How Digital Pros Are Thinking About AI-Driven Advertising
Political creatives and media buyers are racing to keep up with the rapid spread of AI-generated digital advertising, as companies like Meta move towards automating ad tasks on their platforms.
At C&E’s Digital Campaign Summit in Washington, D.C. this week, campaign pros weighed in on the looming changes in the digital advertising landscape, expressing a mix of skepticism, excitement and curiosity about the role of artificial intelligence in political advertising.
Some insisted that AI-led media buying will still ultimately require a human touch. Others cast AI-driven advertising as inevitable, arguing that the political advertisers will have to adapt to the changes or risk becoming irrelevant.
“We’ve got to feed the beast. The need for more creative is just fundamental, and so if you’re not feeding that algorithm, you’re underperforming,” said Eric Wilson, the executive director of the Republican-aligned Center for Campaign Innovation.
But Wilson also said that there are clear challenges that the industry will have to grapple with: the patchwork of state laws regulating the use of AI in political advertising and the difficulty of having candidates and committees approve ads that are hyper-personalized for individual users.
“Creative that is generated on the fly is very difficult to have a candidate say ‘I approve this message’ if it’s for an [audience] of one and has only been generated just then,” he said during a Wednesday panel discussion about disruptions in digital advertising.
Rebekah Gudeman, the managing director of digital at FP1 Strategies, said that even with AI-driven ad processes, media buyers are still going to have a role to play.
“When we look to AI, it’s an opportunity to improve our approach, but it’s not taking away the need to have an actual buyer look at the layers — looking at the different pieces,” Gudeman said. “It’s not as simple as just saying ‘I want to optimize towards x and let the platform take the reins.”
Big Changes Ahead
While many political pros are already using AI in some manner, the industry is bracing for new changes.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Meta wants to fully automate ad tasks – including creative and targeting – on its platforms by the end of the year. At the same time, Microsoft is reportedly shutting down its ad-buying platform as it moves toward an AI-powered system.
There are plenty of questions about how AI-powered advertising is going to work, especially when it comes to creative. Kelsey Good, the digital director for the Strategy Group Company, wondered aloud during Wednesday’s panel whether AI-generated content would further erode public trust in political media.
“I just think distinguishing between AI and real organic content is just going to continue to be more of an issue and the public trust battleground…is going to get a little bit worse,” Good said.
Still, some campaign digital pros said they’re eager to see what new AI tech can do. Cat Stern, who served as the director of paid media for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign, expressed excitement about the options available for political media buyers in the coming election cycle.
“From the automated buying aspects, can it recommend reservations to make for you? Can it recommend broader plans? Really seeing us tap into some of that this cycle will be huge,” Stern said during Wednesday’s panel on digital disruptions.
