Creative Content and AI: Do you want it Fast and Cheap...or Good?
I recently stumbled upon the 2025 "Dentsu Creative CMO Report" and it got me thinking about the sign you often see tacked to the wall of a local auto repair shop: "Repairs done good, fast, and cheap. Pick two." The report shared that Chief Marketing Officers are now more optimistic that customers will be willing to pay for human-created content and that more CMOs believe AI will never replace the human imagination. In 2025, 81% of surveyed CMOs said their customers will pay a premium for human-created content, up from 65% a year before. Likewise, 78% of CMOs believe generative AI will never replace human imagination, up from 65% last year.
Creatives could just be wishing themselves into believing it, rather than imagining the value of their role in the creative process being supplanted by AI. But I think this is not the case. While the timeline for AI to replace human imagination is easy to dismiss as being so far off that it isn't a threat, the confidence of head marketers in the value of human content feels different. Even with the relative newness of Gen AI, there already seems to be a sense that there is a sameness to it all. It lacks emotional depth, nuance, and originality. It is polished but inauthentic. It risks making brand experiences less impactful. As Psychology Today stated in 2024, "While creating, AI merely mimics the choreography of a genuine creative force, lacking the pulse of life or soulful resonance."
Amen. But I don't think Generative AI in marketing and creative work is going away. I think we'll just evolve into a two-tier system for customers to choose:
- OPTION A - Want it fast, efficient, inexpensive, and don't care about sameness? Great! Gen AI to the rescue!
- OPTION B - Need an authentic experience to touch the human soul? Human creatives have you covered! (and you'll gladly pay more for it)