China-based marketing agency BlueFocus has announced that it will be replacing third-party copywriters and designers with ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

The Beijing-based company said it will end the hiring of human copywriters and designers “to fully embrace generative AI” and cut expenses, Chinese media outlet The South China Morning Post reported.

While the shift towards using AI in marketing and advertising is not new, BlueFocus seems to be the first marketing agency to adopt the technology on such a large scale.

The company, which ranked 11th among global public relations agencies in 2022 and first among its Chinese peers by PRovoke Media, currently employs around 5,000 people.

BlueFocus reportedly has access to ChatGPT through Microsoft’s cloud service. The company is also exploring how New Bing, which integrates the chatbot, can bring “new possibilities for outbound advertisers.”

Furthermore, the marketing agency has engaged with Chinese ChatGPT alternatives, including Baidu’s Ernie Bot, which will be used in virtual character building and other digital marketing work.

BlueFocus has also applied for access to Alibaba Group Holding’s Tongyi Qianwen AI chatbot, which was unveiled earlier this week.

Can AI Chatbots Replace Human Creativity?

Marketing agencies can use AI chatbots to generate a variety of creative content such as slogans, taglines, captions, and product descriptions for different clients.

However, there are concerns about the impact of this technology on the creative industry.

Copywriting and design are professions that require creativity and emotion, which are perceived to be uniquely human.

Furthermore, the idea that a chatbot can generate creative content that is tailored to different brand identities and styles is yet to be proven right.

As reported, media giant BuzzFeed, which has started publishing SEO-driven AI-generated articles, saw massive criticism online after readers noted that the articles had very low standards.

More specifically, almost all articles have a similar writing style and use some common phrases. They often include “now, I know what you’re thinking” ahead of a rhetorical question about that specific place. The articles also frequently use the phrase “hidden gem.”

AI Could Impact 300M US Jobs

Goldman Sachs economists predicted last month that ChatGPT-like technologies could see as many as 300 million US jobs affected and would expose two-thirds of full-time US jobs to automation.

However, the bank noted that jobs in most industries are only partly exposed to automation.

In fact, it estimated that only 7% of US jobs could be fully replaced by AI. On the other hand, 63% of US jobs would be complemented by this new technology and some 30% not be affected at all.

“Although the impact of AI on the labor market is likely to be significant, most jobs and industries are only partially exposed to automation and are thus more likely to be complemented rather than substituted by AI,” the report said.

The investment bank also noted that, historically, worker displacement from automation has been offset by the emergence of new jobs that account for the vast majority of long-run employment growth.

Meanwhile, the growing adoption of AI technologies has also seen a rise in the voices warning against the potential dangers of such tools.

Just recently, the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Policy, a leading tech ethics group, filed a complaint with the FTC, asking the agency to halt the commercial releases of GPT-4, citing privacy and public safety concerns.

In a complaint, the group claimed that GPT-4 is “biased, deceptive, and a risk to privacy and public safety.” It also said that the tool has caused distress among some users with its quick and human-like responses to queries.