Terminator or teammate? Some thoughts about AI in marketing

Grant Nicholas | PR and Marketing Director | Seren Global Media

Unless you’re a forest-dwelling Estonian spoon whittler, you’ll already be more than aware of the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – and the chances are, you’re probably using it already. From ChatGPT and DALL·E to Jasper, Grammarly, Midjourney and Canva Magic Studio, AI tools have exploded into our lives. What was once considered science fiction has become part of the everyday marketing toolkit – very quickly.

There’s a lot of noise around AI, some of it revolutionary, some of it apocalyptic. The ethical concerns and long-term effects of AI are already being debated at the highest levels. Will it solve all the world’s problems? Will it destroy us in some sort of Terminator-style robot war? Possibly. But for now, let’s focus on the more immediate reality: AI is already having a massive impact – and it's only just getting started.

In my view, AI is one of the most disruptive forces we’ve seen since the invention of the personal computer – possibly even since the dawn of farming. It’s that big. But let’s be clear: we’re not quite there yet.

I’m old enough (Gen X) to have started my career before the Adobe suite was even widely used. I learned to draw and hand-letter artwork for use in graphic design. Back then, it was all done on the drawing board with slide rules, set squares, and pens and pencils. Then came the computer desktop and the mouse, and everything changed.

People started going into graphic design who couldn’t draw a line with a pencil, but who could apply every Photoshop filter and InDesign effect going. The result? A wave of design work that, frankly, all looked the same – and hasn't dated particularly well. Then Flash (remember that?) came along with its glossy animations. It felt revolutionary… until it disappeared almost overnight.

More recently, we’ve seen Canva give everyone the tools to look like a designer. Templates and AI-assisted layouts made even the most aesthetically illiterate creations look semi-professional. And maybe that’s all most people wanted: a little bit of generic polish.

But each of these transitions came at a cost – not just to the skilled professionals whose talents were suddenly devalued, but to the creative integrity of the work itself. Something was lost. I think AI is just the latest iteration of this for the creative world. It will be useful – hugely so – but only in the right hands.

AI is already changing the game in our industry. It's transforming how we do marketing in ways that are impossible to ignore. Tools like Salesforce Einstein and Adobe Sensei allow for hyper-personalised targeting that learns and evolves in real-time. Platforms such as ChatGPT, Jasper and Copy.ai offer instant content creation, from blogs and emails to taglines and product descriptions. Others like HubSpot and PaveAI are turning vast pools of data into actionable customer insights. Then there are the new media production tools: Runway ML, Midjourney, and the AI-enhanced features of Canva – that let anyone generate images, videos, and polished graphics at unprecedented speed.

Used wisely, these tools can give agencies and in-house teams a significant edge, saving time, improving targeting, and even sparking fresh creative ideas. But there’s a catch.

Yes, AI can write copy. It can design social media graphics. It can analyse data in ways most of us can’t. But the current gold rush to “cut costs” by replacing creative professionals with AI could backfire for those who don’t fully understand what they’re doing.

As someone who works in this field every day, my opinion is this: before you sack your copywriters and designers to save a few pounds, take a moment to consider the downside. AI doesn’t yet understand nuance. It doesn’t quite get brand tone. It doesn’t know your audience the way you – or your team – do. And let’s be honest, it sometimes produces things that are just plain wrong!

And then there’s the more human, and perhaps more intangible, element. We’re not machines. We’re biological creatures hardwired by millennia of evolution to connect face-to-face, to read subtle cues, to make sense of emotion, empathy, context and culture. We don’t just process information – we feel it. Communication is as much about resonance and intuition as it is about the words or images themselves. That’s something AI, for all its power, can’t yet replicate – and perhaps never truly will.

There’s also the question of trust. AI might sound confident, but it doesn’t always know what it’s talking about. It can’t reliably fact-check itself, and it often “hallucinates” convincing falsehoods – a charming euphemism for what can be serious (and potentially dangerous) errors! That’s why human gatekeepers are still essential. We need people who know the difference between something that sounds plausible and something that’s actually true – people who can apply logic, judgement, research, and accountability.

Will the future of creatives, copywriters, and designers be numbered? Maybe. But here’s what I think: the people who understand the fields AI is starting to take over – content creation, visual design, marketing strategy – will be the best positioned to act as gatekeepers in this new revolution.

We may not need as many people doing the day-to-day production tasks. But we will need clever, skilled humans who can sense-check the AI’s work, shape it into something meaningful and on-brand, and apply emotional intelligence and intuition. Plus, we will still need people to maintain ethical standards, context, and quality control.

At our company, we’ve already integrated AI into our workflow – but not as a replacement for people. We use it to enhance what we do. It helps us work faster, brainstorm ideas, explore more creative routes, and dig deeper into data. But our team’s experience, creativity, and judgment remain at the heart of everything.

If you’re thinking about using AI in your business – and you probably should be – then my advice is to start with your strategy – something AI is less well equipped to provide. Choose tools that serve your goals, not just the trend. Keep humans in the loop. Use AI for speed and scale but apply human oversight at every stage. Train your team or trust those who understand its power and pitfalls. AI isn’t going anywhere, and upskilling is essential. Finally, stay flexible. This space is evolving fast. What works today might change tomorrow.

AI is an extraordinary tool. It’s exciting, powerful, and already reshaping the future of marketing and communications. But the idea that you can press a button and instantly get perfect, on-brand content without any human involvement? That’s a myth – at least for now.

At Seren Global Media, we’re embracing the revolution – but with open eyes. We combine cutting-edge AI tools with years of experience, sharp creative thinking, and real-world marketing and PR know-how to deliver work that’s not just fast, but truly impactful.

If we’re heading into the age of the machine, let’s at least make sure we’re the ones telling it what to do.

Terminator or teammate? Some thoughts about AI in marketing

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