If you walk or drive around Ntinda or Ntinda – stretcher road or in Nakawa, it is most certainly that you will see an outdoor Billboard, having artificial intelligence generated images of the models on them, either holding a product or endorsing a product.
You could say that may be the Ntinda route isn’t one you use on a daily. At least you have seen at the backdoor glass mirror of taxis, with AI-generated images of school going children (advertising the school). Even as you scroll social media, it is rare but now becoming a phenomenal of the everyday, that brands are using AI images of models for their artworks/ posters on social media for campaigns and ongoing brand communications.
Marketing maven and Digital Marketing Strategist Kojo Cyril calls this approach by brands lazy. He in his opinion notes that:
Every time I walk around Kampala and see an AI-generated billboard, my first reaction is; there goes another lazy brand. Lazy may sound harsh, but honestly but that’s the truth.
In a market like ours, where you can still get models, graphic designers and art directors affordably, choosing AI as a shortcut says more about a brand’s mindset than its creativity. What the brand is simply saying is that; innovation isn’t their thing and avoiding work that gives ideas depth and relevance is what they are perfect at.
But again, the problem isn’t AI, it is how it’s being used. In the hands of a thinker, AI can elevate creative work. But in the hands of someone looking for a quick fix, it simply produces lazy generic soulless visuals. And that’s what we are starting to see more on billboards around Kampala.
Kojo furthers highlighted into artificial intelligence’s potential impact on jobs and creativity as a whole saying:
I don’t believe AI will replace graphic designers anytime soon, especially in Uganda. What it will do instead, is expose the difference between those who can think and those who find thinking to be a tedious task. The real risk for the industry isn’t job loss but a flood of mediocre and lazy work. When everyone can produce something quickly, fewer people take the time to produce something meaningful.
At the end of the day, AI should support creativity and not replace it. Or simply put- AI is there for thinkers, not for people who expect it to think for them.
The next billboard you look at will tell you more about the people behind the brand than AI.
Safaricom recently faced backlash for using AI-generated images in a billboard campaign. It sparked debates about the ethical implications of AI in advertising.
— Yussuf Omar Dakane (@omar_dakane) December 26, 2023
Here is why it may cause some issues with people: pic.twitter.com/8tE18OG5Md
As read from Kojo’s insights above, his perspective holds water and speaks to even a much broader element which is how the use of AI (especially on out-of-home placements and on still artworks for digital use) doesn’t automatically signal a lack of effort from brands but rather a clear reflection of the a shift in how brands are approaching efficiency, production timelines, and access to creative resources.
Allow me play “Devil’s advocate” for a minute. While doing this, I’ll borrow from Kojo’s belief that AI isn’t here to take anyone’s job, but rather assist human creators in improving their output. In the same way, I do believe, AI and creatives can co-exist in a very happy open marriage, and that’s cuz each have something that’s amazing that they bring to the table; harnessing AI’s strongest footing beyond image generation and its ability to process the rich trove of consumer data, used this way, it will allow brands to make more grounded decisions, guided by patterns, behavior, and measurable insights rather than assumption.
For some brands, adopting AI – generated visuals could be a thing of exploring and catching up with trends while seeking to cut cost and be efficiency as traditional production comes with layers of costs, from production, hiring/casting, costumes, locations of shoots (cost saving) etc. Efficient and as handy as this approach may come in, the public sentiment on AI visuals remains largely skeptical, often perceiving AI imagery as a “betrayal of human creativity” and a, “replacement of human models”.
Speaking of this perceptual cost, it is important and common to note that there is a noticeable hesitation among audiences.
AI-generated imagery is frequently interpreted as a departure from human input, and in some cases, a replacement of it. This perception affects how people connect with the work. Advertising, at its core, is built on relatability and trust. When audiences sense artificiality, even subtly, it can weaken that connection. People tend to place higher value on things they believe carry human intention or effort. Even when there is no visible difference in quality, the knowledge that something was AI-generated can shift perception. The same visual, when framed as human-made, is often received as more thoughtful, more meaningful, and ultimately more valuable. The label alone can influence how the work is judged. For instance, if two paintings that are similar are randomly labelled as either “human created” or “AI created”, people consistently judge the works they believe to be “human created” as more beautiful, meaningful and profound; indicating that the simple presence of an AI label reduces the perceived creativity and value.
While there is no numbers to prove it, advertising experts say they believe 82% of Gen Z and millennials feel positively about AI-generated ads. However, according to IAB and Sonata Insights, only 45% of those consumers actually feel that way. This indicates that even the though there’s a perception that younger audiences are more receptive to AI-driven content, the reality is less definitive. The mixed energy and backlash that the Coca Cola advertisement for Christmas last year received was a lot of, and this was after it was discovered that it was designed using Artificial Intelligence is a standout example of this scenario.
Looks like AI is here to stay; so the way around this co-existence would be training oneself on prompting while also being open minded to learning as much as they can, and figure out how to apply some artificial intelligence in their day to day lives.
This article was guest written with assistance from Kojo Cyril; a Digital Marketing Strategist.