by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
It definitely seems as though we’re headed into a recession for various reasons — some of them really dumb. At the same time, a number of developments in AI suggest that any recession we have will be significantly more severe than it might be otherwise.
The software industry and the advertising industry look like they are going to be severely disrupted this year and that disruption will grow staggering if we dip into any sort of recession. AI is now officially “just good enough” to do a lot of jobs that once were really well paying.
If we have a recession, I could see a lot of established advertising firms go under simply because instead of being paid to design ads, companies will expect advertising executives to use ChatGPT to create campaigns. That sounds pretty crazy right now, but when you’re in a recession, some crazy shit can happen when people are looking to save as much money as possible.
And if the advertising industry implodes, there will be a ripple effect across the economy.
The software industry may be disrupted, but I doubt it will actually implode like what might happen to advertising. Vibe coding is fun and all, but you still need an adult to make sure bad shit doesn’t happen. With the advertising stuff, meanwhile, the end result is so great — and self-evident — that, lulz, there’s no need for many, many jobs that otherwise once existed.
But only time will tell, I suppose.
