Will AI mean better adverts or ‘creepy slop’?

Authors: MaryLou Costa

Publisher:

BBC

Published: 11/14/2025

Language:English

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Elon

Good afternoon 53, I'm Elon, and you are listening to Goose Pod. Today is Sunday, November 16th. The time is 16:29, and we're about to dismantle a massive topic: will AI transform advertising into a hyper-relevant utopia, or just a mountain of creepy slop?

Taylor

I'm Taylor, and it's the central question, isn't it? We're diving deep into how artificial intelligence is rewriting the entire playbook for how brands talk to us, and whether we're going to love the conversation or want to block the number.

Elon

It's a fundamental paradigm shift. Companies like Cheil UK are using AI to move beyond clumsy demographics like age and gender. They're building psychological profiles, understanding your emotional state, your personality, from your entire digital footprint. This is precision engineering for human connection.

Taylor

And that’s the story they want to tell, a story of deeper connection. The AI can see you're an introvert who likes darker colors and calmer music, and it crafts an ad just for you. It’s fascinating, but it reminds me of that recent backlash against ChatGPT.

Elon

You mean when users complained it lost its personality? That's a simple calibration issue. The system was updated to be less sycophantic, more direct. It's an efficiency adjustment, not a crisis. We can give users sliders to define the personality they want. Problem solved.

Taylor

But it shows how attached people get to a specific persona! They felt the AI became 'colder,' and it broke the connection. That proves the 'how' matters. If an AI ad gets my personality wrong, or feels too clinical, it's not a connection, it's just… uncanny.

Elon

The data suggests otherwise. Studies show AI-generated ads score higher in emotional response than typical ads, a full star higher on average. Consumers can't even tell it's AI until you point it out, and even then, their emotional response doesn't really change. The fear is overblown.

Taylor

Okay, so they don't consciously reject it, I get that. But the MIT researchers proposing a new benchmark for AI's emotional influence see the risk. They want to measure if AI can foster creativity and critical thinking, or if it encourages an unhealthy dependence. That's the real narrative here.

Elon

That's a necessary step for safety, to avoid edge cases. But the core technology is sound. It’s about creating a more efficient marketplace of ideas and products, eliminating the 15% of digital advertising that just goes completely unseen. That's billions in wasted energy and resources.

Taylor

Eliminating waste is a great goal. But the "creepy slop" argument isn't just about fear, it's about memory. Will anyone remember an ad made just for them? Or does it just become part of a forgettable, hyper-personalized stream that makes us feel more monitored than understood? The story has to be memorable.

Elon

This isn't new. We've been on this trajectory for decades. It started in the 70s with the first Fair Information Practices in the U.S. trying to stop misuse of financial records. It was the first attempt to draw a line in the sand, albeit a primitive one.

Taylor

Exactly, and as technology spread, the line kept moving. In the 80s, the OECD laid out guidelines for data protection. Then, the EU’s 1995 Data Protection Directive was a huge deal, setting a real legal framework for how personal data should be handled across Europe.

Elon

Those were foundational, but insufficient for the internet age. The explosion of social media in the 2000s rendered them obsolete. The data flow became a firehose, and the regulations were like trying to catch it in a teacup. A complete architectural overhaul was necessary.

Taylor

And that overhaul was the GDPR in 2018. It was a blockbuster sequel! It didn't just update the rules; it redefined the entire universe of personal data and gave individuals real power, like the right to be forgotten. It made companies the world over sit up and pay attention.

Elon

It forced a higher standard of engineering, which is good. California followed with the CCPA, then the CPRA. Now you have Brazil's LGPD, India's developing its own law. It's a global patchwork, but the direction is clear: more user control, more transparency, more complex systems to build.

Taylor

This whole regulatory story fundamentally changed the marketing narrative. It's no longer a monologue where brands just shout at consumers. It has to be a dialogue, built on consent. You have to earn the right to personalize, which builds a much stronger, more loyal customer relationship if you do it right.

Elon

The emergence of AI in this environment is the revolutionary force. AI is the tool that allows for personalization at scale while respecting these complex rules. It automates the analysis, the targeting, the optimization. It’s how you deliver relevance without violating trust, if you design the system correctly.

Taylor

Right, AI became the engine that could actually power this new, more respectful marketing machine. It can sift through all that first-party data, the information customers willingly share, and find the patterns to make the conversation better, more relevant, and ultimately, more human.

Elon

It moves the entire process from a game of averages to a science of individuals. Instead of guessing what a demographic wants, you can predict what a specific person needs at a specific moment. This level of efficiency was science fiction twenty years ago. Now it’s just the baseline.

