The rise of mainstream artificial intelligence (AI) has been rapid and confronting. The capabilities of this technology continue to evolve and expand beyond what we can even imagine.

We’ve witnessed swarms of users migrate to new ‘AI-aided models of work’ in which programs such as ChatGPT and DALL-E become integrated within processes to empower individuals and foster efficiency. Marketing Mag spoke with Constant Contact Asia Pacific vice president Renée Chaplin on whether or not agencies should fully embrace the technology.

The rise of generative AI

Chaplin says such advancements highlight the rapid pace at which AI is evolving, pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation. “The uptake of AI within business is also majorly increasing,” Chaplin says. “While it’s still early days and hard to estimate, the CSIRO found more than 44 percent of organisations in Australia have already deployed AI into their operations as of 2023 – up from the 24 percent estimated by IBM the year prior.” 

For professionals in the advertising and content industries, the rise of generative AI awakens both excitement and apprehension.

“The technology’s promise to democratise content creation offers small businesses and individual entrepreneurs unprecedented access to tools and capabilities that were seemingly not long ago, exclusive to large agencies,” Chaplin explains.

The playing field has been levelled. Engaging these tools allows a wider range of creators and brands to produce high-quality content both efficiently and affordably.

While the technology has offered a multitude of benefits, the democratisation of AI continues to introduce a sense of uncertainty for established creative agencies. 

Renée Chaplin, Constant Contact Asia Pacific vice president

“There is a concern that clients might bring outsourced services in-house, attracted by the allure of cost savings and the perceived simplicity of AI tools,” Chaplin says.

She believes this perspective overlooks a critical advantage that agencies possess: scale.

The power of scale

Agencies are uniquely positioned to harness the full potential of generative AI thanks to their capacity for scale. 

“By integrating AI technologies into their operations, agencies can amplify their capabilities – achieving results far beyond what individual practitioners or smaller entities can accomplish,” Chaplin says. “The economies of scale allow agencies to execute larger, more complex campaigns with greater efficiency and creativity.”

The key to navigating this new landscape lies in recognising the complementary nature of human creativity and AI’s computational power.

Generative AI excels at producing content at an unprecedented scale and speed, but it only operates within the parameters defined by human input. The strategic vision, cultural nuance and emotional intelligence that human marketers bring to the table cannot be replicated by AI alone.

Chaplin says agencies shouldn’t see AI as a threat, but rather as a tool that can be integrated into their workflows to free up human resources to focus on strategy, brand building and client relationships – areas where the human touch is irreplaceable.

Sora – expediting projects or destroying industries?

Sora is OpenAI’s latest offering and is capable of generating hyper-realistic or imaginative video content within just minutes.

“Sora is able to generate complex scenes with multiple characters, specific types of motion and accurate details of the subject and background,” OpenAI states on its website: “The model understands not only what the user has asked for in the prompt, but also how those things exist in the physical world.”

“We’re teaching AI to understand and simulate the physical world in motion, with the goal of training models that help people solve problems that require real-world interaction.” 

Creative artificial intelligence, and Sora in particular, creates excitement towards the possibilities of reduced turnaround times and significant cost reduction. However, there are concerns about the future of careers in content creation, video production, and the creative industry as a whole.

Sora, in contrast to ChatGPT, seems to pose a potentially greater threat to the industry. While ChatGPT has been fantastic in speeding up workflows and crafting first drafts, it does seem to have a distinct ‘AI style’ that professional writers and platforms like Google can instantly recognise. 

Sora differs in that its content is so hyper-realistic that an ‘untrained eye’ would likely find it difficult to decipher the video as generative AI. Its ability to craft media with just the right amount of shadow, blur, or camera flare means the software could become a great tool for marketers to leverage – reducing the time spent sourcing assets or shooting content. On the flip side, it poses the question: What does this mean for the jobs of those creating the assets?

How can agencies effectively utilise AI?

“Creatives can leverage generative AI with just a few prompts or even just a client’s website URL as a creative guide to develop EDM and SMS campaigns in a matter of minutes, if not seconds,” Chaplin says.

This empowers agencies to offer more services in their proposals without blowing the budget, while maintaining close control over content drafts and tweaking it as required. They can then focus on their strengths without neglecting a crucial campaign aspect that may lead to losing a client.

“It’s clear that generative AI is the catalyst for transformation in the content and marketing world,” Chaplin says. “While it has already introduced challenges, it has also opened up a world of possibilities for those willing to embrace change and innovation.”

For marketing agencies, Chaplin doesn’t see generative AI as a robot coming for our jobs – as many perceive it to be – but rather an opportunity to do more with less. By leveraging scale and integrating AI into their campaigns, agencies can deliver incredible value to their clients – they just need to lean into it.

Renée Chaplin is the Brisbane-based vice president, Asia-Pacific, for Constant Contact.

Also, read about how marketers are integrating AI with AR and VR.