Marketing Brief: Finding Our Place

Lately we’ve all heard rumblings that AI is coming for our jobs. But, as history has shown, change has always happened throughout history, and humans have always found their place in the mix.

Remember when computers first arrived on the scene, plenty of people feared for their jobs — especially human calculators who spent their days using their brains and crunching numbers by hand. The thinking was: if a machine can do math faster and more accurately, what’s left for people? 

But instead of wiping out jobs entirely, computers shifted the landscape. Human calculators evolved into analysts, operators, programmers, and decision-makers — using machines to handle the grunt work while they focused on interpreting results, solving complex problems, and making informed choices that required judgment, creativity, and expertise. The machines didn’t replace them — they became powerful tools that made human work easier and more valuable.

After reviewing a lot of the latest news, here are three takeaways and thoughts for those who might be a little worried about the future.

Meta and Google are racing ahead with AI-powered ads and search, handing off creative tasks and optimization to algorithms. But while machines might handle the mechanics, it’s still humans who craft the strategy, set goals, and ensure brand values don’t get lost in translation. After all, AI can’t read the room like a good marketer can.

From ChatGPT’s surging traffic to YouTube Shorts’ shiny new Lens integration, AI is making information and shopping slicker than ever. But even with bots churning out ad copy and real-time optimizations, it’s human creativity that fuels the big ideas, emotional hooks, and brand storytelling that actually connect with audiences. Automation may write a headline, but only people provide the heart.

While AI transforms how we discover products, people still crave trusted voices and recognizable brands. Half of Google searches are already for specific companies, and LinkedIn recommends doubling down on influencer partnerships that prioritize authentic, human-to-human connections. In a world of endless algorithms, trust remains a very human currency.

The tools may change, but the heart of the work remains human — creativity, judgment, empathy, life experience, and connection will always be in demand.

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