AI Job Displacement: Concerns of Creative Professionals

We asked 500+ Web Designers, Web Developers, Copywriters and Digital Marketers for their insights and perspectives on AI-related job displacement in the digital creative sphere.

Our survey found that almost 1 in 2 Digital Creatives Are Worried That AI Might Take Their Jobs.

Full results of our AI Survey can be found here: https://www.20i.com/ai-survey

Modern Job Displacement

Major advances in technology change the world – and the job market.

The industrial revolution and the rise of automated manufacturing upended employment for millions of people. Human involvement was rapidly rendered obsolete by machines that produce at an exponentially greater scale and speed.

‘Artificial intelligence’ is the latest technology with the potential to seismically shift entire sectors. Free to use AI tools are capable of producing code, copy and creating photorealistic artwork far more quickly than we can.

89% of our respondents use these tools on a monthly to daily basis. Of these; 92% said they were impressed with the output.

With AI generated results rated so highly by those in the best position to judge: is this the end for digital creatives?

Who Are The Digital Creative Professionals We Surveyed?

To ensure our AI Survey was properly targeted, we approached digital creatives whose primary roles fell into these categories:

• Digital Marketer
• Web Developer
• Web Designer
• Copywriter

After establishing eligibility, we asked how long they had been in their roles for.

88% have been in their roles for longer than 3 years, and 60% have 6+ years of experience – so it’s safe to say they know their stuff.

What Do Digital Creative Professionals Use AI Tools For?

There is some variance in how AI is used within each of the four roles; Copywriters don’t use AI for writing code as much as Web Developers for example. Combined usage across all roles is as follows:

• Generating ideas: 67%
• Image creation: 43%
• Copywriting: 40%
• Project management: 38%
• Reporting & data analysis: 38%
• Social media posting: 37%
• Code generation: 33%
• Design automation: 32%

Using AI to come up with ideas is no threat to any job in the industry – but being able to generate images, copy and code at a fraction of the cost of hiring a professional is going to appeal to businesses on budget.

Of course, low prices and value for money are not the same thing: AI-generated slop stands out like a sore thumb and will damage hard-earned brand reputation.

With the next generation of LLMs and AI Tools on the horizon, and promising ‘better’ results; how do creatives feel about the likelihood of AI taking business, and their jobs?

Almost 1 in 2 Digital Creatives Are Worried That AI Might Take Their Jobs

We asked our respondents to select all applicable “biggest concerns about the potential impact of AI on your field” from these choices:

• I am not concerned about AI
• Lack of creativity in AI-generated content
• Ethical misuse of AI
• Job displacement
• Over-reliance on AI

Over-reliance on AI scored 56.3% and 55.9% was the score for ethical misuse. Just less than half, 47%, marked that job displacement was among their AI-generated fears.

AI can compete on the coding, copywriting and image generation battlefronts, so such a high number is understandable. We asked a follow-up question to get a clearer picture of what digital creative professionals think about AI’s impact on the job market:

Which of these statements do you agree with most?

• AI will create more jobs than it takes away
• AI will have no impact on jobs in the industry
• AI will take away more jobs than it creates

As frequent, impressed AI users with years of experience in their digital disciplines; our respondents are well positioned to offer insight into the job market in their fields.

Views on the potential impact of AI varied by role, so let’s ‘delve’ into the results.

Patterns In The Silicon

Web Designers feel their roles are least at risk out of the groups with 25% holding the view that AI will ultimately take jobs away. The optimistic take adopted by 58% of our Web Designers is that more jobs will be created because of AI.

Web Developers aren’t far behind with 33% aligning towards AI-caused job loss and 42% of the opinion that the AI industry will open up more roles. Rounded up, just over a quarter don’t predict any significant shift.

The story flips for Copywriters and Digital Marketers.

30% of Copywriters, those whose primary skill gives them an edge in writing clear and actionable prompts, foresee AI generating employment opportunities. A pessimistic majority, 52%, are of the opinion that AI will be a net negative.

Digital Marketers tend to have a broad range of responsibilities that include elements of the other 3 roles. Insight gained from using AI tools for a wide range of tasks contributes to 54% of digital marketers predicting jobs will be taken away.

Who is right? Will the four sectors see differing amounts of disruption in line with our survey results? What can digital creatives do to keep our jobs secure from AI-redundancy?

Final Thoughts

76% of respondents feel that AI has improved the quality of output in their field, showing that these tools are perceived as net-positive by those in-the-know and whose jobs AI can perform to some degree.

These powerful tools in the hands of competent digital creatives push the boundaries of what’s possible and raise standards while reducing turnover time.

Nobody can accurately prophecy what direction the job market will take; experience with AI will fill a CV requirement for one employer where another specialises in human-only content.

Striving to be irreplaceable and bringing something to the table that AI alone cannot provide is the clear path to success.