2
AI WILL PERMEATE THE MARKETING
INDUSTRY AND ENABLE PRIVACY-
FIRST PERSONALIZATION AT SCALE.
It feels like a foregone conclusion by now that the
streets (or subterranean tunnels) of 2032 will be
populated by autonomous vehicles (AV) ferrying
passengers and cargo from point A to point B.
The march to fully autonomous vehicles has not
been without incident and has largely played out
in the public sphere, especially in AV proving
grounds like San Francisco and Phoenix, where
one could regularly see cars kitted out with various
sensors and equipment. There is something
endearing about seeing the physical cameras and
LIDAR equipment powering these new smart
vehicles. For many of us, the ability to see, and
therefore understand, the physical skills and
decision-making processes at work in autonomous
vehicles has helped normalize their ascent, despite
the inevitable loss of delivery and public transport
jobs that will result from the technology’s success.
In contrast, the AI infiltration of the advertising
industry has happened largely behind the scenes,
with the general public aware primarily of its
failures: the “creepy” retargeting ad that follows
someone around the internet, the disastrous
outcomes of weaponizing targeted advertising
systems to sow division and misinformation.
These examples are unfortunately more common
than we would like to think—and probably largely
unattributed by consumers to the use of AI. But
so, too, are the less-acknowledged (or at least less
publicly acknowledged), successes: the trillions
of brand messages delivered programmatically,
the ability to match consumer intent with product
offerings across voice, image and text searches, and
even the creation of ad copy or creative using GANs
and GPTs (see page 5 for a glossary). The use of
AI tools extends well beyond these examples and is
already pervasive across the advertising industry.
INTRODUCTION
Though it can sometimes feel that AI has already
upended the advertising industry, the reality is that
we are only just beginning to glimpse the impact of
this transformational technology. In this report, we
look 10 years into the future to imagine where the
changes we are experiencing today will lead—and
what advertisers can do to prepare. While an exercise
of this kind is speculative by nature, this report is
rooted in the insights of the GroupM analysts,
strategists and technologists who necessarily
incorporate a long-term view when shaping the
next era of media where advertising works better
for people.
For the purposes of this paper, we define AI-enabled
advertising as any artificial intelligence used in the
process of advertising, from insight generation to
activation and optimization. We include technology
and algorithms that sit under the umbrella of AI,
such as machine learning, neural networks, computer
vision, natural language processing (NLP), and
intelligent process automation.
APRIL 2022 • THE NEXT 10 I ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
