[Watch on Demand] Great Debate on AI in Digital Advertising Wrap-Up
Jul 22,2024
Lauren Wakefield
Artificial Intelligence (AI)KnowledgeHub
On 17th July, we hosted our first-ever Great Debate event on AI in Digital Advertising, which saw over 200 attendees join us to understand the latest AI developments shaping our industry.
Featuring expert speakers from Microsoft Advertising, GroupM Nexus, Google, IAS, Nxt Statista, and Verve across a series of keynotes and a panel discussion, we delved into how AI is transforming the industry and how it is being adopted and used.
In the post below, you will find an overview and the main highlights from each section, plus the video recordings to view in your own time.
Thank you to all who made this event a great success!
IAB Europe & Microsoft Advertising: AI Research Presentation
AI knowledge and confidence - James opened the session by discussing the level of AI knowledge in our industry. Despite AI's prominence, only 40% of industry respondents felt confident defining AI. A notable 90% expressed the need for more AI training and education.
Back to AI basics - He went on to give a brief history of AI stating that it has evolved since the 1950s, with key milestones in machine learning in the 1990s and deep learning in 2017, leading to the current era of generative AI.
Predictive vs Generative AI - On explaining the difference between the two, James shared that predictive AI uses historical data for forecasting, while generative AI creates new content from prompts. Examples include search engine autocomplete (predictive) and campaign creation tools (generative). This new era of generative AI allows us to do things we couldn’t before, including creating ad copy and new formats for digital advertising.
AI in everyday life and the workplace - Generative AI's accessibility is transforming daily tasks, from personal uses like creating Disney character images for your kids to professional applications like ad copy generation.
AI usage - 91% of respondents have engaged with generative AI, integrating it into their workflows for efficiency and creativity. Common uses include content creation, business strategy development, and competitive advantage.
Concerns and adoption barriers - Despite AI's benefits, 78% of users employ their own AI tools at work due to a lack of organisational support. There is a reluctance to admit AI use, fearing job replacement.
AI as an augmentation tool -instead of thinking about me vs AI we should be thinking about me + AI. AI should augment human capabilities, not replace them. Practical examples include simplifying complex information and tailoring communication tone.
Next up we heard from Sam Matharu, EMEA Director of Analytics, and Emanuela Recalcati, Snr. Director Creative Solutions at GroupM Nexus who explored how much AI underpins the information and media we consume. They also considered how we believe turning towards AI can supercharge meaningful experiences and deliver creative interactions for better advertising experiences.
Session Highlights:
AI in advertising -Sam and Emanuela discussed the prominence of AI since ChatGPT's release, highlighting how it can improve advertising, but also raising questions about AI's permanence and societal impact.
Roots of advertising - They also discussed howadvertising has always aimed to inspire and capture consumer attention, aligning with philosophical viewpoints rather than merely selling products before demonstrating how AI has been bought into this.
Revolutions in history - They highlighted the Agricultural, Industrial, Digital, and AI Revolutions, explaining how AI builds on and influences previous technological advancements.
AI's impact on jobs and industries -AI is transforming industries, with companies like Nvidia seeing massive growth due to their role in AI infrastructure.
Challenges of AI -Sam drew on Plato's allegory of the cave to illustrate that AI's understanding is limited by the data we provide, emphasising the need for human wisdom in training AI.
Creativity and AI -AI enhances creativity by automating tasks, allowing humans to focus on higher-empathy activities and innovative content creation. It’s time to work on more creative ideas while AI does the hard/automated work for us.
Future of AI in advertising - To conclude they predicted that AI will make search conversational, enhance personalisation, and provide valuable insights, fundamentally changing the consumer journey and data security landscape.
AI to Increase Revenue in Media Companies - A Driver in Transformation? With Nxt Statista
In spring 2024, Nxt Statista and the German publisher association MVFP conducted a joint study on the use of AI to increase revenue in media companies. In addition to a quantitative survey, more than 20 interviews were conducted with media decision-makers. The keynote with Oliver von Wersch, Partner at Nxt Statista provided an up-to-date overview of the use of AI in the media industry as well as a well-founded classification of relevant trends and solutions.
Session highlights:
Study Overview - Oliver opened the session by explaining that the study targeted a broad range of media companies in Germany, including TV, book publishers, and music royalty organisiations, to understand AI’s influence.
