creating content variations for different platforms can be handled by AI tools, allowing teams to focus on more creative projects. Buddy Waddington, global principal technologist, insights & AI at Sprinklr, emphasises this advantage:

"With generative AI tools, leading brands will be able to go from insight, to content, to engagement and sales in minutes."

Can AI enhance creativity?

Although we often associate AI with efficiency, its role in enhancing creativity is increasingly becoming a focal point of discussion.

Tools like MidJourney and DALL-E allow marketers to visualise abstract ideas, while generative AI can help overcome the dreaded 'blank screen' stage. AI is becoming a liberator, relieving marketers from mundane tasks. Billy Hamilton-Stent, chief strategy officer at Publicis Pro, sees AI as a creative ally: "AI is like sand at the beach. Some people love it, some hate it, but it gets everywhere all the same," he says. "It's most definitely additive to our business, and its benefits as an efficiency creator are immediate."

Walters highlights how AI tools help speed up the creative process: "AI tools like MidJourney have helped us to bring creative ideas to life, especially when it comes to creating detailed mock-ups or storyboards," he says. "This has been particularly useful for projects with tight deadlines where time is of the essence."

However, it's important to understand that AI cannot create in isolation—it needs thoughtful human input to produce meaningful results. The key to unlocking its creative potential lies in understanding how to use it effectively, combining its speed and data-processing abilities with human intuition and storytelling.

Over-reliance on AI

As more marketers integrate AI into their processes, the risk of over-reliance looms large. While AI can generate content based on patterns and algorithms, it struggles to capture the subtlety of human emotions, culture, and storytelling. Over-relying on AI for content creation could lead to material that feels impersonal or repetitive, eroding the distinctiveness of a brand.

Peter Wood, chief technical officer at Spectrum Search, warns of this risk: "AI supports creativity but can't replace it," he says. "Without oversight, AI content can become repetitive, risking brand identity."

The temptation to use AI as a shortcut is all too real. When brands overuse it, marketing can become a numbers game, focusing on volume over creativity. Jennifer Wright, head of group marketing at BlueSky PR, stresses the importance of retaining originality: "The risk comes if we rely solely on AI and stop coming up with our own creative ideas—that way leads to blandness, where nothing differentiates one brand from another."

The overuse of AI could also lead to deskilling within marketing teams. As it takes over more tasks, marketers may become less proficient in core skills like copywriting and storytelling, and they might miss out on the learning and development opportunities that come from doing these tasks manually. This could lead to a workforce that is highly efficient at using AI tools but lacks the depth of knowledge to innovate beyond what the AI suggests.

Hamilton-Stent emphasises that AI should be an aid, not a replacement: "AI works like no other technology that has hit our organisation. It has been easier to implement and faster to adapt to than CRM, marketing automation, social media, the lot. No one at our place is sweating about being replaced by robots, but they all benefit from the extra time created in the week made available by generative tech."

The risk of deskilling is real, but it can be mitigated if businesses focus on upskilling their teams alongside their AI adoption. Savvy marketers will find ways to use AI to enhance their skills, not replace them.

AI as a tool, not a replacement

The key to successfully integrating AI into marketing is balancing automation and human creativity. It’s no doubt a powerful tool that can enhance marketers' abilities, but it must not be viewed as a replacement for the human touch.

The challenge lies in using AI as a tool to enhance these strengths rather than leaning too heavily on it and risking the erosion of what makes marketing unique. Walters emphasises this balance: "The biggest danger of AI is that we become too reliant on it. Can the job be done quicker using AI? The answer will almost always be yes. Will it meet your satisfaction in terms of quality? If the answer is no, then don't use it."

AI can handle data analysis and automation, but final creative decisions must remain in human hands. Marketers should approach AI as a partner in the creative process, allowing it to assist with idea generation while still maintaining full control over direction and execution.

Training and education are crucial here, and marketing teams must be equipped with the skills to use AI tools effectively, understanding how to harness their power without losing the creative and strategic insight that humans bring to the table.

The most successful marketers will be those who understand how to blend AI's capabilities with their own creative skills. If we use it to automate routine tasks, it can free up time for marketers to focus on what they do best: developing powerful, human-centred ideas that resonate with audiences on an emotional level. In this way, AI becomes a valuable tool in the marketer's toolbox, allowing creativity to flourish instead of stifling it.

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