The industry has found solutions that balance responsible AI use amidst human creativity and constant development.
Tech Labs and companies have developed sophisticated platforms that allow you to create content that you can dream of in minutes, such as Midjourney and Google Veo 3. Meanwhile, developers and engineers have created solutions that ensure that AI is used ethically and responsibly, including content qualifications and meta efforts to label AI-generated content.
Australian marketers were keen to adopt generative AI tools, according to the Australian Marketing (ACAM) AI Readiness benchmark report, but reached advanced maturity, leadership, planning and deployment capabilities, with 52% reaching the beginner category, with fewer implementations and frameworks.
Mediaweek has examined the role of AI as a support tool in the creative process and industry future with Alex Creamer of Houston Group, Colleen Ryan of TRA, and Harry Preston of MBCS.
Alex Creamer: “AI may assert, inform and support, but the true originality of building new relationships with new audiences remains human effort.”
“It’s scary for some people, it’s appetite for others.”
Alex Creamer, creative director of the Houston Group, said that AI has reconstructed the industry by supporting craft, accelerating production and replicating human creativity and interaction.
“It’s scary for some people, and appetite for others.”
He acknowledged that AI offers positive positivity, including democratizing the creative industry, frictionless connections with customers, and automating daily work, but can undermine the perceived value of creativity, both at cost and skill.
Creamer pointed out that the future of branding and content creation is “probably somewhere in the middle.”
He said that when used ethically, generative AI is often inaccessible to many people, providing new paths of innovation and productivity that allow them to work better in the process.
“But the principles behind a good brand building are the same: unique POVs and personality are essential, and there is a strong connection between people and places.
“AI may assert, inform and support, but true originality in building new relationships with new audiences remains a human effort,” he added.
For Colleen Ryan, a partner at Insights Agency Tra, the individual-born human imagination is a mash-up of memory that brings creativity.
“It’s true that AI is “creative,” but it’s not as singular as human imagination. AI does not dream or surprise itself. It may be “hagaze”, but it’s not the same way as humans do.
“A good branded piece comes from an absurd and opposing juxtaposition, embodied imaginative idea that only the imaginative human mind can sew together.
“Creativity is not just a production, but an imaginative integration, deeply connected to memory, subjective experience, and embodied meaning.
Harry Preston, managing director of MBCS, said AI is strong and influential, but “not foresight.”
“AI helps to provide a platform to speed up sales, better personalization, and even ignite creativity, but it can’t replace the gut feeling that says, ‘this idea is different’.
“The future of content is not man and machine. It’s the person who has a machine. AI needs to support creative ambitions rather than sterilizing it.
“Brands that rely heavily on AI risks produce homogenized content that is lost. The bold ones come from people who know how to create culture, not just content.”
Use AI forever
While excessive reliance on AI has a wide range of impacts on the industry, from creative to strategy, creamers emphasize “brain drain” that is less of an interest.
“As a junior creative, I learned a lot from auditing competitors and taking notes and sieving through books. If Otter or Chatgup were in my life, I certainly wouldn’t have had the same learning experience.
“Optimistically, this could lead to people developing new skills in more time to focus on innovation and creative thinking. Pessimistically, we cut the role of juniors by prioritizing efficiency at the top.
Creamer helped Howatson & Co’s exhibited AI works to successfully create the work of law firm Maurice Blackburn as an early work in the generation of images from text, telling the story of those who can’t.
He also highlighted Marcel’s Les Bleues from Publicis Groupe Agency and how he used Deepfake Tech to change the perception of women’s soccer.
“A great human-centered idea that uses AI forever,” he added.
Colleen Ryan: “This means that there are still no ju-seekers on AI’s promises as a tool to help customers, including customer experience, increased engagement, innovation, and pricing benefits.”
Transparency and ownership of storytelling
Can a brand develop AI with its customers ethically and transparently? Ryan cited TRA research on the values of Australia and New Zealand attitudes and progress.
