We know that AI image generators are improving, producing more realistic and accurate images. Now, a repeat of an experiment from a few years ago shows just how much.
We reported on the experience of a London agency in 2022 that tried to use AI image generation to create advertisements for famous brands. The results were terrifying. Two years later, the same agency repeated the exercise to see how AI art had improved. Result? It's still scary, but maybe in a different way.
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(Image credit: 10 Days / Powered by AI)
(Image credit: 10 Days / Powered by AI)
(Image credit: 10 Days / Powered by AI)
(Image credit: 10 Days / Powered by AI)
(Image credit: 10 Days / Powered by AI)
(Image credit: 10 Days / Powered by AI)
(Image credit: 10 Days / Powered by AI)
(Image credit: 10 Days / Powered by AI)
To replicate the experiment, 10 Days and its AI branding studio ADINTELLIGENCE.AI used the same four-word prompts to create images for the same 10 brands at Midjourney as it did in 2022, from Gucci to KFC. Comparing the results side-by-side, there's a clear improvement in detail and physical accuracy, although AI-generated images still look… well, AI-like.
The first thing that jumps out from the visuals of Nespresso, KFC, Wimbledon, British Airways, Gucci, Ray-Ban, Gymshark, Uber, Colgate and Brewdog is how bad the results were in 2022, when we might just Impressed that AI can produce anything recognizable at all. In comparison, the present-day results are moving towards the hyperreal but still have an eerie quality to them and still don't resemble anything that consumers would likely engage with in a real campaign. be Sure, AI can now create a pattern of vintage-looking posters for British Airways, but compare them to the intelligent simplicity of British Airways' recent billboard campaign.
That said, it's also scary how accurate some AI-generated images are now. A visual for Wimbledon shows a woman holding a tennis racket with “Near perfect finger placement,” 10-day notes. It's a huge improvement over the six-fingered hands of the past. It's gotten to the point where AI art has probably become “good enough” for low-demand brands that don't have high quality control standards.
AI Wimbledon (Image credit: 10 Days / Powered by AI)
The Weird Toys 'R' Us AI video showed how cold and disconnected AI content still feels, and 10 Days points out that the tech's benefits are still primarily in the production process rather than the creation of assets. How can I help humans? It highlighted Mercado Libre's 'Handshake Hunt' and Orange's 'WoMen's Football', which use deepfake technology to expose biases about women's sports. Both of them have won awards at the Cannes Lions this year.
10 Days says it is using AI to speed up every stage of its creative process, from concept and prototyping to production (see the Case Study section of the Ad Intelligence website).
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“We're seeing exponential growth in the potential of AI – more accurate, easier to use, and a tool that everyone will use,” says co-founder George White. “It will lower barriers to industry, and enable a new wave of people. Creatives who stick their heads in the sand will be left behind. I agree with Elon Musk's comments at Cannes this year. : 'We will see very fundamental changes next year as well, and very fundamental changes in five years… The companies that succeed in this transition period will be the ones that use AI most effectively.' The key question is when AI will be able to bring about creative originality.
