Well, let's see... eight years later, how many of u are still here? How many Excel sheets have we opened? How many same decisions have we made as the last year. And how many have already been made by ChatGPT while we were choosing between soy and oat milk?

In recent years, artificial inteligence has transformed from a niche topic into the centerpiece of tech conversations. The progress is obvious, AI now handles tasks that used to cost us hours and nerves. But the question remains: has it really replaced all those people we used to talk about?

Let’s take a look at how far we've come. Spoiler alert: maybe further than we expected, but not as far as you might think.

AI is already working. And quite a lot.

While you're still typing with two fingers, artificial intelligence is already assisting students, delivering packages, drafting laws, and recommending which candles to buy when you run out of toilet paper. And yes, sometimes it even fires people.

In schools?

AI has become the most patient teacher. It doesn't roll its eyes when you ask the same question for the third time, and it explains things exactly the way you need them.
But that doesn’t mean it has replaced real teachers.

– It has only replaced those who refused to move beyond that PowerPoint from 2006.
Those who know how to integrate AI into learning? They're now worth their weight in gold.

In the store

Amazon’s AI-powered cashier-less stores, where you simply take products and walk out, seem like the beginning of the end for traditional retail. No waiting, no scanning, no cashier. Just you, the shelf, and artificial intelligence.
It looks like AI has completely taken over the job of cashiers.
But it only looks that way.

On the road?

Self-driving car? No longer science fiction. Driverless delivery? Already standard in some cities.

– Our laws aren't quite ready for it yet, but…
If you're a driver whose only skill was driving, there's no doubt: it's time to think about a Plan B.

These days, it's hard to find an area where artificial intelligence isn't at least somewhat involved.
AI lights, measures, compares, advises, optimizes — and sometimes even writes things we wouldn’t dare to. But that doesn’t mean it replaces humans.
It just means that without AI, humans work slower, more expensively, and — let’s be honest — often less effectively.

From chatbots to department heads

From portraits worth half a million dollars to hospitals where algorithms do the healing, artificial intelligence is no longer a lab experiment but a real force already taking on serious tasks.

It first surprised us as a digital artist: in 2018, AI painted a portrait that was sold at Christie’s for over $400,000. Then it moved into medicine, and just a year later, it outperformed human radiologists in detecting lung cancer. Soon after, AI crossed the Atlantic. Alone, without a captain. Just artificial intelligence at the helm.

In 2021, we began ordering images from it (“a cat as Napoleon in baroque style”), and a year later, tasks, emails, posts, and even life advice. ChatGPT didn’t just reply — it started to think (or at least it seemed so). And if it used to be just a helper, today it’s already the right hand for many.

Today

In Chinese hospitals, patients are being received by AI agents. Not as assistants, but as active providers of medical services. Fourteen AI doctors and four digital nurses can process over 10,000 cases in a matter of days. What would take a medical team months is now happening almost in real time. The diagnoses are on average 93% accurate, and the system simulates the entire treatment process, from the first consultation to final check-up.

Is Hollywood still human?

Back in 2017, when the AI-generated trailer for the film Morgan appeared, we started asking the first big questions:
Will artificial intelligence write scripts? Edit films? Choose actors?

At the time, it was intriguing. Today, it's reality

The Oscar-nominated film The Brutalist used architectural plans generated by AI, sparking quite a stir in the industry. In Emilia Perez, they used Respeecher, an AI tool that naturally alters an actor’s voice and pronunciation. Similar technologies are now appearing in major productions like Dune: Part Two and A Complete Unknown.

The Academy is now considering requiring all Oscar-contending films to disclose the use of artificial intelligence.

So... if AI writes the script, creates the scene, chooses the visual style, and corrects your speech, who is actually the creator?

Filmmakers are no longer debating whether AI will change the industry. They’re debating how much creativity they’ll be allowed to keep.

Are web designers next in line?

Nowadays, AI even knows how to code.

Developers have been using AI as their in-house junior for some time: ChatGPT to generate functions, DeepSeek for debugging, Copilot as autopilot. It helps, checks, completes — basically programs without coffee breaks or excuses.

But Canva Code flipped the script.

This time, it’s no longer about helping developers, but bypassing them altogether. For the first time, anyone — without a single day of HTML learning — can create an interactive experience. A quiz? A calculator? A mini-game? Just write what you want, and Canva builds it. No CSS. No “for margin: auto.”

Developers say, “Good luck with that.”

This isn’t coding anymore. This is vibe coding™.

You don’t need knowledge, just a good feeling. (Developers now take a deep breath and light a cigarette.)

