AI’s takeover; the human touch is irreplaceable

I know what you’re thinking… another opinion piece on AI? When will this end? But stick with me, just this once. Let’s grit our teeth and make it through one final take on AI together.

AI fatigue is real, and we’re all feeling it. 

2024 was the year of AI. It didn’t just creep into our lives, it crash-landed. It was the centre of every conference, every panel, every festival. From keynote speeches to after-work pub chats, it was impossible to escape. AI fatigue is real, and we’re all feeling it. 

But, despite the saturation, it’s clear that AI isn’t going anywhere. It’s here to stay, and will keep evolving.

Above: AI fatigue is real and most of us are feeling it!

Let’s talk numbers for a second. According to a well-trusted AI language model (yes, I asked ChatGPT), we collectively spent around $36 billion on AI technologies this year. That figure is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22%, likely exceeding $44 billion by 2025. And why wouldn’t it? AI isn’t just fast, it’s faster. It isn’t just cheap, it’s cheaper. And it’s democratising creativity like never before.

AI isn’t just fast, it’s faster. It isn’t just cheap, it’s cheaper. And it’s democratising creativity like never before.

AI is levelling the playing field. Big brands, small brands, challenger brands... it doesn’t matter. With the right tools, everyone can now produce high-quality content, no matter their budget. In theory, it’s fantastic. But what happens when every brand can compete at the same level?

In the short term, we’re staring down the barrel of 'advertising pollution'. Brace yourselves for a tsunami of AI-generated campaigns. Think Coca-Cola’s latest AI-generated ad [below]; it’s easy, it’s scalable and it’s worryingly homogeneous. AI makes it so simple that many brands might lean on it as a crutch rather than a tool. The result? A deluge of perfectly polished, yet utterly soulless, content.

Above: Is Coca-Cola's recent AI generated spot the start of "a deluge of perfectly polished, yet utterly soulless, content"?

And it’s not just marketing. Just recently, a friend sent me an AI-generated image he’d created: a kitten playing chess. The quality was indistinguishable from something a professional brand might produce. It made me think that we’re heading toward a future where people no longer marvel at a piece of communication wondering, 'How did they do that?'. Instead, they’ll think, 'I could’ve done that'. 

Wit, unpredictability, weirdness and glorious subjectivity, those uniquely human traits, suddenly become priceless.

But wait! Don’t despair just yet. In this sea of sameness lies an opportunity, because as automation takes over the grunt work, the value of human touch goes up. Wit, unpredictability, weirdness and glorious subjectivity, those uniquely human traits, suddenly become priceless. The imperfections, the hand-made quirks, the things AI can’t replicate, these will set brands apart.

Consider Apple. One of the biggest players in the AI race, yet their 2023 Christmas ad wasn’t AI-powered. Instead, it was a stop-motion masterpiece, painstakingly crafted frame-by-frame. Why? Because Apple understands the value of human effort, the emotional connection it creates, and the authenticity it brings.

Above: Apple, a big player in AI, still eschewed new tech in favour of a more traditional approach in last year's Christmas spot. 

Closer to home, at DUDE London, we recently launched a campaign for WeRoad [below] featuring a fictional monster embodying the HR person eagerly waiting to claim your unused vacation days. Sure, we could’ve gone with hyper-realistic, AI generated monstrous hands typing away on a keyboard, firing off those dreaded emails. But, instead, we made a deliberate choice: puppet hands. 

When everyone else is chasing polished perfection, it’s tempting to follow.

So clumsy you could practically feel the person behind the camera. It wasn’t an easy choice. When everyone else is chasing polished perfection, it’s tempting to follow. But by choosing a less polished approach, we gave the film its own unique charm.

And this isn’t just an issue for the ad industry; it’s part of a broader cultural shift. AI-generated content is seeping into every corner of our lives. Take music: rumors of AI-crafted tracks on platforms like Spotify are already circulating. When that becomes the norm, what will we crave? The unmistakable sound of fingers strumming a guitar string, the raw click of aged piano keys.