“The question is not if possible, but if it is desirable”: the Latin American advertising industry responds to Zuckerberg

A couple of weeks ago since Mark Zuckerberg expressed his vision of how the artificial intelligence in the field of advertising. His opinion, which could stagger the usual procedures of this industry, are still having place and there are many people who have spoken against them.

On the one hand, numerous experts They advocate to put aside this type of technologies in these works, either in the creative processes or in other stages of marketing, in a claim for human talent. In fact, in MarketingDirecto.com We collected the opinion of experts from the advertising sector regarding this matter.

There are also professionals who bet on a more intermediate position: They embrace these tools for some more automatic tasks, but maintain the importance of the work of the agencies. In this current, the leaders of some corporations that are dedicated to Advertising in Latin America.

It can be done, but is that what the sector needs?

Diego Gueller Montero, founder and CCO of Zurda Agency (Entity that absorbed what the BBDO Argentina was), believes: «Zuckerberg says that AI will replace creative agencies. But more than a prediction, it seems like a desire. It is convenient for them: If you stay with the entire advertising business, you also keep the control of the message, the format, the results, ”he says.

For its part, Jon Levi, partner and founder of the Newcycle agencywhich carries the creativity of Global Adidas international brands, expresses: «We believe it is realistic assume that AI can replace many functions operational within the creative and strategic process. From the generation of copies, design of basic pieces, data and performance analysis, to some initial ideation models. But we also understand that What Zuckerberg proposes It is not only a technical advance, but a conceptual provocation: What if a WhatsApp conversation was enough to create a campaign? The question is not whether that is possible, but if that is desirable »criticizes Levi.

How far can artificial intelligence go?

Levi considers that there are aspects of which artificial intelligence can never be commissioned, neither in the short or long term. «For us, The most irreplaceable is deep cultural reading: Understand not only what is happening, but why. The creative intuition that defies data and anticipates behaviors. He courage to propose ideas That nobody dares to validate yet. And, fundamentally, the human empathyindispensable to build brands that not only sell, but connect. AI can learn the tone of a brand, but you can’t invent a soul. We do, ”says Levi.

«Agencies do not exist only to produce assets. Exist for Understand people, contexts, contradictions, emotionsand from there build ideas that make a difference, ”says Gueller. The expert adds: «The AI ​​will not replace that. Will enhance. The tools change, but empathy is not programmed. Advertising creativity is not just a TVC or a post of performance: It can be an idea that hangs on a wall, which blocks a place or shaking a cultural conversation. As long as there are human beings feeling thingsthere will be others trying to understand them and say something that matters. And that spark, for now, is still humana»sentence.

How can advertising benefit from AI?

«We are not worried about being replaced by an AI«, Levi is sincere. And he adds: «On the contrary, we are focused on working with her, use it as an extension of our ideas, not as a shortcut to stop thinking ». The expert argues: «AI can give us speed and scale, but relevance is not automated. And that is precisely the place where an agency can and should make a difference ».

For Levi, there are three Measures that agencies can adopt to remain relevant and differentiated In an environment where automation can be increasing.

• Firstaccept the change: do not resist or romantize the past, but to learn to use AI as an ally, incorporating it into the process without losing critical vision.
• Secondraise the role of the agency, going from being a provider to strategic partner, from simple executor to future builder.
• Thirdclaim what makes us human: sensitivity, contradiction, humor, context, that “I don’t know why, but this is powerful.”

In addition, the founder of the Newcycle agency reflects on the future of total automation: «It is a risk If the agencies believe that their value is only in executing briefings or delivering pieces, because that can already be automated. But it is also A great opportunity If we understand that brands do not seek only production, but vision, criteria, cultural reading, sensitivity, boldness, soul », summarizes Levi.

Transformation always generates fears and doubts

There is a long list of examples in the History of humanity They demonstrate how societies usually take their hands in the head in the face of deep transformations, especially when they come from new technologies. «I imagine a meeting of art directors and directors in the 90s saying: ‘It is the end. Photoshop is coming. We are going to run out of work‘. Illustrators crying, designers with fear of the future. I calculate that the same will have happened with the industrial revolution, with the e-mail, with the printing press. There were always reversed people with the changes »Highlights Gueller.

But for this expert, there is hope: «History showed us that fear does not paralyze forever. It changes us, yes. But it also pushes us to adapt. Because If there is something that the human being knows how to do better than anyone, it is that: adapt and create »concludes.