Advertising's first AI Prompt Engineer: A New Breed of Creative.

Bella Baker , one of the first Prompt Engineers in Ad-land, proves that creativity and technology can go hand-in-hand.

Not your stereotypical tech nerd.

Working my way through LinkedIn, I spotted an advert for Junior AI Prompt Engineer with a leading creative agency and it grabbed my attention. This was one of the first AI based roles I’d spotted in the Advertising industry and I had to find out more. What skills does a Prompt Engineer need? – a tech nerd, someone more akin to an “engineer” type? Will the sparkly, creative skills of advertising talent be lost in this new world order?

A unique and multifaceted role.

Chatting to the hiring manager for the role, Bella Baker – a Prompt Engineer, who works with the BRX team, my fears shifted around the impact of AI on the advertising and communications industry. Creative, curious and articulate she’s just the type of talent any agency would jump at, but her role is new and totally unique. Bella has a two-fold role in her agency:

Ultimately, she’s hired to be a subject matter expert so it’s her responsibility to follow thought leaders, trends, conduct experimentation and testing that can be applied to her work. She’s also responsible for sharing her knowledge and educating her broader team in AI. There’s no existing template or University course she can attend, so it’s all about her own research and connectedness – and her curiosity and drive is infectious.

Secondly, she has a commercial role to play in the development of effective campaigns. Her team have a client who is “all-in” on AI so her role is to craft campaigns utilising AI to the polished point of publication. She works on live briefs with AI applications, chooses the tools and designs the workflow to achieve results and at the end, casts a human eye over the work ensuring the brief is met accurately.

The skills you need to be a prompt engineer.

While a background in tech is helpful, it's not essential to be a prompt engineer. Bella believes that creativity is and always will be, vital. A prompt engineer needs to be able to visualise ideas, communicate effectively, and tell a story (backgrounds in film direction, copywriting and art direction would be highly transferrable). They also need to be good problem-solvers and persistent. Bella's own Art School background working across a wide variety of mediums from ceramics to 3D printing gives her a unique advantage in her work.

Often in AI experimentation and design you will hit brick walls or undesired outcomes, so you need to be able to think your way through, ask the right prompts, curate and seek alternate solutions. ?And, of course, they need to have a thirst for knowledge and a passion for staying ahead of the curve..the rate of change is mind-blowing.

AI is here to stay, and it's not all about weird imagery.

AI will have a major impact on the advertising industry. But Bella believes that AI is not a replacement for human creativity. Instead, it's a tool that can be used to create even more effective advertising campaigns.

“I think in a lot of people’s minds AI generated imagery in advertising is going to lead to things looking a little weird – like 6 fingered hands, but in the reality is that the tech has improved so quickly that you have to work harder to create a 6 fingered person these days. The imagery can be polished to a point that it can be taken to market – and why wouldn’t you”.??

From a strategic CX perspective, there’s going to be growth and new possibilities in applying AI to pain points or designing for unmet and ignored customer needs.

After chatting with Bella, I felt a bit clearer on the impact AI might have on future roles. I got the sense that the role of human creativity will remain vital and may even become more important.? The skills and tools will certainly shift but AI will assist the efficiency, personalisation and amplification. Whilst it feels like we are on the precipice of change in the industry roles like these are starting to give shape to roles of the future.

So if you’re a recent graduate ready to step into the new world, Bella is hiring for a completely unique role as a Junior Prompt Engineer here. Hold on tight for a wild ride - I think it’s only the beginning.

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Fiona Gilfillan is Managing Partner of SCC Talent. With a background working in leading Advertising Agencies in Melbourne, she has spent the last decade working with creative agency and marketing talent to grow their careers. She specialises in CX, CRM, Digital, Data, Social and Loyalty roles that intersect creativity and tech.