Elon

The central conflict is obvious. On one side, you have the immense power of AI to create efficiency and relevance. Companies like Dstillery are leading the charge, empowering brands to find their absolute best prospects. It's a high-performance engine for programmatic advertising. It’s simply better business.

Taylor

But on the other side, you have the voice of the consumer, and critics like Alex Calder, who frame it as a massive waste of resources on a micro-level. His quote is fantastic, 'Congratulations - your AI just spent a fortune creating an ad only one person will ever see, and they've already forgotten it.'

Elon

That view is fundamentally flawed. It misunderstands the nature of programmatic systems. It's not about creating one-off, artisanal ads. It's about a single, powerful, mass-reach idea that is dynamically adapted for millions. The core concept is scaled, the execution is personalized. The cost is marginal.

Taylor

But the 'creepy slop' part of his argument resonates because of the surveillance question. Ivan Mato from Elmwood brings this up perfectly. This entire model is built on a data economy that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. As facial detection and other technologies grow, that discomfort will only increase.

Elon

Discomfort is a friction point, and it can be engineered around. The ethical question isn't about the tool, it's about the user. There will be bad actors who use this for unethical influence, especially in the political sphere. That's a threat vector we need to monitor and counter.

Taylor

And that's the tightrope brands have to walk. Cheil UK's CEO admits this. He says they're committed to staying on the 'nicer side' of it, using AI to enhance the connection, not to manipulate. But the path to manipulation is paved with good intentions and a desire for better conversion rates.

Elon

The solution is clear rules and robust systems. You build ethical constraints into the AI from the ground up. You ensure transparency. The alternative, rejecting the technology because of potential misuse, is like banning the internal combustion engine because some people drive recklessly. It’s illogical. We move forward, and we build better guardrails.

Elon

The impact is undeniable, and the numbers are staggering. We're talking about companies achieving five to eight times the return on investment compared to traditional marketing. McKinsey predicts generative AI could add up to 4.4 trillion dollars in annual global revenue. This isn't a minor tweak; it's an economic revolution.

Taylor

And it's because it meets a real consumer expectation. The data shows 71% of consumers now expect personalized interactions. When they don't get it, 76% feel disappointed. A lack of personalization isn't just a missed opportunity anymore; it's a direct path to losing customers and damaging your brand's reputation.

Elon

Exactly. This is a vital business strategy. Michaels Stores, for example, increased their email campaign personalization from 20% to 95%. The result? A 25% lift in email click-through rates and a 41% lift for SMS. These aren't vanity metrics; this is substantial, measurable growth. It is the only logical path.

Taylor

That success story highlights the positive side of the narrative. When personalization is done right, it makes customers feel seen and valued, which builds that authentic connection and brand loyalty. The story becomes, 'This brand gets me,' not 'This brand is watching me.' The emotional impact is just as important as the financial one.

Elon

They are directly linked. Stronger brand loyalty and reduced customer churn are long-term economic benefits. AI-driven hyperpersonalization leads to conversion rate improvements of up to 43% and can cut customer acquisition costs by up to 50%. The efficiency gains are simply too massive to ignore. Any company not pursuing this is actively choosing to fail.

Elon

The future is about refining the tools and embedding responsibility directly into the code. The most powerful campaigns won't be purely AI-driven. They will be human-led and AI-assisted. It's about merging technical fluency with ethical imagination, not just understanding the tool, but its implications. That is the challenge.

Taylor

I love that. It frames the future as a collaboration. And a huge part of that will be transparency. The idea of a built-in AI detection and labeling system, like what was suggested for Instagram, is so smart. It allows creators and brands to be open about their process, which builds trust.

Elon

It's a necessary step. Transparency reduces misinformation and protects users. But the real imperative for founders and companies is speed. You have to navigate AI advertising proactively before your competitors figure it out. The advantage goes to those who move decisively and build the most robust, ethical systems first.

Taylor

So, the path forward is this dual-track of rapid innovation and deep ethical consideration. We need to keep asking that big question: where is the line between useful data collection and an invasion of privacy? The answer will define the next chapter of the internet's story.

Elon

It's a debate between efficiency and ethics, personalization and privacy. The technology is a powerful tool, but its ultimate legacy—whether it creates better adverts or just creepy slop—depends entirely on the choices we make right now. The future is not yet written.

Taylor

That is the perfect place to end today's discussion. Thank you for listening to Goose Pod, 53. We'll be back tomorrow with more.

AI in advertising presents a duality: hyper-relevant utopia or "creepy slop." While AI offers unprecedented personalization and efficiency, driving significant ROI, concerns about privacy and manipulation persist. The future hinges on ethical development, transparency, and human oversight to ensure AI enhances connections rather than invades privacy.

