Should you still pursue a career in marketing?

My friend Tim Peter posed an interesting and timely question on his Think Out Loud podcast — Should a student still pursue a career in marketing? Should anyone? It got me thinking.

The answer to this question is certainly not as reliable or intuitive as it was a few years ago. Specifically, it has been projected that AI will nip at the heels of many white-collar skillsets and even eliminate the jobs of some entry-level and mid-career marketing professionals. A big part of marketing is detecting patterns and responding with answers that are patterns and AI does patterns well.

Would I still advise a young person to pursue a career in marketing?

I’ll address that today, but to alleviate your suspense, the answer is, “MAYBE.”

Let’s get into it.

The threat of AI and marketing careers

To understand my view of AI and its existential threat to marketing careers, let me explain how I dealt with a previous threat — the internet and content marketing.

Before the web, marketers held secrets, and that’s how we often made money. In fact, that’s how almost every business made money — holding information tightly and getting people to pay for our expertise and secrets.