The integration of generative artificial intelligence into advertising has occurred at an exceptional pace.
In a few months, the majority of players in the sector have tested or adopted tools allowing them to produce images, videos and scripts in a few minutes.
However, no 100% AI-generated campaign has really made an impact in recent months.
This acceleration has opened up new creative and operational possibilities, fueling the idea that content production could become almost limitless. But it raises an essential question: does increasing production capacity really lead to improved advertising effectiveness?
Between technical innovation and public perception
Advertising effectiveness has always depended on audience reception, much more than on the technological sophistication implemented. Generative tools undoubtedly facilitate creation, but their real impact on performance remains nuanced.
Data from an academic study conducted by New York University sheds light on this nuance. They indicate that a humanmade ad modified by AI does not obtain better results than an ad produced entirely by humans. Conversely, an ad generated entirely by an AI model can achieve approximately a 20% higher level of effectiveness. However, when the use of AI is explicitly mentioned, performance drops significantly, around 31.5%.
As is often the case, the pattern repeats itself: the United States innovates, Europe regulates, and Asia follows, even if this last trend is evolving.
In a context where regulations require increased transparency on the use of AI, this data serves as a reminder that public perception will remain decisive. Human content should therefore quickly return to the heart of debates and audience expectations.
The enduring importance of authenticity
The proliferation of automatically generated content does not reduce the importance of the human factor in communication. On the contrary, the growing demand for formats perceived as sincere and close reinforces the position of embodied content. Audiences give more credence to messages that seem to come from a lived experience, whether from creators, consumers, or internal teams.
This search for authenticity explains the lasting performance of UGC and CGC content. Several studies show that this type of content inspires more trust than traditional advertising productions: 84% of consumers say they trust a brand more when it uses UGC, and campaigns that rely on this content generate on average 21% additional conversions. Their value is not based on their technical finish, but on their ability to create a feeling of proximity and credibility. It is precisely this relational dimension that AI cannot yet convincingly reproduce, even when the visual quality produced is high.
Towards a balance between technological efficiency and human connection
Faced with these observations, brands and agencies are entering a phase of adjustment. AI offers real benefits in terms of production, speed and experimentation, but its indiscriminate adoption risks creating a disconnect with audience expectations. The most effective strategies will likely be those that combine automation for repetitive or exploratory tasks, and human creation for formats requiring proximity and engagement.
As automatically generated content becomes more numerous, embodied content takes on new value. They are not distinguished by the rarity of their production, but by their ability to create an identifiable relationship. This differentiating role could become even more important in the future. The increased production capacity induced by AI will automatically lead to an increase in the overall volume of content. Audiences, already saturated, will be even more selective. Brands capable of offering strong content, built from real insights, holistic in their distribution and creative in their design, will be the ones who will succeed.
This dynamic marks the end of cold editorial lines, designed to simply remind you of a deadline or technically support an action. It announces the return of impactful content, ambitious productions, and meaningful community mechanisms — a particularly encouraging prospect for the sector.
Produce more… but above all produce better
The evolution of generative AI will continue to transform the industry, but current lessons show that its impact on performance cannot be assessed in isolation from public perception. The challenge for advertising is not only to produce more, but to produce better, and to understand how to articulate innovation and authenticity in a coherent and sustainable way, in the service of performance.
