WPP recently learnt that it can make
acceptable screen commercials using AI
at a fraction of the cost of human creativity
WPP is a big and competent organization that, originally under Martin Sorrell, gathered together many of the world’s best advertising agencies and media companies. In my days in agencies, in the 1960s, advertising was a cartel with rather too well protected revenue. Those halcyon days – for the agencies – have long since gone. The cartel ended about 1969. Seeing the approaching trend, agencies came together through M&A or collective ownership like WPP. Advertising has been as competitive an industry as any over the last fifty years.
The industry was not prepared for AI. Nor were any of us. Nor are any of us today.
The creativity of the ad man is his or her ability to perceive relationships – even quite remote ones – faster and clearer than the readers and viewers at whom the ads are aimed. Epitomised by Oscar Wilde, quick wit is an amusing and stimulating aspect of mind sharpening and repartee. That creativity comes from the amalgam of trillions of recorded thoughts plus very occasionally a spark of novelty. True novelty is rare.
Alternative Intelligence is based entirely on what has already happened. It has no truly novel element in it. But since novelty is such an almost imperceptible part of human ingenuity, is there any noticeable difference between what AI produces and what a human can create? The history of development is a story of compromise to enable more people to benefit from or enjoy a wider range of resources. The 18th Century Chippendale was replaced by 20th Century Ikea. Millions of people benefitted. The price was a compromise of beauty.
AI also lacks feelings in the way humans have them. AI doesn’t love or hate. It doesn’t ‘sense’ or ‘have a gut feel’ the way you and I may. But, as with creativity, our human intuition is a collection of experience with, occasionally perhaps, some ability we cannot define to guess well. Even so, many of the good guessers end up bankrupt because of over confidence or hubris. Those that don’t tend to stick closer to facts than to feelings.
The two exclusively human assets I have mentioned are rare and not widely deployed. Most of life manages without them. Appreciation, happiness and love require an element of them. Mostly, it is a small ingredient. For this reason, AI is all set to take over most of our lives, most of the time. Does it matter? It does to me but that’s for another discussion.
Meanwhile, please keep as up to date as you can. The combination of AI and Quantum computing is upon us. Together they can now translate the entire internet in 18 days. Last week that was 145 days.
I’m not suggesting that you marry an AI Avatar without a great deal of thought.
There is no divorce in Alternative Intelligence.
Good morning
John Bittleston
Please do let us know your views at [email protected].
13 June 2025
