AI in marketing and ethics: A look at business, corporate and consumer perspectives

Enhanced imagery is nothing new. Back in the old days (not really, just the 1970s), food and beverages in advertisements were enhanced using non-edible products. For example, pouring dish soap over a glass of beer would make the drink appear frothier.

“That’s an enhanced image in [its] own way. That’s what food stylists did,” said Jason Klein, SeeMe Index’s COO and cofounder, during Haymarket’s AI Deciphered panel on AI, ethics and marketing. SeeMe Index is a platform that uses AI to score brands’ purposes, ads and products on identity and inclusivity.

Photoshopping an image became the modern way to enhance imagery, sparking debates on whether a photoshopped picture of a model should be labeled as such or not. Today, that ethics debate has carried itself over to the newest tool that can enhance images and videos: Artificial intelligence.

Tristen Norman, Getty Images’ head, creative for the Americas, said that labeling is what people want when it comes to publishing photos or videos that use AI.

“Disclosing and letting people know what they are looking at is incredibly important,” she explained during the panel. “Regardless of how educated or aware [these] audiences are, you should be labeling your content.”

The business side

The allowed use of AI-generated imagery tools in advertisements can vary, depending on both the type of an industry and category of a brand. Each industry and brand have their own set of regulations.

“Healthcare and financial services are pretty heavily regulated, even beauty and skincare,” Norman explained. “In political advertising, there are certain states that will not allow you to use AI-generated content, so they have [many] more hurdles to climb in terms of using it.”

Context is also a big factor, as it can determine whether the use of AI is ethical or not. On the individual level, it doesn’t seem to be as necessary, especially when used for entertainment.

“People are getting a good sense of the little signifiers of what content is AI-generated,” Norman said. “We’re talking about the super-absurd, such as with Sora and [with videos] having Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy Jr. doorbell-dashing. You know that’s fake.”

Although more people are able to easily identify what images and videos are AI-generated, there’s still a chance for an individual, group or company to receive backlash from using it in their work, even when used ethically and in the appropriate context.

Last year, Coca-Cola released one ad for its holiday campaign that was made with AI, sparking backlash. Earlier this month, the company did so again, featuring AI-generated animals instead of people. The new spot received backlash as well.

“You can harm your long-term brand equity if you’re using [AI] incorrectly, or using it for the sake of using it,” Klein said. “Figuring out which parts of the process make your consumer experience better [is] going to help them understand your product better.”

The corporate side

When it comes to using AI responsibly in marketing, brands need to ensure their practices remain true to their own structure.

“When you start to put your AI governance in place, it shouldn’t stray too far away from what the actual company’s corporate governance structure is,” Klein said. “It shouldn’t be starting over; there should be a linkage between [them].”

One example he provided is when SeeMe Index reviewed L’Oréal. He added that the beauty brand has four “pillars” that are part of its corporate governance strategy: Transparency, respect, integrity and courage.

To navigate those pillars through the lens of AI, he explained, the brand decided to not use any generative AI tools “to create any human faces.”

“They’re transparent about it; they have respect for the models they’re working with,” he continued, referencing each pillar. “They have integrity because they’re standing on their principles and they have the courage to recognize that it’s not the easy way out to do that, but it is what they believe in, and they ensure all their brands follow that government strategy.”

The consumer side

For the past five years, Getty Images carried out surveys to gauge how consumers felt about AI-generated imagery and videos.

“We wanted to understand the appetite for [it], especially as we were thinking about the launch of our own tool,” Norman explained. 

According to the company’s 2022 survey results, consumers were more hesitant, preferring real imagery over anything that was modified or retouched. Over time, consumers have grown more comfortable with it.

“There’s a lot more acceptance because of its pervasiveness,” she said, “For better or for worse.”

However, getting used to something doesn’t mean they don’t have reservations. Getty Images’ recent surveys reported that 78% of respondents said they don’t believe that AI-generated images can be seen as authentic.

“While there might be an appetite for AI-generated imagery, and there might even be broad acceptance, there’s still this authenticity gap that brands are having to contend with,” Norman said, “Especially if they’re thinking about using AI-generated content.”