Automation = Computers + People

It seems that people are fearful that advertising automation is going to replace human jobs.

Not true.

If you look at any other major industry or market where automation has come into play, there’s been growth and even more job creation. Good examples include finance and NASDAQ, and real estate and the MLS.

This is the same uncertainty that existed when IBM put the first computers on people’s desks a generation ago. People thought that Big Blue’s PC’s were going to replace them.

I remember when my mom – who works at a company that sells snow-blowers – called me one day about 10 years ago; she was afraid because the company told her that she had to learn how to use a computer. She thought that once the computer was trained and programmed to do her job, she wouldn’t be necessary anymore.

Today, she still has that job – and she loves how efficient the computer has made her.

Computers won’t replace people in automated advertising.

Why?

Because computers need people and people need computers.