Under Armour's latest ad has caused outrage among many creatives due to it being produced by AI. The ad uses the likeness of famous heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua and elements that were previously filmed for Under Armour, along with AI, to produce a brand new video.
As AI technology continues to improve, it's likely that many jobs in the creative field will be replaced. This was difficult to imagine just a few years ago, but now it seems like a very real possibility. The technology has improved enough that companies like Under Armour can take clips they already have access to and use them to create completely new content for advertising purposes.
This renders entire departments obsolete because a small number of AI prompts can produce in minutes what whole teams would take months to create. From a business standpoint, this is an incredible opportunity because of the amount of money and time it will inevitably save. However, this is not good news for creatives.
The video above includes clips filmed by two production companies new-land.tv, directed by Gustav Johansson with DP Andre Chemetoff, and Iconoclast Germany, directed by Maik Schuster with DP Joao de Botelho. Out of protest, many people in the comments are pasting these credits in the comment section of the YouTube channel.
Additionally, many people in the comments have expressed their dissatisfaction towards the video, and the video itself has an estimated dislike percentage of around 80%.
It's unfortunate and seems very likely that many high-end commercial creative job positions will be reduced or even entirely replaced. For instance, actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry has put his $800M studio expansion on hold due to the impact of AI.
What we're seeing right now is that the people who actually have the money to fund these ventures are leaning more and more towards AI. Generally speaking, industries follow the money.
The only concern that companies may have is related to copyright. Currently, AI content cannot be owned in the same way as user-created content. Effectively, anyone can use AI-generated content, and this could create a hazard for the brand and its reputation.
Ultimately, it's difficult to say exactly where things are going to end up because of how fast AI is developing. As of right now, industries are already considering AI as a viable alternative.
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As with every breaking edge invention in history, you cannot please everyone. As there is still a niche for Film photography that pales to the heyday, there will always be someone interested in doing something 'the old fashion way'.
Mainstream media do sales emotions. As long the AI doesn't feels, it won't work. Simple as that. This is why the generated images evoke dissonance and anxiety. Even if we don't understand, we do feel at least. Consciously or not. This is the limitation of AI. As we don't fully understand how the human mind works, so we can't explain it to AI