My slides from the Future of Work and Education event at Techweek’18.

1. AI, MARKETING, AND THE FUTURE
OF WORK
DR JAMES MCDOWALL

2. FOUR INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS
• (1) From 1784: steam, mechanisation
• (2) From 1870: expansion of rail, telegraph, factory electrification,
production line, telephone
• (3) From 1980: computing, Moore’s Law, factory robotics, the Internet,
Metcalfe’s Law, eCommerce
• (4) From today: Big Data, AI, smart factories, IoT, autonomous vehicles,
quantum computing, nanotechnology […]

3. THE FUTURE IS EXPONENTIAL
By 2021 there would have been more advances in 1 year than in the last 100
(Google)
Is AI the new electricity? Are we ‘summoning a demon’?

4. MARKETING TODAY:
ART AND SCIENCE

5. BIG DATA = MARKETERS BEGGING FOR ML AND AI
• Big Data! 90% of the world’s data was created in the last year
• But – data rich; insights poor; churn
• 80% of the world’s data is currently unsearchable – ‘dark data’
• The rest is structured and unstructured

6. • AI is the Holy Grail of marketing – it takes care of the science
• ML will amplify marketing, purify advertising
• Marketing ‘to one, at scale’ – AI targeting, messaging, and timing
• AI psychographics: emotion, intent, and sentiment; no structured data needed?
55% no longer want to give any data to advertisers
• IBM Watson can already analyse 100s of millions of campaign metrics in seconds
• Content creation
• AI handles the repetitive, boring, and unhealthy tasks. Humans can focus on creative
and high level tasks with augmented decision making
HOW AI CHANGES MARKETING

7. • Proliferation of IoT; ‘dark’ data become visible and structured through ML
• Advertising platforms across IoT devices, e.g. in-home ad networks – by 2020, almost
all products will be designed with IoT in mind
VERY BRIEFLY – MARKETING AND IOT

8. Market research, objectives, channels, KPIs, leads, web development, mobile, eCommerce, landing pages,
UX, SEO, PPC/SEM, Social Media Advertising (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), social media strategy and
engagement, content marketing, EDM, data analytics, attribution, conversion metrics, A/B testing,
marketing automation (attract, convince, convert, repeat), graphic design and other creative tasks,
including offline campaigns and events.
Do you see a problem? DOA
TYPICAL TASKS FOR TODAY’S HUMAN MARKETERS

9. AI & JOBS: PEOPLE ARE WORRIED
• 65% of jobs in developing countries will be “wiped out” (World Bank)
• At least 45% in developed countries (Oxford, IBM, Google, PwC, etc.)
• Up to 800 million by 2030 (McKinsey) – Thomas Frey says 2 billion
• IBM: 100% of jobs will change in some way, but it’s really about tasks; new skills
required in every field with retraining and lifelong learning.

10. • Investment: $12 billion in 2017 -> $60 billion in 2021
• AGI or Singularity: 2040 generally accepted, but revised to 2029 recently
• Not just blue collar; white collar jobs are going to be impacted:
• Professional drivers, loan officers, receptionists, paralegals, farmers, clerks, publishers,
cashiers, travel agents, factory workers, dispatchers, waiters, bartenders, bank tellers,
accountants, doctors, radiologists, journalists, lawyers, stock traders, soldiers, fast food
workers, chefs, telemarketers, call centres, construction workers, actors, etc.
• 2000-2010: 85% of US job losses in manufacturing due to small advances in
technology – ‘Those old days aren’t coming back’, Obama
• Las Vegas will be 70% automated within 10 years!
AI & JOBS [CONT.]

11. • If a job is fundamentally routine with a predictable set of tasks and decisions, it can
be automated. How will the New Zealand job market be impacted?
• If we’re unprepared, we potentially face a radical deepening of inequality and a
painful transition for workers and their families
• Plenty of debate about human skill and creativity versus technology
• Regulation? UBI? Costs of no UBI? Tax on automation? Tax on AI?
WHERE TO FROM HERE?

12. VERY BRIEFLY: SCENARIOS FOR FORESIGHT

14. THANK YOU