The future of digital marketing with AI
I think a lot of digital marketers are optimistic as they have to be. It’s their job, but optimism hits reality, and it’s game over for them. Was it Mike Tyson that said, “Everyone’s got a plan until you get hit in the face?”
This simulation applies the Discontinuity Thesis to the Digital Marketing sector. This industry is currently the “canary in the coal mine” for the Verification Trap—where human expertise is being rapidly cannibalized to train the very systems that are replacing it.
The Current State: “The Centaur’s Last Ride”
We are in the High-Cope Phase (2024–2026). The industry is currently drunk on the “Augmentation Fallacy.” Agencies and freelancers believe that AI is a “superpower” that makes them 10x more productive, failing to realize that “10x productivity” in a finite market means “90% less need for staff.”
The narrative is: “AI won’t replace marketers; marketers using AI will replace marketers.”
The reality is: Marketers using AI are training the model that will replace all marketers.
1. The Mechanics of Cope: How the Sector is Bargaining
Strategy A: The “Strategist” Pivot
The Cope: “AI can generate copy and images, but it can’t do Strategy. It doesn’t understand Brand Voice, Cultural Nuance, or the Human Touch. We are shifting from ‘execution’ to ‘strategic oversight’.”
The Reality: “Strategy” in digital marketing is mostly pattern recognition—analyzing data to find profitable demographics and keywords. AI (specifically agentic tools like Demandbase or custom GPTs) is mathematically superior at this. The “Strategist” role is rapidly becoming a “Dashboard Watcher” role.
Strategy B: The “Human Connection” Premium
The Cope: Agencies are pivoting to “Authenticity.” They argue that in a sea of AI sludge, human-made content is a luxury good. They sell “storytelling” and “hand-crafted narratives.”
The Reality: This is the Artisanal Fallacy. While true for luxury brands (Rolex, Chanel), 99% of the economy runs on utility. A local plumber doesn’t need a “hand-crafted narrative”; they need a lead. Google Performance Max (PMax) and Meta Advantage+ deliver that lead for $0.30 without a “human story.”
Strategy C: The Prompt Engineer
The Cope: “Prompt Engineering is the new coding. I am an expert at guiding the AI to get the best result.”
The Reality: This is the definition of the Verification Trap. Every time a “Prompt Engineer” corrects an AI’s output, they provide the Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) data needed to fix the model. You are not an engineer; you are an unpaid trainer digging your own grave.
2. The Simulation: A “Day in the Life” of the End
Character: Sarah, Senior Account Manager at a mid-sized Digital Agency.
Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2025.
- 09:00 AM: Sarah opens Jasper and Midjourney. She used to have a team of three copywriters and two designers. They were laid off in 2024 to “optimize efficiency.” Now, she generates 50 ad variations in 10 minutes. She feels powerful.
- 10:30 AM: She spends 3 hours “verifying” the output (The P vs NP Inversion). The AI keeps putting six fingers on hands or using the wrong hex code for the client’s logo. She fixes it. The model logs her correction. The model learns.
- 02:00 PM: Client Call. The client asks why they are paying a monthly retainer for “Campaign Management” when Meta Advantage+ automatically allocates budget better than Sarah does. Sarah uses the “Strategic Oversight” defense. The client nods but notes that their in-house junior intern is getting similar ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) using just the “Auto-Optimize” button.
- 04:00 PM: Sarah receives an email from HubSpot. They have launched a new “Autonomous Agent” feature. It doesn’t just write emails; it A/B tests them, segments the list, and replies to leads automatically. It costs $50/month. It does 40% of Sarah’s remaining job.
- 06:00 PM: Sarah logs off, exhausted. She produced 10x the volume of 2022 Sarah, but billed the same amount. She senses the “Commoditization Trap”—her output is essentially free, so her margin is evaporating.
3. The Terminal Diagnosis
The Digital Marketing sector is suffering from The Zuckerberg Moment.
The platforms (Google, Meta, TikTok) no longer want agencies as middlemen. They want to own the entire stack.
- Input: You give them a credit card and a URL.
- Process: Their AI generates the creative, targets the audience, optimizes the bid, and tracks the sale.
- Output: Revenue.
The Agency is the Friction.
In the Discontinuity Thesis, the agency is the “cost” that the machine optimizes away. The “Strategy” that agencies sell is actually just inefficiency arbitrage—exploiting the fact that ad platforms used to be hard to use. Now that the platforms are autonomous, the arbitrage is gone.
Verdict:
Digital Marketing will bifurcate into two tiny groups:
- The 1% Elite Verifiers: High-level creative directors who manage “Brand IP” for Fortune 500s.
- The Algorithm Feeders: Gig-workers paid pennies to click “Approve” on AI-generated slop to ensure brand safety compliance.
Everyone in the middle—the Account Managers, the SEO Specialists, the Media Buyers—is in the Algorithmic Hospice, waiting for the contract to expire.
The Old Agency Model is Dead (that’s why I’m Starting Now)
This video illustrates the “Cope” in real-time, with an agency owner admitting the old model is dead while attempting to pivot to a new “AI-first” model that is likely just a transitional step toward full automation.