Everyone’s Jumping on the AI Train - But Where Is It Actually Going?
As AI-powered content creation continues to spread, the market is also on the verge of a major transformation. By 2025, the market value is projected to reach $3.53 billion, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 21.9% to exceed $11.3 billion in 2034. Productive AI tools are rewriting the rules of marketing, SEO and social media. These developments, which are expected to revolutionize traditional content production, seem like an opportunity for brands to catch up with the new trend, but in fact, this revolution does not work for every brand yet.
The biggest advantage of campaigns prepared with artificial intelligence for brands is their low cost. Therefore, this leverage effect is so popular for small businesses. Big brands, on the other hand, can't escape criticism from their target audiences from time to time while going for "what's trending".
The Toys "R" Us ad produced with artificial intelligence last year tried to explain how the company's founder Charles Lazarus was inspired to create the brand by a dream he had. But while some viewers saw it as the beginning of the "brand being dead for at least the third time", as many inconsistencies and unrealistic forms in the video disturbed people .
In December 2024, Coca Cola - always known for its "emotionally connective" ads- was criticized for its artificial intelligence ad for Christmas, which failed to make that connection this time .
The AI-generated images that restaurants add to their menus to avoid the cost of photo shoots are criticized for being far from reality .
Of course, artificial intelligence outputs have come a long way since last year, but today there are many videos titled "AI Fails" on TikTok that have earned thousands of likes. There are many people who want to stay away from technology and are still looking for a human touch.
Hidden Valley Ranch, one of America's favorite sauce brands, is one of the first to fail in an ad created with artificial intelligence tools, making a plate of chicken wings look less than appetizing . When the pale appearance of the wings and the fact that they looked like the product of an amateur kitchen with almost no sauce did not meet expectations, they revised the ad.
The Samsung ad, which was prepared to praise artificial intelligence even though it was not prepared with artificial intelligence, has also fallen victim to criticism for the content of the ad .
At the end of the day, apart from AI, sustainability and organic content are still trending. If your brand's identity, values and connection with its target audience are not compatible with the use of artificial intelligence, you don't have to get on this train. Just for the sake of doing it, it is pointless to get on a train without a station to stop at. If you are going to generate with artificial intelligence, the output you get must be worth using this technology and not disturb your target audience. Sometimes, when you put these outputs in front of them before the society is ready, it is inevitable to get a negative reaction.
As Sam Altman said in a podcast with his brother: "Sometimes people don't react to things like this because they don't really believe it. Maybe that's why nobody is surprised.
It's always been like that in history: First it sounds unbelievable, then it happens and people quickly adapt. We've usually been right in our technical predictions, but I thought the public would feel differently when it happened. So far, it hasn't really happened."
Unless the general judgments, values and ethical perspective of the majority of the society change, I think the number of people who can understand these outputs is still very small, except for a limited target audience. Among those who understand that the output is produced with artificial intelligence, there are those who will react to it. Even if it seems like the train is running away for agencies and brands, how much do those who get on the train take this factor into account? In conclusion, as a handful of AI advocates who seem to be futurists, I think it is still too early for us to accept the outputs of this tool 100% unless society transforms.