Hi, we're the replacements AI company trolls San Francisco with billboards saying stop hiring humans Company boasts "AI workers" that never complain about work-life balance. Benj Edwards Dec 10, 2024 3:43 pm | 123 An advertisement for the AI company Artisan is posted on 2nd Street on December 05, 2024 in San Francisco. Credit: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images An advertisement for the AI company Artisan is posted on 2nd Street on December 05, 2024 in San Francisco. Credit: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreSince the dawn of the generative AI era a few years ago, the march of technologytoward what tech companies hope will replace human intellectual laborhas continuously sparked angst about the future role humans will play in the job market. Will we all be replaced by machines?A Y-Combinator-backed company called Artisan, which sells customer service and sales workflow software, recently launched a provocative billboard campaign in San Francisco playing on that angst, reports Gizmodo. It features the slogan "Stop Hiring Humans." The company markets its software products as "AI Employees" or "Artisans."The company's billboards feature messages that might inspire nightmares among workers, like "Artisans won't complain about work-life balance" and "The era of AI employees is here." And they're on display to the same human workforce the ads suggest replacing.Preying on AI angstThe reaction to the ads online has been largely negative. Last week, a Bluesky user named SpacePrez posted one of the billboards on the social media site simply with the comment, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH." It currently has over 2,000 likes.On Reddit, a thread featuring the ads filled with pessimistic commentary on life in San Francisco, including comments like, "Its close to full Cyberpunk dystopia over here when we have self driving Waymos driving through neighborhoods with tent cities where apartments cost $4k a month."Artisan CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack defended the campaign's messaging in an interview with SFGate. "They are somewhat dystopian, but so is AI," he told the outlet in a text message. "The way the world works is changing." In another message he wrote, "We wanted something that would draw eyesyou don't draw eyes with boring messaging."So what does Artisan actually do? Its main product is an AI "sales agent" called Ava that supposedly automates the work of finding and messaging potential customers. The company claims it works with "no human input" and costs 96% less than hiring a human for the same role. Although, given the current state of AI technology, it's prudent to be skeptical of these claims.Artisan also has plans to expand its AI tools beyond sales into areas like marketing, recruitment, finance, and design. Its sales agent appears to be its only existing product so far.Meanwhile, the billboards remain visible throughout San Francisco, quietly fueling existential dread in a city that has already seen a great deal of tension since the pandemic. Some of the billboards feature additional messages, like "Hire Artisans, not humans," and one that plays on angst over remote work: "Artisan's Zoom cameras will never 'not be working' today."Benj EdwardsSenior AI ReporterBenj EdwardsSenior AI Reporter Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a tech historian with almost two decades of experience. In his free time, he writes and records music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in Raleigh, NC. 123 Comments