AI Wants to Make You Cry… But Can It?

Picture this: a bot walks into a bar, tries to write an emotional ad, and the bartender says, “Nice try, buddy.” That’s where we are with AI in advertising. Sure, it can churn out 500 headlines before you’ve finished your coffee, but let’s face it—it’s still got the emotional range of a toaster.

Take O2’s “Daisy” campaign. It’s an AI scam-busting superhero that talks like your sweet old granny. Clever? Yes. Emotional? Maybe. But does it really move you? That’s where the rubber meets the road.

AI: The Shiny New Toy Everyone’s Fighting Over

Let’s get one thing straight: AI is everywhere. It’s optimizing your ad placements, writing your copy, and probably deciding what color your brand’s logo should be by the time you finish this paragraph. Tools like DALL·E and ChatGPT are the industry’s new darlings, cranking out visuals and taglines faster than you can say “focus group.”

And then there’s Daisy, O2’s AI-powered fraud fighter. She’s not selling you soda or sneakers—she’s wasting the time of scammers who prey on the elderly. It’s a genius concept: while Daisy chats about knitting and her cat, the scammers are tied up, unable to swindle real people. Brilliant, right? But here’s the twist: the genius lies not in the AI’s tech but in the human-designed persona that makes Daisy believable. Daisy’s personality sounds like someone your grandma would adore, so it became a media darling, showcasing AI’s potential for good while making us chuckle at its charm.

Where AI Falls Flat: The Emotional Void

Let’s be real. AI can write an ad, but can it write one that gives you goosebumps? The kind of ad that makes you tear up during the Super Bowl? Not yet. Because great advertising isn’t just about the right words or images—it’s about human truth. And truth isn’t in the data; it’s in the messy, unpredictable emotions that come with being alive.

Think about the “Real Beauty” campaign by Dove or Nike’s “You Can’t Stop Us”.

Those weren’t just ads; they were cultural moments. AI could’ve written the slogans, sure, but it couldn’t have captured the cultural pulse that made them iconic.

According to the Marketing AI Institute, 98% of marketers now use AI in their campaigns, but the fact remains that AI lacks true emotional understanding and the ability to navigate complex human interactions. That’s the gap, folks. AI can crunch numbers and spit out copy, correct tex, but it can’t replicate the lived experiences that resonate on a gut level.

Where AI Shines: Efficiency, Precision, and Scale

Let’s not throw the robot out with the bathwater. AI is a beast when it comes to:

• Speed: Need 50 versions of a headline? Done.
• Personalization: Hyper-targeted ads based on your Spotify playlist? No problem.
• Optimization: Real-time tweaking based on performance data? AI’s got it covered.

The Future: Man and Machine, Not Man vs. Machine

Here’s the truth: the future of advertising isn’t about choosing between humans and AI. It’s about finding the sweet spot where both shine. Think of AI as your trusty sidekick—it’s Batman’s Alfred, not Batman. It can handle the grunt work, leaving creatives to do what they do best: tell stories that stick.

Coca-Cola’s “Masterpiece” campaign used AI to animate iconic artworks, but the emotional hook—the journey of the Coke bottle—was 100% human storytelling. Without that heart, the ad would’ve been just another flashy animation.

A Word of Caution: Don’t Get Lazy

Here’s the danger: as AI gets better, the temptation will be to let it do everything. But great ads don’t come from a machine—they come from sleepless nights, terrible coffee, and people arguing in conference rooms about what will make someone laugh, cry, or think.: Don’t let the machine do your job for you. Let it do the heavy lifting so you can focus on what matters—creating something real, something human.