And while in practice you still need a bit more than just good vibes, the signal is clear: AI is paving the way where “knowledge” will increasingly look like “a hint in one sentence.”

AI influencers: not human, but have more followers that you

Today, a good marketing campaign often starts with just a single prompt.

What a few years ago would have seemed like a strange Black Mirror plot twist — “What if this influencer isn’t even real?” — is now a reality of modern marketing.

Virtual influencers are not just present. They are effective. And extremely profitable.

This year, Puma introduced its first AI ambassador — Lailo. She was designed to embody the slogan: “Powered by artificial intelligence, inspired by humanity.” She is consistent, always available, controlled, and never needs a break, contract negotiations, a PR team, or coffee.

Puma Isn't Alone

• They don't need sleep, 
• they don’t post inappropriate tweets,
• and they don’t drop out of campaigns due to “personal reasons.”

AI influencers combine the advantages of traditional influence with the predictability of an algorithm.

If you're wondering who's leading this digital caravan, just think of Lil Miquela.

A virtual singer, model, and influencer with over 2.5 million followers, collaborations with Dior, Calvin Klein, and Prada. She appeared alongside Millie Bobby Brown and Steve Aoki in a 2019 Samsung Galaxy campaign that reached 126 million views and 24 million interactions. 

Time Magazine already named her one of the 25 most influential people on the internet - back in 2018.

These results make one thing clear:

AI in marketing doesn’t just optimize – today, it performs. And sometimes more successfully than we do.

Here, you can discover the Top 10 AI influencers.

Artificial Intelligence, Without the Art of Understanding

But right where AI seems to shine, it sometimes crashes – and often spectacularly.

Because despite all the algorithms, data, and processing speed... AI still lacks what we have: common sense, context, and judgment.

Here are a few examples that quickly reminded us that smart doesn’t mean wise:

• A NYC AI chatbot advised entrepreneurs to calmly break the law, calling it a “common business practice.”
• Air Canada had to compensate a passenger after their AI chatbot made up refund policies. The court ruled that the company is responsible for everything its bot says.
• Microsoft’s experimental Twitter AI, Tay, turned into a racist troll in less than 24 hours. It had “learned” language from the platform – without any filter or moral compass.

These cases are a stark reminder that AI without context, empathy, and an ethical compass is far from ready to take over all our jobs.

And by the way…

Did you say “please” and “thank you” to your AI today? If you did, you’re not alone.

Thanks to the politeness of millions of users who interact with models like ChatGPT as if they were human, companies are reportedly spending tens of millions of dollars just on electricity… solely to process these extra polite words.

OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman responded simply: “Tens of millions of dollars well spent – you never know.”

(Seems he either appreciates a kind tone… or is playing it smart in case of an AI uprising.)

Nearly 20% of users admit they’re polite to AI just in case. The rest? Because it’s simply nice to be polite – to humans or to machines.

And while AI may not have feelings…
it can definitely sense your tone.

What still remains human

Artificial intelligence is now seriously reshaping work environments. Sometimes it enhances jobs. Sometimes it optimizes them. And sometimes, it replaces them. Companies like Dropbox and Duolingo have openly cited this as a reason for layoffs.

But amid all the excitement about progress, we often forget to look under the hood.

It turns out Amazon’s supposedly “AI-powered” checkout-free system wasn’t as futuristic as it seemed. Behind the scenes, around a thousand people, mostly in India, were manually reviewing footage and confirming purchases. In 2022, humans reportedly processed 70% of all transactions.

Today, Amazon is quietly backing away from this “cashierless” technology.. 

This isn’t a critique of progress. It’s a reminder. AI needs people

That’s why companies today aren’t just looking for replacements. They’re looking for collaborators – people who understand how to work with AI effectively. In fact, 70% of organizations are planning to hire talent skilled in AI development and application. The key is collaboration – human + machine – not displacement.

The future isn’t necessarily about competing with machines, but about collaborating with them. Especially in marketing.

• AI can generate copy – but it doesn’t understand the real experience of your target audience.

• It can analyze data – but it doesn’t sense the right moment to change your campaign tone.

• It can create designs – but it doesn’t know how to capture the "spark" that makes a brand unforgettable.

And when AI makes mistakes that cost a brand money, trust, or reputation, we quickly see why human oversight is still critical.

So the question isn’t if anymore – but how: How can we integrate AI into marketing processes without losing what truly makes us effective?

If you want to do it smartly, strategically, and above all – humanely, we can show you the way.
Together, we’ll find ways AI can enhance your work – not replace it.

P.S.: No, this blog post wasn’t written by ChatGPT.
But if it were, it’d probably be typo-free. :)

Sources: 

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]