ChatGPT & Stable Diffusion – finally no more need for agencies thanks to AI?

Whether you're a designer or a copywriter - anyone looking at TikTok or trade media today knows the message is always the same: your job will soon be replaced by AI. But is that true, or is it just an exaggerated hype?

The answer is, it’s true, but only if you don't differentiate yourself and learn to use these new tools and possibilities. There is one thing we still have over “Generative AIs”, because they have no capacity for logical thinking and deduction.

The way Generative AIs function today is with a so-called transformer, which is “fed” with as many examples and data as possible. Using enormous computing power, the transformer learns to recognise patterns from this and can then, based on that, generate images or texts that we commission. The result is “frighteningly” often identical to what a human would produce who understands the briefing at the level of logic.

But what does all this mean for work in marketing departments and for the collaboration with agencies?

Crossroads

First, it is important to state that there is a genuine understanding of the changes imminent due to AI, both internally and within the partner agencies. Understanding is not shown by using AI once as a gimmick for a campaign. It is shown by rethinking entire processes and roles.

The AIs and associated tools are new and often still limited in their use, but the direction is very clear: as an agency and marketing department, one has to evaluate and prioritise the possibilities for using AI. These could, for example, be:

• Automatic production of creatives and adaptations
• Automatic translation into other languages
• Sparring partner for brainstorming ideas
• Error correction and formulation coach
• Text for social media posts and scripts
• and much more

New possibilities

The use becomes most important where AI opens up completely new possibilities and does not just replace old manual work. With AI, it is, for example, finally realistic for a website to adapt individually to visitors and to not only serve up tailored content, but produce it in real time.

Another possibility that arises from this is ensuring much higher continuity, e.g., in the tone of a brand. In a few years, every corporate communication, whether in marketing or customer service, will run through an AI filter that perfectly adjusts the tone to the brand's style.

And why not use AI to create your own testimonial or a brand influencer who can communicate consistently for the brand, regardless of who is currently working at the company.

Efficiency

But of course, the efficiency gain in many areas is also potentially enormous. Many images or videos that previously required an extra shoot can now (or soon will) be generated by AI. Testing different creative approaches also becomes significantly easier as a result.

And the low-end sector in the text field will be completely replaced by AI. Simple and concise communication will no longer require copywriters, and as a copywriter, one can/may/must focus on the work where, for example (with the support of AI), slogans and new tones are developed.

Prompt Engineering

Roles and job designs will also change as a result, making so-called Prompt Engineering a valuable skill. We are moving from being creators to narrators. The new skill will be giving the AI better instructions, describing one's own requirements more precisely, and knowing the peculiarities of different AIs well.

For example, we already have a designer who is intensively occupied with which prompts can be used to achieve the best results for the production of images.

Legal matters

It is still unclear what the legal handling of the end products of AIs will look like. Depending on the data with which an AI was fed, this could potentially trigger copyright claims. For the moment, this is a rather purely theoretical concern for the user, as there is no way to trace the image or text back to a certain AI. Nevertheless, it is important here to keep a close eye on all legal developments and rulings.

Conclusion

Even with AI, there will continue to be marketers and agencies in the future. Their daily scope of duties will change significantly, however. We are enthusiastic about this because all of this enables us to further strengthen our Performance Branding methodology. For example, it will become significantly easier to test different visual creative approaches.