WPP CEO Mark Read believes that AI technology will lead to fewer jobs in the advertising industry,
The leader of the second largest advertising holding company in the world, said that AI technology will also create new roles as the industry adapts to one of the most disruptive technologies in human history.
Speaking to Times tech business editor Katie Prescott at SXSW London, Read said there is “no doubt” there will be “fewer people involved” to do the work that advertising and media agencies carry out today.
“But I think there will be many many more and many many different things that people will do that will bridge that gap,” he said.
“New jobs will be create (as) innovation does ultimately create jobs.”
Read said that AI should not be solely viewed through a filter of efficiency.
“We need to see it as an effectiveness game as well as an efficiency game,” he said. “It’s a way to work more quickly and more efficiently, but to also be more effective.”
Read’s comments address one of the major anxieties in adland – whether AI technology will replace jobs.
The common consensus is that AI will eliminate mundane and repetitive tasks, while automating much of the media buying and planning process.
Last year, IPG Mediabrands Australia CEO Mark Coad told B&T that deploying AI technology will remove a lot of the grunt work and automate the buying process, enabling agencies to become strategic advisers that can drive business growth for clients.
On the creative side, AI tech can be used to “kill slow and belated ways of working”, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia’s chief creative officer Mandie van der Merwe recently said, adding that it will allow creatives to focus more on thinking of big ideas.
WPP is investing $400 million each year to integrate AI technology throughout its business via its WPP Open platform (see WPP’s Open Intelligence video above).
“The creative industries will be some of best defended industries against AI, [because] we will have all of these tools,” Read said at SXSW London.
“Every TV ad you see, there’s no reason we won’t be using AI. It’s only a matter of time before the first AI film wins an Oscar. I hope it won’t write the script, but it can certainly create the film.”
Doubling down on ‘return to office’
Earlier this year, Read mandated that staff had to work from WPP offices at least four days a week, ending post-Covid flexible work policies.
The new rules faced an internal backlash, but Read defended the new ‘return to office’ policy as”the right thing to do”.
“I think people are happier when they’re in the office. In our offices, they’re much happier,” Read said.
“Human connectivity and human collaboration are what make all creative companies special.”
Nonetheless if AI is going to lighten workloads, it remains to be seen if there is enough work to fill four days per each week.
