As the Internet and data collection evolve at lightning speed, advertisers from the journalism world are among the most adept at adapting.

At INMA’s Digital Advertising workshop on Wednesday, part of the World Congress of News Media, some of the most innovative thinkers from global news organisations addressed the elephant sitting in the room all week: Artificial Intelligence. 

Mark Challinor, INMA’s Advertising Initiative lead, began the conversation by asking, “What is the role of AI?” Secondary to that question is how ChatGPT will factor into other major shifts in the adscape, such as the imminent death of the cookie, the cost of living crisis among consumers, and general scepticism toward ad-led experiences. 

The importance of authentic and personalised advertising was a common theme among the speakers, as users are increasingly weary of advertisements and privacy concerns — and don’t have much to spend.

As cookies are phased out, advertisers must find creative ways to provide consumers with what they want using first-party data. The result of this has been more carefully considered content on a smaller scale, which is perhaps a blessing in disguise. 

Pros and cons of AI

At The Globe and Mail in Canada, these topics are top of mind for Tracy Day, managing director of ad products and innovation. One of her marketing team’s key objectives is understanding what readers care about most: “How can AI become a content manager?”

When formulating branding content, she turns to AI to begin her process.

The Globe and Mail uses algorithms to mine themes among the top-performing headlines. According to their findings, readers are concerned with real estate, advice, and content about “rewards.” 

Responding to the desires and anxieties of subscribers through advertising is critical to Day’s overall strategy of creating quality, custom-tailored ads instead of focusing on sheer quantity. Algorithmic tools are a great place to start, she said, then explained the pros and cons of using AI, as shown below:

Day’s team performed an interesting experiment to parse the possibilities of a “good bot” and old-fashioned human-written copy. The team enlisted AI to generate an Instagram ad about retirement and tested it against one created by a person.

Can you guess which is which?

If you guessed that a human produced the post on the left, congratulations! While the bot could produce something that worked, the human-made content had a 33% higher CTR and twice the engagement. The direct address of the reader was not something AI could create, suggesting that a person’s touch can never truly be replaced by machine learning.

Day said visualisation tools like DALL-E were a “disaster” when creating designs, indicating that human taste cannot be replicated.

Recognising limitations

What can and can’t AI do? Marcelo Benez, chief commercial officer of Folha de São Paulo, one of Brazil’s most influential newspapers, said bots can assist with:

• Audience segmentation.

• Optimisation of budget and auction offers.

• Personalised ads and images.

• Data analysis.

• Virtual assistants and chatbots.

But, he presented a caveat: “The human role is essential, at least in the beginning and end of the process.” Folha de São Paulo has quickly adopted radically new forms of technology in its advertising strategies, such as orchestrating live broadcasts in the metaverse and Web3.

Ultimately, though, Benez believes bots will never replace the human brain. 

Nor can they be taught morality … yet. 

INMA World Congress of News Media continues through May 26.

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