ChatGPT Won’t Replace Ad Agencies – But AI May Mean The End Of Endless Content. Thankfully.
Have you tried ChatGPT, the “generative pre-trained transformer” chatbot that will write whatever you ask it to write? If not, you’ve probably read something written by ChatGPT (and may not even know it). It’s pretty amazing at curating existing ideas into cohesive content. Blog posts. Social media posts. Articles. School papers. Business plans. Poems. Songs (complete with indications of chorus, refrain, bridge…). And on and on.
But will ChatGPT replace ad agencies? Or Songwriters, poets, and journalists for that matter?
The answer is no – with a caveat. For agencies built upon putting out mindless content, this could be a death knell. That’s because ChatGPT shows that the world is drowning in mindless content that can literally be written by robots. Ad agencies need to do better. Brands need to do better.
As an ad agency that prides itself on original thinking, we’re actually relieved to see an AI like ChatGPT taking center stage. Enough already with brands feeling compelled to put out content for content’s sake just to keep up with their competitors and hope for a sliver of attention. Our brains can’t take it anymore. We’re losing the joy we once felt with social media and the ease we once experienced with online search.
Speaking of our brains…no matter how incredible AI is, the human brain will always have a stronger capacity for creativity and original thought. Isn’t that what ad agencies are supposed to be all about?
My fondest hope is that ChatGPT and its AI brethren will end the voluminous drivel that brands and agencies alike seem to be caught up in – and push us all to do better. To up our creative ante. I can already see how this may usher in a new gilded age of advertising, one that focuses on new POVs, taking chances, and driving emotional connection. I believe that is not only possible but probable…and I daresay ChatGPT agrees with me.
The widespread adoption of Open AI is a clear signal that it’s time for ad agencies to change. To push their clients and themselves to think differently vs. trying to simply jump on the latest trend. Let’s not settle for having our brands “keep up” with the competition – let’s develop forward-thinking campaigns that swoosh past the competition. Constantly. Every day.
That’s the reason that I got into this industry in the first place. The greatest advances in advertising creativity have come from technological revolutions: radio, TV, web, social. Welcome to the dawn of the post-Open-AI age. If that doesn’t excite you as a creative, then I don’t know what will.
In short: artificial intelligence will never replace the human brain. That’s why the answer to the question, “Will ChatGPT replace ad agencies?” is a firm no.
~ Denise Blasevick, CEO & Co-Founder, The S3 Agency
