may reportedly use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to replace some jobs in the company. According to a report in The Information, AI might already be taking people's jobs at Google. The report cites people briefed on the plans and says that Google intends to "consolidate staff, including through possible layoffs, by reassigning employees at its large customer sales unit who oversee relationships with major advertisers."
The report further adds that the jobs are being vacated because Google's new AI tools have automated them.
It says that a future restructuring was apparently already announced at a department-wide Google Ads meeting last week.
At its annual developers conference Google I/O in May this year, Google announced a "new era of
AI-powered ads
", featuring a "natural-language conversational experience within Google Ads, designed to jump-start campaign creation and simplify Search ads." Google said that its new AI could scan your website and "generate relevant and effective keywords, headlines, descriptions, images, and other assets," making the Google Ads chatbot one part designer and one part sales expert.
One such ad tool, Google's Performance Max (or "PMax" for short), got a generative AI boost after the I/O announcement and can now "create custom assets and scale them in a few clicks." This means that it helps advertisers decide if an ad should be in places like YouTube, Search, Discover, Gmail, Maps, or banner ads on third-party sites. Then, it can just make the ad content, thanks to generative AI that can scan your website for material. It's called "Performance Max" because variations of your ad are still left up to the machines, which can constantly remix your ads in real time using click-through rates as feedback. Incidentally, a human advertiser is still in the loop approving content.
The Information report further adds, "A growing number of advertisers have adopted PMax since [launch], eliminating the need for some employees who specialised in selling ads for a particular Google service, like search, working together to design ad campaigns for big customers."
AI tool does not mean job cuts, at least not for now
The report clarifies that the usage of AI tools does not mean job cuts, at least not for now. Google is reported to have around 13,500 people devoted to this kind of sales work, a part of its 30,000-strong ad division. The introduction of the AI tool doesn't necessarily mean that all are going to be affected. Also, those who are won't necessarily be laid off, they could be reassigned to other areas in Google. The report says, "Some employees expect the changes to be announced next month."
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