Artificial intelligence is forcing its way into nearly every aspect of marketing and advertising. The world of algorithms has exponentially expanded. From automated search results to ad placement and algorithm-driven creative recommendations, AI is omnipresent.
The “set it and forget it” mindset has never been so prevalent in digital advertising. And while AI can certainly speed up processes and provide some level of data-driven insights, relying on it exclusively for ad campaign development, placement, and optimization is doing a monumental disservice to advertisers.
And, for the record, I am not saying we should abandon AI in this process but rather that we should use it where it makes sense and with human oversight. We should not use AI to do less of the work we humans should be doing to affect positive outcomes for our clients.
- Real Creativity Can’t Be Automated
At its core, effective advertising is built on storytelling, emotion, and cultural nuance. Those are the things that algorithms can’t truly understand. AI can remix existing ideas, but it can’t create genuinely fresh concepts using the nuances that emotionally resonate with audiences like human creative teams can. The development of creative assets requires vision, intuition, empathy, and lived experience. The qualities that human creative teams bring to the table. - Strategy Requires Context
Building a digital campaign isn’t just about crunching data, although way too many campaigns are built that way already but that’s another topic. Creating effective campaigns is about understanding brand history and vision, competitive landscapes, audience behaviors, timing and shifting cultural trends. AI can identify patterns in historical performance, but it struggles to interpret the “why” behind consumer behavior or adapt to subtle market shifts that aren’t yet in the data. Human strategists can connect the dots between brand identity and audience needs in a way that AI can’t and they can apply the concepts from the creative approach to be most impactful because they understand the emotion. - AI Optimization Creates Short-Sighted Results
AI excels at optimizing for clicks, conversions, or other measurable KPIs. That is why all the walled gardens practically force you to use their optimizations. Because it’s good for them. Doing so, almost always favors short-term gains over long-term brand building. An algorithm might push creative that performs well statistically but doesn’t ask the question about “why” to understand if that performance is really valuable. Human oversight ensures campaigns stay on-message and protect brand equity. - Placement Isn’t Just Math
Ad placement through AI can be efficient, but without human review, ads can end up in inappropriate contexts or alongside brand-damaging content. A human built process with safeguards managed by a team of skilled media planners creates a brand-safe structure with judgment and ethical considerations that go beyond raw targeting metrics.
The Bottom Line: AI is a Tool, Not a Replacement
AI can be a powerful assistant. It can greatly accelerate research, automate repetitive tasks, and demonstrate useful trends. But the heart of successful digital advertising lies in human creativity, safety, judgment, and strategic vision. The best campaigns don’t come from a machine, they come from people who understand people.