AI integration levels - The study showed that media companies are at different stages of AI adoption, with some fully integrating AI into their core strategies while others are still experimenting. 54% invested between 0-100K in 2023 which is very low, showing that there is a need for German companies to invest more.
Journalism and AI - Oliver discussed both the positive and negative impacts of AI on journalism, such as fact-checking improvements and potential issues with AI-generated content.
European perspective - He also shared that the study considers AI's impact across Europe, noting similar challenges and strategies in countries like the UK, France, and Italy.
Investment strategies - The study identified four clusters of investment strategies among German media companies, ranging from heavy investment to cautious experimentation.
AI’s potential in media - He highlighted areas where AI can drive revenue growth and efficiency, such as content generation, verification, and format transformation.
Challenges in AI adoption - Finally, he pointed out significant challenges, including the need for skilled employees and the difficulty of forming partnerships with AI platforms like OpenAI.
In this keynote, Shashank Sahni, Director, Specialist Sales, Northern Europe at Google shared his insights into the evolving landscape of marketing in the age of AI. He explored the potential impact of Google AI on measurement, media, and creativity, and discussed what we can expect next.
Session Highlights:
Consumer expectations - Shashank discussed the complexity of the consumer journey and the constant influx of new search queries, emphasising the need for personalised and privacy-safe marketing. Human curiosity is limitless and continues to drive innovation.
New value exchange - He went on to explore how AI and data create a new value exchange, enhancing marketing efficiency and effectiveness.
Measurement - He stressed the importance of measurement in digital marketing, detailing how accurate data collection and analysis are crucial for evaluating AI's effectiveness.
Media and campaigns: Shashank described AI-powered campaigns, such as Performance Max, which optimise media usage across various platforms for better consumer engagement.
Creative assets - He also highlighted how AI simplifies the creation and scaling of creative assets, making the marketing process more efficient.
The Future of AI in Marketing - Looking ahead he discussed emerging AI tools and their potential to revolutionise marketing strategies.
Responsibility and ethics - Shashank concluded with the importance of using AI responsibly to ensure beneficial outcomes for all stakeholders.
To round everything up, we invited a panel of experts to the virtual stage to further discuss and share their thoughts on the insights that had been shared and to consider the impact of AI on digital advertising.
Moderated by Dimitris Beis, Data Analyst & Sustainability manager at IAB Europe, speakers included:
Matina Thomaidou, VP, Head of Data Science, Dataseat, part of Verve
Nick Welch, Head of Programmatic, EMEA, IAS
James Murray, Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft
Sebastian Grantz, EMEA Advertising Industry Relations Privacy Manager, Google
Session Highlights:
Machine learning in advertising - Matina highlighted the long-standing role of AI and machine learning in digital advertising, from real-time bidding to advanced targeting and personalisation.
Programmatic perspective - Nick discussed how AI enhances programmatic advertising by improving media quality and context understanding through natural language processing.
Google's AI Integration - Sebastian shared insight into Google's investment in AI, emphasising tools like smart bidding and Google Analytics that utilise AI for better ad performance.
Generative AI's democratisation - James explained how generative AI has made advanced AI tools accessible to everyone, fostering innovation and new use cases.
Search and AI - The panelists discussed the potential of AI to complement and enhance traditional search, rather than replace it, by providing more comprehensive and conversational search experiences.
Concerns and safeguards - When it came to addressing privacy, bias, transparency, and security concerns, the panel emphasised the need for responsible AI practices and robust data handling.
AI in media quality - Nick highlighted the challenge of maintaining media quality in the face of increased AI-generated content and the importance of identifying high-quality, authentic content.
Responsible AI development: James and Sebastian discussed their companies' principles for responsible AI development, ensuring ethical use and transparency.
Bias mitigation - Matina detailed technical and business strategies for mitigating bias in AI systems, including data auditing, diverse team involvement, and active monitoring.
Practical advice for professionals - The panel concluded by advising digital advertising professionals to embrace AI tools, collaborate across functions, and continuously reskill to keep up with advancements.
For more information on IAB Europe’s work on AI and how you can get involved in our AI Working Group please contact the IAB Europe team at communication@iabeurope.eu.
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