AI: Creative Vending Machine

Grant Smith on Artificial Intelligence in advertising

It doesn’t matter a tinkers cuss, if I love the idea of AI creating advertising or hate it.

All our well considered and sage opinions are tragically unimportant because the real value of AI isn’t about expanding creative opportunities. It’s about the money.

Well, money and being at the forefront of a very enticing tech trend. Not that there is anything wrong with that, no one wants to seem like an advertising codger, metaphorically smelling of urine and menthol cigarettes, leaning on a walker, shouting at teenagers about how the music these days isn’t like how it was at Lollapalooza.

For better or for worse, advertising is married to tech. Not that new tech always brings that much to the table, and is most often used to annoy consumers in places they’ve never been annoyed before.

The unspoken truth about new technology is that most people don’t use it.

In most cases, innovation just isn’t all that personally relevant to most consumers. UNLESS it is used to enhance a customer’s experience. Remember Adam Berg’s wonderful 2009 film for Phillips Carousel, or CP+B’s super fun Subservient Chicken? All good stuff, that captured imaginations and interest from consumers using new techniques and new tech. Delighting audiences by creating more enjoyable and memorable ad experiences is the best use of new technology in advertising, and thats why we love it.

The problem is that AI isn’t going to go big because it offers consumers something that they’ve never seen before. The real reason AI will be adopted by almost every ad agency is because AI supports three dominant trends in our industry:

               Modest budgets
               Tiny timelines
               Smaller expressions

AI will be adopted because it isn’t a person. It doesn’t push back on crazy deadlines. It doesn't expect pay raises for doing amazing work. It doesn’t take PTO or ask about maternity leave. AI works overnight, on weekends and on every holiday. It doesn’t mind creating 287 rounds of a single banner; or a digital anthem film that is exactly like every other digital anthem film.

AI is the creative vending machine that so many people have wanted for so many years. Is it innovative? Procedurally. Is it focused on enhancing a consumer experience? No. Will it create lasting brands and unforgettable work? There's no evidence of this. Will it create cultural moments that live rent free in consumers’ minds for decades? You bet it will… JK, fuck no. Will it make money? Hell yeah baby, it will print it.

So, when we talk about AI, keep in mind the drivers of the conversation. Will AI create opportunities? A few. But it’s not really about more memorable and unique consumer experiences and it’s not about building culturally influential brands. It's about fulfilling an advertising work order as quickly and cheaply as possible.

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Grant Smith is a writer and creative lead whose career has included time with Yamamoto, McCann, and BBDO. His formal education includes Southwestern University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Miami Ad School

You can see his work and read more about him at GrantSmithAdvertising.com and he is on LinkedIn.