Even big brands seem to be becoming less afraid of creating AI slop. And there is no shortage of Lean AI advertising studios ready to cater to them, producing content that would be impossible or prohibitively expensive without generative AI.
But while AI video glitches and creepy looks may be clearly on the decline, they remain controversial. Some brands don’t seem to realize that, while others lean into it with questionable results.
Ad makers used generative AI to create a mock documentary set in 2036. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman explain how their company decided to harness the power of out-of-work humans to generate the massive amounts of power needed by AI models. They founded Energym, a human-powered AI system that “meets the energy demands of machines and the purpose needs of people.”
Aside from the fact that humans can barely generate enough energy to charge a cell phone while riding a bike, the storytelling in this ad is very powerful. It takes advantage of existing fears about AI and amplifies them. The imagery is also impressively consistent, from famous people to the ‘Energym’ branding.
It could be a well-crafted satire about the dangers of AI, like when an agency pitted McDonald’s “AI actors” against the McDonald’s brand. But this is supposed to be an ad created by Belgian AI video agency AICandy that facilitates AI workflows.
In X, the video (obviously) went viral, and AI bot Grok thinks the ad is “a spot-on motivation for the future. Pedal hard, stay healthy, and brighten the world. Genius.”
Really, Grok? Personally, I find it confusing. This idea is not original. That was the premise of a Black Mirror episode, but it didn’t end well. And how should I feel about an AI video agency poking fun at the energy consumption of the technology it uses? Why does this dystopian satire of AI make me want to use AI advertising and feel good about it?
Indeed, the product has attracted the attention of authorities, but the purpose appears to be purely to demonstrate the technical ability of an AI tool to generate believable caricatures of slightly older billionaires. And by focusing on the tool, ad creators don’t care whether it’s creating the right emotion or not.
“When I saw this, I thought it must be satire, but when I look at the comments section, I see that many people are cynically rooting for this. Are their brains being rotten by the AI? Or are they bots themselves?” one person wrote in the comments. who knows? If you have a theory, please let me know in the comments.
