Advertising Week Europe boss: humans still run the show in the age of AI
As Advertising Week Europe kicks off, the conversation isn’t about replacing human talent, but about recalibration, says Ruth Mortimer
We’ve all read the headlines, the hyperbolic predictions and the confident declarations that everything is about to change. Apparently artificial intelligence is going to change each and every one of our jobs and lives immediately.
But as you read this, I’ll be at Advertising Week Europe where we’re bringing together nearly 10,000 people to talk about creativity and technology. And the conversation won’t be about replacement, but recalibration.
History tells us that transformational technology rarely does what we expect. Original predictions claimed the internet would disrupt the power of the major global media companies. Remember the decentralized web? But instead there has been a reconsolidation of power into the major platform businesses. The internet was also going to increase productivity and while it certainly has, don’t tell me you haven’t lost months of your life to doomscrolling.
Ideas that feel certain online tend to get tested and dismantled when you put them in front of the people actually building, using, and investing in them. This week we will be talking about the real application of AI to creativity. Who will win now as creation and distribution become even more accessible?
We will discover new voices, new formats and new ideas that may never have been amplified before. These will be human creators, unheard stories and what they do will remain emotional, meaningful and personal in nature to resonate with other people.
Because for all our technological advancement, the fundamentals of marketing are, and always will be, stubbornly human. The techniques and channels change but the work that endures, and the ideas that travel, still depend on judgement, taste, and cultural fluency.
What events like this do, at their best, is accelerate that understanding. They create a space where optimism feels grounded, where curiosity outweighs fear and where the approaching world feels a little less abstract. Welcome to the (human) future.
The creator remix
Everything always comes back around, from wired headphones and arcade games to Y2K fashion (low-rise jeans anyone?). Nostalgia thrives in uncertain times, but today it’s being actively engineered. Creators are taking the cultural shorthand of the past and repackaging it for highly engaged, highly specific audiences. Where traditional media audiences have fragmented, creators arrive with one built in. For brands, that’s the real shift: it’s no longer just about what you make, but who carries it into culture.
Is your skincare trying to fix your feelings?
I’ve been thinking about the use of therapy language in marketing recently. It hit me in a crowded shop, hot and bothered, when a sign told me to “protect my peace”. My peace? Not protected. Successful marketing speaks to what consumers actually want when they buy a product – and today, in our wellness era, it’s emotional reassurance and alignment with the self-care memo. But trends fade. When everything is “soothing” and “affirming,” I suspect humour, irreverence, or a return to aspiration will make a comeback.
Ruth Mortimer is global president of Advertising Week Europe