%20Cameron%20Lewis.webp)
Remember when everyone said learning to code was the golden ticket to job security? Well, the tables have turned in the most ironic way possible.
While AI tools like ChatGPT can now generate code in seconds, tech companies are throwing massive salaries at people with a decidedly analog skill: the ability to tell a good story.
The New Premium Skill
Netflix is offering up to $775,000 for a director of product and technology communications. OpenAI has communications roles listed at over $400,000. Anthropic tripled its communications team last year to about 80 people, with new positions starting around $200,000.
Compare that to the national average of $106,000 for communications directors, and you'll see something remarkable is happening.
The Great Irony
Here's the twist nobody saw coming: AI was supposed to automate writing. Instead, it's made human communicators more valuable than ever.
"You would think that actually the job of the comms person or the storyteller would be fewer and farther between," says Gab Ferree, founder of Off the Record and former VP of global communications at Bumble. "But that's not what's happening."
LinkedIn data shows that job postings mentioning "storyteller" doubled between 2024 and 2025. Tech companies are desperately seeking writers, editors, and chief communications officers who can cut through the AI-generated noise.
When Everyone's a Writer, Nobody Is
Scroll through LinkedIn lately? You've probably noticed the sea of similar-sounding posts that make your eyes glaze over. That's the AI effect.
"If everyone's a writer, then nobody's a writer, and I think it's very evident right now," says Cristin Culver, founder of Common Thread Communications.
The flood of AI-generated content has created a paradox. Words are easier to produce than ever, but meaningful communication has become incredibly scarce—and therefore valuable.
The Job Has Evolved
Today's communications professionals aren't just writing press releases. They're:
- Understanding large language models and their implications
- Crafting narratives that differentiate companies in crowded markets
- Writing in CEO voices across LinkedIn, Substack, and company blogs
- Managing entire brand newsrooms and content ecosystems
The role has expanded so much that the number of Fortune 1000 chief communication officers with dual responsibilities (like marketing or HR) jumped from 90 in 2019 to 169 in 2024. Median pay for Fortune 500 CCOs now sits between $400,000 and $450,000—a $50,000 increase from just 2023.
The Backlash to AI Slop
Three years after ChatGPT went mainstream, we're seeing the consequences of AI-generated everything. Workers are bombarding colleagues with "rapidly generated, verbose, and sloppy AI nonsense," leading to wasted time and broken trust.
Even Sam Altman noted that people have started speaking with a kind of "AI accent," making social media discourse feel increasingly fake.
Tech companies are responding by investing heavily in authentic, human storytelling. Andreessen Horowitz launched a New Media team to help founders "win the narrative battle online." Microsoft started publishing a print magazine called Signal as an "antidote to the ephemeral nature of digital."
Anthropic created a physical Claude Cafe in New York, marketing it as a space for in-person connection surrounded by books and magazines instead of screens.
A New World Order
"Critical thinking is still a huge comparative advantage for humans," Sasha de Marigny, Anthropic's first chief communications officer, told Axios. "I'm looking for excellent strategists—people who understand the new world order and know how to develop holistic plans to cut through to the audiences we care about."
Steve Clayton, chief communications officer at Cisco, calls it "a golden age for people who really enjoy the craft of communications." He initially worried ChatGPT would end his career, but now sees it differently.
"The challenge is, how do you create something that is worthy of people's time and worthy of their attention?" Clayton asks. In a world drowning in content, that's the million-dollar question—literally.
The Liberal Arts Revenge
The data tells a surprising story. As of 2023, computer science graduates faced a 6.1% unemployment rate, while communications majors sat at 4.5%. Software engineering job postings dropped by over 60,000 between 2023 and late 2025.
The best defense against automation might just be a liberal arts degree after all.
Why AI Can't Replace Storytellers (Yet)
Here's the thing about AI: it generates content, but it doesn't think. It produces creative output without experiencing a creative process.
A 2025 Columbia Business School study found that large language models have a bias for "Option A"—they prefer the first choice when given a list. They lack the strategic thinking, cultural awareness, and human judgment that make truly impactful communication possible.
"When brands are investing in strategy, they're not thinking about breaking even on individual pieces of content," says Noah Greenberg, CEO of Stacker. "They're thinking about how to create five or ten really incredible stories every month that establish authority and respect in their space."
In an era where AI can generate thousands of words per second, the ability to craft a single sentence that actually matters has never been more valuable.
Tech companies aren't just hiring communicators—they're investing in people who can navigate the new landscape, understand the technology, and still connect with humans on a fundamentally human level.
For communications professionals, AI might not be the threat it seemed. Instead, by flooding the world with mediocre content, it's made exceptional human communication stand out more than ever.
Sometimes the best response to automation isn't to compete with machines—it's to double down on being irreplaceably human.