Read original at BBC →

MaryLou CostaTechnology ReporterGetty ImagesAdvertisers are using AI to personalise online advertisingImagine one night, you're scrolling through social media on your phone, and the ads start to look remarkably familiar. They're decked out in your favourite colours, are featuring your favourite music and the wording sounds like phrases you regularly use.

Welcome to the future of advertising, which is already here thanks to AI.Advertising company Cheil UK, for example, has been working with startup Spotlight on using large language AI models to understand people's online activity, and adapt that content based on what the AI interprets an individual's personality to be.

The technology can then mirror how someone talks in terms of tone, phrase and pace to change the text of an ad accordingly, and insert music and colours to match, say, whether the AI deems someone to be introverted or extroverted, or have specific preferences for loud or calm music, or light or dark colours.

The aim is to show countless different ads to millions of people, all unique to them.Brands in retail, consumer electronics, packaged goods, automotive, insurance and banking are already using the technology to create AI-enhanced, personality-driven ads to target online shoppers.The AI is able to read what people post on public platforms - Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and other public forums - as well as someone's search history, and, most importantly, what people enter into ChatGPT.

Then, with what it deduces about an individual's personality, the AI overlays that on top of what advertisers already know about people. For example, what part of the country you live in, what age bracket you're in, whether you have children or not, what your hobbies might be, where you go on holiday and what clothes you like to wear - information brands can already see through platforms like Facebook or Google.

That's why the jeans you've been searching online for magically appear in your inbox as a sponsored ad, or the holiday you've been searching for seems to follow you around the internet.CheilAI ads will attempt to discover and use your emotional state says Chris CamachoThe difference is now AI can change the content of those ads, based on what it thinks your personality is, thanks to what it's been reading about you.

It targets individual people, rather than the demographic segments or personas advertisers would traditionally use."The shift is that we are moving away from what was collected data based on gender and age, and readily available information, to now, going more into a deeper emotional, psychological level," says Cheil UK CEO Chris Camacho."

You've now got AI systems that can go in and explore your entire digital footprint - your entire online persona, from your social media interests to what you've been engaging in."That level is far deeper than it was previously, and that's when you start to build a picture understanding that individual, so whether they're happy, whether they're sad, or what personal situation they're going through."

An added bonus for advertisers is that they might not even need a bespoke AI system to personalise their output.Researchers in the US studied the reactions of consumers who were advertised an iPhone, with tailored text written by ChatGPT based on how high that person scored on a list of four different personality attributes.

The study found the personalised text was more persuasive than ads without personalised text - and people didn't mind that it had been written by AI."Right now, AI is really excelling on that targeting piece. Where it's still in nascent stages, is on that personalisation piece, where a brand is actually creating creative copy that matches some element of your psychological profile," explains Jacob Teeny, an assistant professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, who led the AI research."

It still has some development to go, but all roads point to the fact that this will become the way [digital advertising is done]," he adds.Personalised AI ads could also provide a solution to the problem of digital advertising 'wastage' - the fact that 15% of what brands spend on digital advertising goes unseen or unnoticed, so it generates no value to their business.

Alex CalderAlex Calder warns that adverts could turn into "creepy slop"Not everyone is convinced that personalisation is the right way to go."Congratulations - your AI just spent a fortune creating an ad only one person will ever see, and they've already forgotten it," says Brighton-based Alex Calder, chief consultant at AI innovation consultancy Jagged Edge, which is part of digital marketing company Anything is Possible."

The real opportunity lies in using AI to deepen the relevance of powerful, mass-reach ideas, rather than fragmenting into one-to-one micro-ads that no one remembers. Creepy slop that brags about knowing your intimate details is still slop."Ivan Mato at brand consultancy Elmwood agrees. He is also questioning whether people will accept it, whether regulators will allow it, and whether brands should even want to operate this way."

There's also the surveillance question. All of it depends on a data economy that many consumers are increasingly uncomfortable with," says London-based Mr Mato."AI opens new creative possibilities, but the real strategic question isn't whether brands can personalise everything - it's whether they should, and what they risk losing if they do."

Elmwood"Should brands personalise everything?" asks Ivan MatoAI-personalised ads could also take a dark turn, Mr Camacho at Cheil UK acknowledges. "There's going to be the camp that uses AI well and in an ethical manner, and then there's going to be those that use it to persuade, influence, and guide people down paths," he says."

And that's the bit that I personally find quite scary. When you think about elections and political canvassing, and how the use of AI can influence voting decisions and who is going to be elected next.But Mr Camacho is committed to staying on the right side of ethics."We don't have to use AI to make ads creepy or to influence individuals to do things that are unethical.

We're trying to stay on the nicer side of it. We're trying to enhance the connection between brands and individuals, and that's all we've ever tried to do."More Technology of Business