Artificial Intelligence in Content Creation

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around and evolving for decades — but within the last year it has hit a fever pitch as it has begun unavoidably touching our daily lives with new tools and platforms. Consumers and professionals across numerous industries can’t seem to escape this hot topic of conversation. For commerce marketing professionals, there are a plethora of questions regarding how AI will transform everything from processes and hiring to campaign execution, measurement and content creation. This special report — based on a Path to Purchase Institute survey (conducted in July in partnership with Vizit) — begins to uncover the potential of AI when it comes to visual content creation. The respondents comprised 35 professionals who indicated that they lead or work in a role that includes visual content strategy, image creation, content syndication or measurement. From the familiarity and adoption of different tools/services to AI budget allocations and the relevance of applications, this report reveals how AI is currently making a mark in CPG content creation. What does the future hold? Highlights include the perceived benefits and risks of using AI and how professionals see work habits changing in the year ahead. Who Is Using AI? When OpenAI released an early demo of ChatGPT in November 2022, AI began to dominate social media and news headlines and took the content marketing world by storm. In our survey, familiarity with the concept of using AI for visual content creation and measurement was expressed by the majority of the survey respondents, with 46% saying they were very or extremely familiar. This demonstrates a cautiousness that is reiterated by the rate of adoption of AI tools and services. Three out of five respondents said they have at least experimented with using AI tools to support visual content creation and measurement. However, none of the professionals surveyed have fully integrated the available tools into their internal processes. The feedback on familiarity and adoption shows the industry has a big learning curve ahead. Tools & Services From tools that generate copy to platforms that measure and optimize images, there are opportunities to use AI to help with words, graphics, music, video and more. There are AI applications to support every step of the content creation process from ideation to creation to measurement. Of the collection of AI tools and services available on the market, respondents identified the following as tools they are using or experimenting with: ChatGPT, Proprietary Tool, Vizit, Google BARD AI, OpenAI Dall-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and Adobe Firefly. The majority of respondents who have used one or more AI tools have found them to be effective — 62% of respondents said they are moderately effective while 10% found them highly effective. With professionals recognizing the need to learn AI tools or be left behind, the creative world seems to be in an experimentation mode. This means teams need to invest time, energy and funds to explore AI with a trial-and-error mentality. While current budget allocations for AI-based tools or solutions are at a minimum (currently 5%), respondents expect a 15% average allocation in one year. Relevant AI Uses Based on their current familiarity with AI, respondents were asked to consider the relevant ways the technology may enhance or support visual content creation and management. Advanced analytics (80%), content testing and optimization (75%), content personalization and customization (74%), and content syndication selection (72%) were considered the most relevant. When contemplating current versus future uses, respondents demonstrated a level of confidence in further exploration. Those who are currently using AI are most often utilizing tools to generate images, videos, and/or music (52%). Looking to the year ahead, there is a desire to use AI to support ongoing content performance measurement (66%), SEO recommendations (60%), advanced analytics (60%), and content personalization and optimization (60%). In addi-tion to these areas of growth, all uses referenced in the survey — from image generation and editing to content testing and optimization, and curation of user-generated content — showed a projected 34% or greater usage. Only 6% of respondents said they don’t expect to use any AI tools or services. Rewards vs. Risks According to respondents, the most compelling potential benefit of AI for visual content creation and measurement is the ability to improve campaign performance (52%). This was followed by the ability to leverage data-driven insights to optimize marketing efforts (40%) and expediting processes and enabling faster turnaround times (39%). While there are perceived benefits to adopting AI, respondents are treading carefully due to potential risks and the numerous unknown variables. Seventy-one percent of respondents question the quality and authenticity of AI-generated content. This is followed by fears of potential liability concerns (63%), such as copyright infringement, as well as ethical considerations (54%), data privacy and misuse of customer data (46%). With the emphasis on developing an authentic brand over the last decade, 63% are concerned about the misalignment of AI-generated content with brand voice, values and objectives. Other concerns include the complexity of integrating these tools into existing systems and processes, staff training and finding the right balance between human and AI collaboration. It is clear that the industry is in a phase of uncharted territory, which requires a commitment to exploring, learning, growing and adapting. Respondents believe, like with all new technology, there will be an initial wave of first adopters who will pave the way. Some believe these organizations will have an advantage. “There are many challenges in these beginning stages that may cause organizations to shy away from innovating with AI tools. Organizations that are able to effectively use AI tools will hold a tremendous advantage over those who are not,” said one respondent. “Early adopters who get effective results out of the tools will have more high-quality output with fewer resources.” Another respondent believes a slow and steady adoption process is the best course of action, including a meticulous analysis of the integration into the organization. “I think overall it will be a slow adoption process following a crawl/walk/run approach. There will be early adopters, but ultimately slow and steady wins the race. Organizations will need to methodically track and measure the accuracy of the content and data generated to ensure it is on par with the level of human-generated content. A rigorous evaluation process will be needed to ensure accuracy.” A Lot Can Happen in One Year Survey respondents indicated that CPG organizations will embrace AI tools at varying levels, while figuring out the best uses to support visual content creation. Respondents believe many companies will start utilizing AI more frequently in the next year. “I see the next 12-18 months as a test-and-learn phase where we’ll begin to see the potential impact,” said one respondent. Others in agreement believe there will still be some apprehension on full adoption. From automating menial creation tasks to reformatting base creative to different specs and offer messaging, respondents see the potential of AI to improve team efficiencies. Rather than a fear of AI taking human jobs, a more positive outlook sees AI freeing the team up to focus on creativity. On a broader scale, one respondent said: “More companies in the industry will adopt AI for a wider variety of applications, so content creation and personalization will be streamlined and become more efficient. AI will also become involved more robustly in the development of strategy and help drive direction, making its fingerprint ubiquitous across all content consumers engage with.” Striking the right balance between human creative talent and AI tools and services will be a focus in order to authentically connect with consumers and maintain the integrity of a brand. “I think AI will be used by a majority of brands/agencies to drive efficiencies and ideation; however, there will have to be a balance between human and AI content development. The industry will learn what that right balance is to leverage AI most effectively. If they do not, the risk is coming across as inauthentic to the consumer, which could be detrimental to the brand.”