Is Using Artificial Intelligence in Advertising actually championing diversity?

Mary Jane Sanese 

ms943920@ohio.edu

Throughout the years, media and advertising has been constantly changing, especially as new technology arises and becomes mainstream. If we watch commercials and advertisements from the 1950s, they will look extremely unrecognizable for the most part compared to our ads now. Journalist Jose Angelo Gallegos provides a fascinating timeline of The History and Evolution of Advertising. The internet and social media has changed the advertisement world. We no longer have just magazine, radio, or television advertisements. We have interactive ads and targeted ads that are handpicked for us by computers because of the websites we might have been browsing, or even the products we might have been discussing with our friends. The media and advertisement world is unrecognizable nowadays, compared to even just 20 years ago.

We know that advertisers are going to do whatever they can to get people to spend money on their product or whatever they are selling. That is the name of the game. This means companies are catering to the masses and their audiences. This also means that if there are going to be people in these advertisements, they need to represent the targeted consumers.  Forbes explains why and how diversity is good marketing in advertising. The bottom line is people are more likely to remember a commercial or feel emotionally dawn to it if they can personally identify with it. That is why advertisers have started using a more diverse population in their ads, instead of using all white people as they used to do. Using all white people in ads is not a an accurate depiction of our world, and it means that so many people are not able to identify with the media they are consuming, which means they are most likely not going to remember it or end up buying the product being marketed to them. It was not until recently that commercials started showing same sex marriages, or which says a lot about how far behind the media world is in terms of diversity. 

Photo courtesy of  ADWEEK and Getty Images

Another important reason for diversity in media and advertising is to provide jobs for a diverse group of people. Of course making sure that the consumers feel included and seen is so important. But, what happens if companies are starting to streamline the process of creating diverse media. What happens if instead they are using computer generated persons, or Artificial Intelligence to create people to be in advertisements and marketing campaigns. It's probably a cheaper option for the companies, and it saves them time as far as having to cast people and hire them. Not to mention, with COVID-19  creating so many limitations in regards to social distancing, using technology and AI would mean that these companies do not have to worry about all of these things. 

Will people truly be able to identify with a computer generated image or likeness of a person? Will they all end up looking similar? I believe one of those most beautiful things about humans is that we all have our own likeness and are unique. "Being yourself" is something so many companies use to identify with their consumers.  Using a computer generated image feels so counter-intuitive to that message. What if we would not even be able to tell the difference between a computer generated person and a real one? Will the company have to disclose they are not using real humans? 

At the end of the day, I know I want to support businesses that are honest and upfront about what they are doing and why. I have heard so many times that at some point in the future humans will lose out on jobs to computers. I really never expected that this would be happening in the world of media and advertising.