96% of people said integrity is the most important thing a brand can do to help people make progress. However, people believe that AI will help businesses advance, but they don’t think it will help their customers. The report said 13% were opposed to AI benefiting businesses, not consumers, primarily.
“This means we have AI promises as a tool to help our customers, including customer experience, improved engagement, innovation and pricing benefits,” Ryan said.
She said that the third AI will help the brand understand its customers and help people get better engage with them, but another third opposes and the rest is still undecided.
“Transparency and ownership of the story are key to brands dealing with this by authentically demonstrating the value they have inherited because of the benefits AI is giving businesses.”
“A great brand storytelling comes from truth, courage and perspective.”
Can a brand balance AI-generated content with authentic brand storytelling? Preston noted that automation is great at speeding up processes and streamlining mundane tasks, but can affect originality.
“People can quickly know if a brand is fraudulent. You can’t test your path to a story that moves someone. Great brand storytelling comes from truth, courage and perspective.
He pointed out that the brand’s voice needs to support something. Preston said:
As AI adoption grew, Preston urged brands not to chase efficiency. He explained: “AI should help with ideas. It’s not the other way around. The moment automation leads a creative decision, there’s a risk of slipping into the ocean of identity.”
He said the brand should protect the tone of voice and creative DNA and use AI that makes sense, such as automation and accelerated processes.
“Always ask yourself, ‘Is this making us bold or will this make us faster?” Guardrails can taste, but that’s still human work. ”
Preston added that from an ethical perspective, transparency with colleagues, clients and partners is necessary for how AI is used.
“Human care must remain to ensure that brand identity is protected. We must avoid using AI models trained with copyrighted materials to ensure original and legally compliant content.
“It’s also important that AI-generated content is monitored for bias. We need to support fairness and inclusion that reflects the diversity of our brand’s audience.”
Harry Preston: “I should help with ideas, not the other way around. The moment automation leads a creative decision, you risk slipping into the same ocean.
Promote and shape the future with AI
For all three, the future of marketing and AI is intertwined with creativity and productivity.
Ryan believes that the future of AI will reinforce imagination and use AI as a tool to expand rather than replace it with imagination and emotional nuances.”
“For example, our brains perform well in a short period of time and in a few hours. Our choice of choice, such as the need to go for a walk, is to replenish and enrich our inner life, the source of our imagination.
“We may see harsh, sensitive butterflies unconsciously or consciously juxtaposed for the experience, triggering harsh memories and phors.
Ryan explained that creatives embody human experiences with short bursts of intense creativity, but that AI can use to increase work and boost imagination.
“The creative challenge is how this is done. Can we avoid using AI to contribute uniquely as a human? Instead, how can we use it to supply, enhance and execute the output of our human imagination?”
Creamer’s outlook is “complicated.” He said that AI will support the first stages of creative processes such as research and planning, and will support the task of ending automated projects.
However, he pointed out that the AI used from the end-to-end may lack the distinction and origin between production and craft.
“A great brand connects with your audience. Deep meaning in execution, crafting and care are important.
“The adolescent success of one-shot Netflix dramas is not just acting, but in a painstakingly planned and created way, and Telstra’s ‘beautiful Internet’ makes little sense if Dominoes didn’t actually fall. ”
“When using AI with honesty and better innovation within the industry, we find a balance that maximizes human-centered creativity and provides space.
“If we consider it purely an efficiency and cost-saving tool, our industry will appear to be crucially different, more compact and perhaps not original over the next few years.”
For Preston, marketers are Ned to watch out for falls, “the path to being the least resistance or lazy.”
“There’s a temptation to use AI to automate everything because marketing teams are putting a lot of pressure on them to do ‘less’ things, but that’s a clear path to getting lost in a world where they’re already happy. ”
He said the other risk is discovering AI-driven efficiency and reducing investment, but he believes that brands that use AI wisely to free up time and money for greater thinking have a stronger future.
“It’s difficult to scale the basics and take creative risks that attract attention with the lack of attention economy. It’s the job that people care about and always care about most. AI or ai.”
Top Images: Alex Creamer, Colleen Ryan, Harry Preston
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