Good question, but it’s complicated to calculate!
In the 1984 James Cameron science fiction action film, ‘The Terminator’ starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie plot pitted ‘man versus machine’ to control the world. Artificial intelligence looked to eliminate humans.
Thankfully, mankind won!
However, the explosion of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ or ‘A.I.’ may not be about the control of the world from any political or military perspective, but from a jobs perspective. Corporations worldwide are rushing to develop automation to replace people in the workplace. It’s been happening slowly for years with simple applications. For example, the box office at your local movie theater has been replaced with online ticket sales and ticket selling kiosks at the theater. Simple examples, but very effective in its mission to replace people—better known as paid labor cost to businesses.
Walmart recently made headlines when it announced, “65% of its stores will be entirely serviced by checkout automation by the end of 2026.” Most supermarkets and big box retailers are ramping up ‘self-checkouts’ to reduce labor costs too! These of course are very simple examples of automation as we know it today.
A.I. is leading the world towards a much smaller workforce. In theory, management and business owners won’t have to worry as much about staffing shortages during the holiday season, or coping with pay raises, rising medical costs, 401k plans or unionization. Business overheads will go down, and so do many of the challenges associated with people.
The next generation of A.I. will be very interactive with humans. Soon we will be able to have real time conversations with an A.I. customer service representative at an airport counter regarding our upcoming flights. We will be able to get our medical vitals checked by an A.I. ‘nurse’ practitioner at an emergency room, and construction robots will erect the walls in the new home we are building. These are just a few examples of the thousands of jobs that A.I. will likely be interacting with in our daily lives. All in due time as A.I.’s development accelerates.
As one the largest advertising agencies in San Antonio and Texas, The PM Group has been automating many of our client services for the last 10-15 years. For example, we can now have A.I. produce a photo image (that looks like a real person) for use in a client campaign print ad.
“The above example won’t replace any of our graphic designers, an art director or our creative director, but A.I. will make their jobs easier to complete. Integrating technology advances to streamline agency work remains a priority versus replacing workers because creativity is the heart of humanity,” stated agency President and Chief Operating Officer, Fran Yanity.
For the foreseeable future, society will continue to see transformational changes to the American workforce, but there will always be the need for a plumber to repair broken pipes or an attorney to broker a divorce between disgruntled couples and for a baker to customize a birthday cake for little Maria’s first birthday!
About The PM Group: The PM Group was launched in 1988 by our CEO & Founder Bob Wills. Now in our 35th year, the agency has continued to grow and is San Antonio’s largest advertising agency under the leadership of President and COO Fran Yanity. The PM Group’s client roster spans numerous industries including home services, automotive, CPG, entertainment and sports marketing, legal, business services, non-profits, real estate and fitness. For two consecutive years now, the agency has set annual revenue records with the addition of six new clients and through the continued success of our existing clients. Additionally, the agency hosts their annual Charity Gala that to date has raised millions of dollars for local San Antonio and South Texas area non-profit organizations. In 2021 alone, the agency donated over $1,800,000 to local non-profits. It is our way of giving back to the community that we so humbly serve.
