‘Stop Hiring Humans’ AI Ad Sparks Backlash in NYC

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere — as long as you’re not human.

Dystopian billboards have popped up across Manhattan urging businesses to “stop hiring human,” and some people are vowing to fight the rise of the machines.

“Rip them down” raged one observer on a Reddit post showing one of the billboards in Times Square. “Vandalizing has never felt so right” wrote another.

On TikTok, a viral clip asked, “Would you work with an AI coworker? Or better yet — would you trust one?”

And on Instagram, one user wrote: “This ad I saw in New York hit me like a truck … Entire industries are being reshaped. We can resist it, fear it… or face it head-on.”

The resistance can breathe easy — the posters are part of a viral stunt from Artisan AI, a San Francisco startup that sells virtual “employees” such as Ava, an AI-powered sales rep.

The campaign launched in California last year and hit the Big Apple last month according to co-founder and CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack who told The Post the company spent less than $50,000 on placements across Manhattan, including in Times Square and along the High Line.

But the real goal wasn’t visibility — it was virality.

“The biggest play with the campaign is not actually the people who see it from the street,” Carmichael-Jack said. “It’s when people take pictures and repost it and share it. That’s when we go viral.”

The company estimates the NYC rollout has generated hundreds of millions of online impressions, outperforming its earlier campaigns in San Francisco and London.

Artisan’s original ads with softer slogans like “Be more productive” and “Upskill with AI” flopped, Carmichael-Jack said. But when the company leaned into bolder lines like “Stop hiring humans,” “Artisans won’t complain about work-life balance” and “Artisans won’t come into work hungover,” the internet lit up.

“It’s designed to start conversation and stir public interest,” he said. “When we say something controversial, everyone engages.”

The campaign has caught the attention of labor advocates and marketing experts — some critical, others intrigued.

“Campaigns like this force us to confront our attitudes towards human workers,” said Ifeoma Ajunwa, a law professor at Emory University and author of “The Quantified Worker.”

Despite the message, Artisan is actively hiring humans — for now. More than two dozen job postings appear on the company’s LinkedIn. 

“We believe in hiring humans,” he said. “Just hiring [them] for work that humans actually want to do.”