Today, marketers fear technology and believe that AI will mean the death of human creativity. But fear not, marketers: computers and algorithms will only mimic creativity, not replace it, and AI will create new, creative workflows. Ultimately, technology needs marketing more than marketing needs technology.

Marketing has been around for much longer than you think. Its origins go back to Mesopotamia in 3200 BC: someone put a mark on a coin and that mark became a sign of reliability and the first logos were created. And as technology developed, so did marketing. From the boom in print advertising after the invention of the printing press in 1440 to radio, television and internet advertising in the 20th century.^th Century; from connected TV to retail media, the marketing business has grown dramatically in the last few decades. Technology has made it easier for marketers to connect with consumers and marketing tools have also improved.

As advancing technology brings marketing into business, marketing makes technology possible. Technology spending is increasing in the name of AI innovation.

If 2023 was the year of efficiency in tech companies, with massive layoffs and cost cutting, then I predicted that 2024 would be the year of competition, with tech companies battling for the future of AI. The investment arms race in Silicon Valley proves me right. In the first two quarters of this year, Microsoft’s capital spending totaled $33 billion, driven by AI investments, Meta twice increased its forecasts for its 2024 spending bill to as much as $40 billion – the company spent $8.5 billion on AI computing infrastructure in the second quarter alone, and Google announced it would spend at least $12 billion per quarter on AI for the rest of the year.

Who pays for all these innovations? In most cases through advertising.

In the US alone, Meta, Google and Amazon are estimated to generate a combined $322.82 billion in advertising revenue in 2024. Advertising enables the democratization of technology and funds most innovation in the world today. This includes – and will continue to include – innovation in AI technology.

AI technology will enable creative marketing as all advertising becomes targeted advertising. Digital media now accounts for 75% of all media, up from a third of all media in 2020. Advertising will get better and better at finding exactly the right consumer at the right time in what I call the “Uber Economy.”

Let’s take a step back.

We started in the Ford economy with unique choices in the marketplace—Henry Ford made products affordable through standardization—you could have a car in any color as long as it was black. Then we entered the Starbucks economy with 155 choices for something black. Personalization became possible: baristas could change the size, milk, and flavor of drinks to create a unique beverage to your taste; you could create your own playlists on iPods. Now we are in the age of the Uber economy, where infinite personalized choices are now standard. You can order a ride from point A to point B, and Uber will create a product to your customized specifications. Rather than driving a world of standardization, technology has driven a world of personalized differentiation.

AI-based targeting will only further drive personalized differentiation and make marketing more effective than ever.

Electronic billboards will identify and track consumer behavior and serve ads based on who you probably are. Bots will simulate human conversations and their creation will enliven an entire industry – what do these bots look like? What accent do they have? What tone of voice do they have? With what level of sophistication do they speak? These bots – and soon real robots – will create whole new art forms and become the ultimate brand ambassadors for any brand; every brand will need the equivalent of a Disney movie in creativity as these bots will become their front doors. They will be as individual as humanity itself.

More generally, in a world dominated by data, analytics and human creativity have become even more valuable.

When I started doing surveys, I had a team of 63 people, from interviewers to samplers to hole punchers. Today, we can do surveys with three people, and surveys are easily accessible to anyone. Technology and AI will solve the easy cases, but they will not replace creativity, interpretation, insight and analysis – all things that marketing encompasses. Creativity will continue to flourish; it goes hand in hand with new technology, as it always has since the invention of the coin.