AI tools are transforming how marketers research, write and make decisions. But this growing reliance on automation could come with serious risks. As powerful as AI can be, its dominance may undermine critical thinking and strategic skills.
The rise of AI in search and marketing
An interesting piece of research was released in late December but may have been lost in the busy holiday season. Previsible, an SEO consultancy, announced that traditional Google search has “basically plateaued and has begun to have its search dominance degraded.” Why? People are using AI-assisted search because it has become more capable and accessible.
ChatGPT, Claude, Co-pilot and even Google offer an AI search version available to most users. Compared to traditional search, which relies mostly on keyword matching, AI search uses advanced algorithms to understand the context and intent behind the query. As a result, at least in theory, it should provide more relevant and personalized results.
Dig deeper: Google’s search market share falls below 90% for first time since 2015
How AI tools are changing user behavior
The new capabilities and changing user behaviors create a potential warning about the risk of relying on AI. Because AI can draw upon vast amounts of information, users often default to trusting that the query output is most likely to be the right answer, solution, recommendation, etc.
In contrast, because traditional search returns various links to the most likely options for answering the query, the user has to make an effort to analyze the results, read and filter information and draw conclusions.
And here lies the potential problem.
Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, stated on the company’s most recent earnings call that we are “in the beginning of a new generation of foundation models that are able to do reasoning and long-term thinking.”
Cognitive scientist Gary Marcus says the AI we are currently building is basically like “System 1 thinking,” a reference to the book “Thinking Fast and Slow” by Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman.
System 1 vs. System 2 thinking: What it means for marketers
In his book, Kahneman explains the dichotomy of human thought, dividing it into two systems.
- System 1 is intuitive, fast and operates without voluntary control — one reason he concluded that humans often make poor decisions.
- System 2 thinking requires focused attention and effort, typically for more complex tasks or those involving calculations.
Simply put, System 1 is like instinct or “gut feel,” while System 2 represents critical thinking.
If, as the AI experts state, we are building System 1 AI models, users risk making the same mistakes using AI as they might make in day-to-day decision-making. And, as an observer of younger generations of marketers using AI, they may be particularly vulnerable.
The hidden risks of over-reliance on AI tools
My son, home for the holidays from grad school, mentioned that classmates are using ChatGPT to summarize coursework and write their presentations. The worst part? They’re not questioning it; they follow the recommendation entirely because it “saves time.”
B2B marketers heavily rely on AI tools for research, writing and recommending actions, drawn to their speed and perceived accuracy. Having grown up in an environment focused on scale and efficiency, many lack the experience or the inclination to question the accuracy of AI-generated outputs.
Where is this headed? Combine all of these factors, and it could point to a massive wave of “group thinking” marketers that either lose the ability to think creatively and/or strategically or eliminate it completely because they are wired to trust AI.
Generative AI has already come for the creative department as witnessed by Omnicom’s recent acquisition of IPG. If marketing executives don’t act now to create a plan to manage AI, “Hal” could become your CMO in a few years.
What marketing leaders can do to address this threat
How should marketing executives respond to this threat? Kahneman might suggest focusing on skill development that emphasizes System 2 thinking. Teach your team how to use long-term, critical and strategic thinking.
Combine the strength of using AI System 1 thinking to enable your staff with training on higher-level System 2-type efforts like competitive intelligence (which I rarely see anymore), market intelligence and strategy.
There is good reason to return to these core strategic marketing building blocks. Marketing performance in 2024 was significantly down across channels and activities. It’s time to dig in on strategy. There are significant challenges to address. Going faster and creating more noise in the market is not a strategy that will win.
Dig deeper: Mitigating the risks of generative AI by putting a human in the loop
Using AI to enhance, not replace, strategic thinking
In 2017, I wrote an article on how Amazon had become the default search engine for buyers who knew what they wanted based on our research on buying behavior. In that post, I predicted that because of that trend, Amazon would soon eat away at Google’s advertising monopoly. At that time, Amazon only had 1% of the global advertising market. By 2020, it had grown to over 10%. This year it will be 14%; by 2026, it’s estimated to become over 17%.
I see a similar trend with AI eating away at the marketing department, not because of the tools themselves but because of how behaviors are changing because of them (similar to what I observed with consumers and Amazon). To be clear, it’s not necessarily the technology that is the threat but rather the behavior change caused by it.
If you want to remain valuable inside your organization, learn how to use AI tools to enable better decision-making and not default to them as the decision-maker.
Or, as my son’s professor said, “Use them to become a better student, not to be the student.” Remember, they’re only System 1 thinkers. 
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