Rethinking production and redefine cultural strategies with machine learning tools, how Vice Media is a reconstruction team.
In the virtue of Vice Media's creative agency, artificial intelligence is not a headline gimmick. This is a workflow enabler. We are changing the way our teams run, strategies are developed, and content is created. According to Chris Garbutt, Vice's Chief Creative Officer and Vise's president, the rise of large-scale language models adds rigor to what was once a pure, creative instinct.
“My previous instincts at Vice and Virty are now becoming more measurable,” Garbutt told Drums. “We use AI to navigate culture.”
That doesn't mean fully automated output or robot-generated ads. Instead, virtues use AI to focus on insight and augmentation, helping strategists track cultural trends and speed up or enhance their work. Garbutt said the tool plays a growing role in both business strategy and production arsenals.
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Rebuilding the team from the AI era
AI not only changes work, but who is restructuring it to be hired. Garbutt is actively looking for creatives who understand how to encourage and experiment tools such as generative models.
“I want creatives who are immersed in AI,” he said. “We're also putting pressure on production. We're asking if we need a hybrid director, someone who knows how to use AI as part of the process.”
Virtue, which recently acquired two studios and another production company, is leaning towards a shift. The company is currently regularly looking at ways that AI can replace and complement traditional production factors, from set builds to animation workflows.
Garbutt describes it as “liberation” for creatives.
Still, there are restrictions. Legal concerns about rights and IP means that many clients are wary of AI-generated outputs, maintaining the use of virtues primarily on the input side. It's not a final asset, it's a tool for exploration.
Clients want efficiency, not for AI
AI conversations are everywhere, but Garbutt says that most clients are on the cautious side. Concerns about copyright, transparency and reputational risks still dominate the debate.
“There's not much pressure from clients to move as fast as you think,” he pointed out. “The bigger conversation going on between CMOs is finding efficiency, cost savings and process benefits.”
That's where the evolving model of Virtue comes in. Instead of trying to build all of the AI capabilities in-house, agents are building a distributed network of independent AI studios, similar to how they once curated a roster of film directors.
“There's very little innovation to own it all inside,” Garbatt said. “So we're using the inside outside model.”
Culture is not static, nor is it a strategy of virtue
Technology is not the only real bet of virtue. It is culture-based and helps brands step into the economy, helping cultural relevance determine more and more commercial success.
“The economy has shifted from a market economy to a cultural economy,” Garbatt said. “Cultural now owns commerce.”
AI tools help virtue quantify and track cultural power. Strategists use large-scale language processing, social listening, and their own data to understand how communities are changing and where brands already retain untapped equity.
That insight then informs you of your strategy and ultimately provides marketing designed to provide real value to these communities.
“It makes much more sense to attach yourself to the existing energy of a culture and use it as leverage,” Garbutt said. “That's why we're making great cultural marketing right now.”
Track new trends, from “wife” to sibling fuss
Virtue sees more than just technology. One of the most surprising trends and his team is tracking. The rise of what he calls “new traditionalism,” especially among the younger generations in the United States.
“We see a more conservative generation than our parents,” he said. “Communities like Trad Wives, Homesteader, Hustle Brothers and more — a lot is happening.”
Garbutt believes that cultural restructuring is a challenge and opportunity for the brand. However, they need to listen more closely and design their experiences around true behavioral change rather than outdated demographic assumptions.
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Entertainment as a way to go forward
Vice Media responds to these changes by focusing more on entertainment. According to Garbutt, the convergence of AI, Tech, gaming and creator economy means the boundaries between content and commerce are rapidly blurring.
“We don't own a attention economy anymore,” he said. “It belongs to culture.”
Vice's answer is to double the entertainment, not just to attract attention, but also to gain relevance. For virtue, it means building marketing that feels more like a cultural contribution than a campaign.
As Garbutt said, “It's a really exciting time.”
