Tech companies aren’t pulling punches anymore. Robots will indeed take our jobs, once humans have facilitated the AI takeover.
At least, that’s the plan according to Artisan, a San Francisco-based tech startup claiming to spearhead the next Industrial Revolution. They’ve recently sprinkled ads to that effect throughout San Francisco, pushing for companies to stop hiring humans and replace them with AI.
One ad, located in SoMa and posted to Reddit, states “Stop Hiring Humans” and “Interview Ava, the AI BDR,” which presumably means ‘business development representative.’ (Ava is obviously a woman, because only women can work in service-oriented roles — finally, an admin who doesn’t care if you harass her!) Another ad on a Muni shelter, posted by Artisan founder Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, reads, “Artisans Won’t Come Into Work Hungover” — the company’s cutesy name for its bots.
On its website, Artisan describes its sales platform as being “powered by AI employees” that “work alongside humans to automate the majority of their work.” As with most current AI products, some human labor is still required.
As blog Creative Bloq noted last month, these ads are indeed a dystopian nightmare. And since Ava has a name, a face, and she/her pronouns, she of course has emotions, too. In response to that blog post, founder Carmichael-Jack on X said, “They’re making Ava sad.” OK.
As with most AI tools on the market right now, the product itself is kind of trash, according to users. One person on Reddit, who said their company used Artisan’s AI about six months ago, said they “had to cancel after only two months because it kept making things up that weren’t easily checked.” Another Redditor, who said they have a friend who knows the founder, said “they’re spending a lot on these ads but the product is crap.”
Gazetteer SF reached out to Artisan for comment on its ad campaign, as well as claims about its product, but the company did not respond.
San Francisco, of course, is no stranger to wild and bizarre billboard ads. You may have seen those ads from Open Source Pledge calling attention to tech companies free-loading off open source projects. But hey, at least they’re for a good cause — and not trumpeting the end of human labor.
