The Daily Scoop: How marketers are tackling AI brand safety challenges

AI is causing all kinds of brand safety challenges. More AI could be the solution.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a number of AI-fueled startups are popping up to assist in a variety of challenges marketers face in a world where any content could be written by robots.

For instance, AI-generated content is leading to a boom in low-quality content mills designed to gain programmatic advertising dollars but likely don’t draw many actual human eyeballs. It’s estimated that $13 billion is wasted each year on advertising placed on these sites, according to the Wall Street Journal. But new AI tools might be able to identify and steer marketers away from these sites.

AI could also be useful in helping to quickly identify videos that are brand safe — free of sex, violence and controversial topics.

From the other side of the equation, AI is also being developed to judge other AI-generated content to ensure it follows a brand’s own guidelines and voice, as well as flagging content that hews too closely to competitor’s messages.

Why it matters

AI is growing so quickly and at such an inhuman scale that it’sto be expected that we’d need inhuman solutions. But where does it stop? Will we develop AI to oversee the AI that oversees AI until it’s turtles all the way down? Will the volume of AI content continue to grow until there’s no way people can oversee it and it truly becomes the sentient, out-of-control monstrosity alarmists fear?

Maybe. These tools can help ensure a certain level of quality — but we still must take active human responsibility to oversee these tools.

And in the short term, one expert has soothing words for those of us asking the age-old question of, “will AI steal my job?”

Mark Zagorski, CEO of ad-verification firm DoubleVerify, told the Journal that despite the robo-solutions being developed, human oversight is even more important right now.

“AI just eats everything. It needs to be fed.”

And at least for now, we are the zookeepers delivering their daily meals.

Editor’s Top Reads

• Apple will roll out the newest edition of one of the most successful press conference series of all time. The tech giant is expected to announce the iPhone 15 in a presser on Sept. 12 at its Cupertino headquarters. For nearly two decades, Apple’s iconic press conferences have been highly choreographed and eagerly anticipated affairs that have rocked the tech world with their innovations. But they’ve also been masterpieces in comms, including their own catchphrase: “But wait, there’s more.” Take some time to draw inspiration from the past themes of press conferences and consider how you can incorporate these concepts into your own events.
• Plant-based food companies are looking to band together to create a category-wide slogan to rival “Got Milk?” or “Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner,” Adweek reported. The campaign is still in its nascent stages, not expected to actually roll out until 2024. But the challenge is an interesting one to get the creative juices flowing. Will they attack traditional animal products for their health risks and treatment of animals in factory farms? What about emphasizing a more back-to-nature vibe, shedding some of the “tech bro” sentiments that have sometimes followed these highly engineered products? And, of course, should they dodge the culture wars that has some people protesting when Cracker Barrel griddles up Impossible Sausages or address them head on? It’s a fascinating situation — and we’re curious to see which direction they go.
• The job market may be slowing down at last. Yahoo Finance reported that a number of job metrics are at their lowest levels since 2021 including open jobs, job quits and new hires. This has a number of implications. Obviously this will affect the labor pool and have impacts on those looking to hire or move into new roles, but it also has broader implications for the economy. The Fed has indicated it needs to see continued softening in the labor market before it considers inflation truly under control. This could be the beginning of the end for our inflationary period … but could usher in more difficult conditions for workers.

Allison Carter is executive editor of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.