Marketers see AI creative benefits but want new laws

Marketing creatives no longer view AI tools as a way to replace human creativity but to enhance it with four-fifths of professionals seeing the technology as a bonus, although an overwhelming majority recognise the need for new, tougher regulation.

So says a new report by UTA entitled “AI Takes Centre Stage: The Real-Time Impact of AI in Creative Media & Marketing” highlights a major shift in attitudes towards AI.

The vast majority (84%) now view AI positively, marking a significant change from the apprehensions last year. In fact, the same proportion are pursuing new ideas because of AI, 75% report higher quality work and 69% view AI as the most impactful technology of their lifetime.

Main AI uses include idea generation (61%), enhancing images and audio (54%) and improving productivity (52%).

Even so, nearly three-quarter (71%) of marketers advocated for increased regulation to address challenges such as protecting creative rights.
In UK, of the three main parties standing at the upcoming General Election, only the Conservative Party has said it will pursue a “light touch” approach to regulation.
Labour has vowed to launch a Regulatory Innovation Office, designed to improve accountability and promote cross-sector innovation in regulation and plans to make the voluntary AI safety rules legally binding, putting them on a statutory footing.

Meanwhile, the LibDems want to negotiate the UK’s participation in the Trade & Technology Council with the US and the EU, so Britain can play a leading role in global AI regulation, and work with international partners in agreeing common standards for AI risk and impact assessment, testing, monitoring and audit.

The report maintains that AI is vital to improving the success of campaigns through data analysis and forecasting to assess what works and how to better engage a target audience.
Leaning into innovation has the potential to unlock new possibilities for marketers, who can work hand-in-hand with AI tools, freeing them up to do what they do best, be creative.

Inspired Thinking Group chief strategy officer John Kirk said: “The demand for content is higher than ever and that falls on marketers to produce more content, often without more resources. Taking a tech-enabled, agile approach to content, supported by artificial intelligence, is the key to scaling asset delivery and meeting ever-growing demands.

“Marketers should be empowered by AI, and it’s encouraging to see the majority of the industry exploring how it can support them. However, for AI to be rolled out safely, it’s important to ensure that there’s a well-managed governance model in place to support content operations and reduce the risk and hesitancy for adoption.”

UTA global head Joe Kessler added: “There has always been fear and uncertainty around new technology. Human creativity has always found a way, and this survey shows today’s creators are continuing that long tradition of moulding technology to their advantage.”