While generative content has taken over AI headlines lately, that isn’t always a good thing for its reputation. Discussions surrounding generated content are rife with controversy. While Generative AI may be the latest toy, it isn’t the only kind of AI out there – and it isn’t the most important type for advertisers.
In fact, one can argue generative content is giving artificial intelligence a bad name, and that’s too bad because there are so many exciting use cases for AI in the advertising world.
2023: the AI boom
OpenAI blew up the tech scene in 2023 with the launch of ChatGPT. The company did not expect its generative AI platform to be more than a passing curiosity, but the chat-based AI prompt grew beyond its imagination – quickly surpassing all expectations for success.
Within the first week of ChatGPT’s launch, the platform amassed over 1 million users. Soon, other generative AI apps gained momentum and the online discourse surrounding the ethics and potential of generative content swirled.
At the start of 2023, The Washington Post proclaimed, “The AI ‘gold rush’ is here.” The tech sector pivoted, and all artificial intelligence was suddenly lumped in with generated content.
It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt
Generative AI quickly earned itself a bad reputation among writers, artists, and celebrities alike. As deepfaked images flooded social media, writers filed suits for misused copyright. Scandal after scandal follows the stellar rise of generated AI.
The ever-growing list of incidents and lawsuits shows generative content has the potential to do serious harm. As 2023 went on, courts across the globe began to play catch-up, searching for precedent to address ever-growing copyright and defamation suits.
In 2023, explicit images of Taylor Swift went viral on X, prompting outrage from the star and women across the web. Regulators and legislators are now in the midst of a hard climb towards preventing offensive and defamatory deepfakes – falling behind as technology hurdles forward with little thought for the ethical implications of its capabilities.
This wasn’t the only celebrity deepfake that caused outrage in 2023. The estate of comedian George Carlin also filed a lawsuit against media company Dudesy after it published an AI-generated special from the late comedian.
In response to the controversy and public demand, Meta now labels AI-generated content on its platforms. Social media companies are trying to play nice, but without regulation and court precedent, AI policies are difficult to enforce.
Courts are gradually finding or creating precedents in defamation and copyright cases, but it takes time. How should judges apply current law to new technology? Who owns AI-generated content?
These decisions have immediate and far-reaching implications for artists and writers – who are understandably afraid not just for their own careers, but for the future of all creative industries.
In 2022, three artists worked together to sue multiple generative AI platforms for using their work to train AI without licensing their work. This case is ongoing, but should the court side with the defendants, there will be substantial copyright infringement penalties and huge implications for all generative content going forward.
In 2023, similar cases were also filed, claiming that AI tools used thousands of unlicensed works to train their systems. Getty filed one such suit against the creators of Stable Diffusion for the improper use of images from its site – if proven true, this would mean that Stable Diffusion is liable for violating copyright and trademark rights.
As a result of these infringements, the unpopularity of generative AI is steadily rising.
Is there a place for AI in advertising?
What to invest in instead? A proven use case that provides streamlined automation. Predictive AI may well and truly be the right way to leverage AI for advertising automation.
Not only is predictive AI free of many of the ethical implications of generative content, but it also delivers higher returns. Predictive AI presents a proven and profitable use case for advertisers. This technology improves large-scale processes and potentially creates a massive impact on efficiency.
This AI market is only going to grow. Predictive AI is expected to become a $64 billion market by 2025. Generative AI, on the other hand, is only estimated to grow to 7% of that size.
Two of the most effective ways in which predictive AI can be used in advertising are forecasting and behavior analysis.
- Forecasting – Predictive AI can analyze historical data to forecast future trends, risks, and opportunities. Its accurate data analytics predive events with accuracy, assisting advertisers with decision-making and planning.
- Behavior analysis – Predictive AI can also analyze data sets to predict future customer behavior. Data collected from purchase history, shopping patterns, and device use can be analyzed to show where and what customers are likely to shop for next.
Even with its proven efficacy, predictive AI’s potential is still largely unrealized. This gives advertisers looking to get the upper hand the perfect opportunity. While replacing creatives is an unpopular and controversial use for AI, predictive AI remains an exciting and low-risk way for advertisers to leverage AI for their businesses.
A big splash isn’t always a good thing. Massive leaps in technology can also come with major legal issues. Fortunately, that isn’t the case for predictive AI. Predictive artificial intelligence gives advertisers a tool to build efficiency into their strategies and to plan with confidence and clarity.
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