The Quiet Erosion: How AI Might Be Unraveling Our Human Agency

“AI won't replace you. A person using AI will." This phrase has gained increasing popularity, reflecting the growing relevance of artificial intelligence in our everyday lives. However, its frivolous application can lead to an oversimplified understanding of the underlying implications of AI to us as workers, citizens, and most importantly, as humans.

The short-term impact of AI is so sexy that in less than 6 months the internet is already littered with hustlers looking to make a quick buck on how to best use it. You’ve likely come across similar posts to these:

• “If you're not using AI, you're falling behind. Here are 20 AI tools to future-proof yourself. Get more tools like this by signing up to my newsletter.”

• “Forget ChatGPT… These A.I. tools will blow your mind!”

• “99% of you are using chatGPT WRONG. Sign up to my online course on how to create prompts that actually work and boost your productivity by 200%.”

This type of opportunistic behaviour was already expected by most of us. But what bothers me about it is not that people are trying to make a buck from it; rather it’s the false promise that you can do anything with AI and reach your wildest dreams - almost like a “get rich quick” scheme. Evidently AI is enhancing productivity and operational efficiency, but it’s imperative to delve into the potential second, third, and fourth-order effects, and what this may mean for our intellectual faculties.

Take a moment to reflect on the significant shifts in human capabilities following past seismic technological advancements. The agricultural revolution rendered a significant portion of humanity unfamiliar with hunting; television's prevalence diminished daily reading habits, and; the introduction of computers led to a generation largely incapable of cursive writing. These transitions, though not entirely negative, forced us to unlearn certain skills. Analogously, the AI revolution is likely to reshape our work practices and intellectual abilities, necessitating a crucial reevaluation of what we ought to protect about our human agency.

Previous revolutions were arguably net positive for society, triggering leaps in productivity, access to information, and communication effectiveness. Yet, it's crucial to question whether these transitions have been equally beneficial at an individual level. For instance, has the relative ease provided by technology made us any happier? Can we assertively declare that the youth of today, endowed with technological sophistication, are fundamentally more capable than their counterparts 2,000 years ago? What about our increased connectivity via social media channels - has it brought us closer together? These sorts of fundamental questions that go to the root of humans’ longing for self-actualization should be the filter through which we run these promises.

In this vein, the crux of the issue lies not merely in AI usurping job roles, but in the potential intellectual diminishment that might follow from over-reliance on AI - a muscle that doesn’t get used, atrophies.

Now, lets consider this from a marketing perspective. Marketing has been turned upside down since the advent of Google search and social media. Today, we’re able to measure everything - click through rates, impressions, view through rates, location data, cross-channel intent, lead generation, etc. This sort of data-driven approach to our profession which optimizes for short-term results has tossed aside the original dream of every marketer: to build brands that last.

While short-term performance marketing campaigns might drive immediate results, we cannot run every initiative through these lenses. In a world where 92% of B2B marketing budgets are now used on performance marketing, companies that invest in brand marketing are commercial treasures. Now take this one step further with AI, and we’re looking down a cliff.

The promise of artificial intelligence says that you can automate and create anything without lifting a finger. Need a blog post? No problem, you can have one in 30 seconds. Getting stuck on what your next social post should be about? Bard’s got your back. What about logos? AI can spit out thousands of options in a matter of seconds. The human-centricity of our profession that for so long represented the consumer in board meetings is at risk of disappearing.

While these advancements have undoubtedly expanded the marketer's toolkit (see above Coca-Cola’s great usage of Stable Diffusion for one of their ads), they also risk fostering over-reliance on AI and data-driven decision making, potentially stifling creativity and intuition - essential elements of successful marketing. We must guard against the erosion of these key aspects of our professional identity.

And last but not least, as we outsource more of our tasks to AI, what remains of our essential humanity? Our ability to think critically, solve complex problems, and create and appreciate beauty is what distinguishes us as a species. If these abilities become undervalued or underutilized, what becomes of our purpose and identity? If our decisions become increasingly reliant on algorithms, are they truly ours? If an AI-enhanced marketer's decisions are based on machine-generated insights, how will consumers feel when they learn that their psychology is being toyed with by a super-intelligent omnipresent machine?

The questions above do not offer easy answers. However, they provoke essential reflections on what we should strive to protect of our human agency in the face of the advancing AI revolution. We need not fear it, nor should we mindlessly embrace it. Instead, we should approach it cautiously navigating the path between unbridled enthusiasm and unreasoning fear.

PPA