The moral and legal issues with Gen AI in ads | Mumbai news
Last summer, advertising agency VML, a WPP company, created a campaign for Ageas Federal Life Insurance to communicate the impact of financial insecurity on a child’s future dreams. For its digital film, the agency harnessed Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform Sachin Tendulkar from a 50-year-old man into an 11-year-old boy to make him more suitable to deliver the message. “Unlike other AI-generated output created using existing video as a reference, this campaign was unique since no such videos of young Sachin existed,” said Mukund Olety, chief creative officer, VML India. Along with tech firm Metropolitana Spain, VML turned to the few available photographs of Sachin to create its video in conjunction with advanced 3D modelling – “a feat that would not have been possible a few years ago,” Olety said.
In December, digital agency Pulp Strategy released a totally AI-generated ad for Dabur’s Red Paste. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Gen AI, the technology that learns from existing data to create new content such as images, text, videos, music, speech etc, is being widely adopted by the ad industry for campaigns, social media posts and influencer content. Though it offers enormous opportunities, it comes with legal risks and ethical challenges.
On the brighter side, Gen AI helps agencies craft solutions that would have cost millions of dollars just a few years ago. “This represents a true democratisation of creative output. In addition, personalisation of content that is tailored to individual preferences, behaviours, and interests across a number of platforms is another leap we have made with Generative AI – and all of this is just what AI enables in terms of content creation,” Olety said.
But it has its downsides. Sahil Shah, president, digital experience at Dentsu Creative India, points to the significant ethical challenges. “Privacy is a pervasive concern that many of us confront, albeit without full awareness of its extent. The advent of Gen AI could aggravate this if left unregulated. Additionally, Gen AI also raises concerns around misinformation. Content on social media platforms is more susceptible to such misuse. “The source is always questionable and, therefore, sometimes can be misleading, creating some form of bias. In the future, as Gen AI progresses, we won’t be able to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not, and that poses a big possibility of content becoming unethical and sometimes even illegal,” Shah said.
Among ethical dilemmas, Tanu Banerjee, partner at legal firm Khaitan & Co., counts potential displacement of creative labour as a major one caused by use of Generative AI tools for making advertising material. She also flags the potential risk of biased or misleading information, infringement, and privacy breaches. “Biases may also stem from limited diversity in datasets, including the underrepresentation of various cultures, races, and ethnicities, as well as gender biases, reflecting historical stereotypes,” she said.
Big agency networks claim to have systems in place to overcome these problems. VML’s Olety said the agency follows WPP-established network principles in navigating the challenges including biases and misinformation in datasets. “We are conscious of the potential risks associated with AI and we have proactively introduced measures to ensure responsible and ethical usage,” he said.
Banerjee said the use of Gen AI in advertisements raises several legal concerns too. “The Copyright Act and Trademarks Act, along with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) guidelines, are the primary legal frameworks that govern the use of AI-generated content in advertising. While it is still unclear whether AI-generated content is covered under copyright laws or not, in 2020, an interesting case recognised an AI tool as a co-author, which highlights the need for clarity on the legal status,” she said.
Going forward, trademarks and copyright laws may require some updates to address the unique challenges posed by AI-generated content, she said, adding that the interplay of these laws with the Digital India Act will also be something to look out for.
Although the ad industry is united in seeking a regulatory framework for Gen AI usage in advertising, Olety said, any regulation must also seek to unlock the potential of AI such as increasing productivity, empowering creativity, solving difficult societal challenges, and more. “Advertising has a strong tradition of self-regulation promoting the principles of truthfulness and honesty. We should apply these principles to all work, AI-generated or not,” he added.