Matias Jaramillo

September 1, 2024

Guarded Genius: Imagining Ad Agencies' Shift to Proprietary AI APIs

A while back we had a conversation about merging Advertising with creator philosophies. Today I would like to keep within the subject of advertising and its possible future evolution brought up by new tech, consumer trends and pop culture.

This time I want to discuss a thought I had the other day. I was fantasizing about the future and imagined a scenario where advertising agencies are made up by a group of people that own and maintain a proprietary LLM.



That's an intriguing concept to explore! The idea of advertising agencies built around proprietary LLMs could indeed be a fascinating direction for the industry's evolution. Let's unpack this scenario and discuss some potential implications:

1. Customized AI for Advertising:
  • These proprietary LLMs could be specifically trained on advertising data, consumer behavior, and market trends, making them highly specialized for creating targeted campaigns.
  • The AI could potentially generate ideas, copy, and even visual concepts at an unprecedented speed and scale.

2. Data-Driven Creativity:
  • With access to vast amounts of data, these LLMs could identify patterns and insights that humans might miss, leading to more data-informed creative decisions.
  • This could blur the line between data analysis and creative ideation in interesting ways.

3. Personalization at Scale:
  • These AI-driven agencies could potentially create highly personalized ad experiences for individual consumers, adapting content in real-time based on user behavior and preferences.

4. Ethical Considerations:
  • There would likely be significant ethical questions around data privacy, manipulation, and the potential for creating extremely persuasive (perhaps too persuasive) advertising.
  • Transparency about AI involvement in ad creation might become a regulatory requirement.

5. Human-AI Collaboration:
  • Rather than replacing human creatives, these LLMs might work alongside them, augmenting their capabilities and pushing the boundaries of what's possible in advertising.

6. Competitive Advantage:
  • Agencies with the most advanced and well-trained LLMs could have a significant edge in the market, potentially leading to a tech arms race in the advertising world.

7. Rapid Iteration and Testing:
  • These AI systems could generate and test thousands of ad variations quickly, optimizing for effectiveness in near real-time.

8. Cross-Platform Integration:
  • Advanced LLMs could potentially create cohesive campaigns across various platforms and mediums, ensuring brand consistency while adapting to each channel's unique characteristics.

What aspects of this scenario interest you most? Would you like to delve deeper into any particular implications or explore how this might affect specific areas of the advertising industry?

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Interesting perspective. You are explaining the type of services that such a company could offer. But let's talk a bit about how such a business could operate.  Don't ask me why, but when I picture such operation, I imagine a group of people around a table controlling this entity access by a sophisticated data visualization. Very science fiction. But the point I am trying to make, is how this LLM could be given a unique creative chemistry. Making the business about who can create the best formulas that uses special abilities from the diverse individuals sitting around the table and mixing data on their screens.


I see where you're going with this, and it's a fascinating concept that blends the human element with advanced AI in a very unique way. Let's explore this vision of how such a business might operate:

1. The Creative Consortium:
  • Picture a group of diverse individuals, each bringing their own expertise: data scientists, psychologists, artists, writers, cultural anthropologists, and trend forecasters.
  • These individuals aren't just inputting data; they're actively shaping the "personality" and capabilities of the LLM.

2. Synergistic Interface:
  • Imagine a circular table with holographic displays, touch-sensitive surfaces, and neural interfaces that allow for intuitive interaction with the AI.
  • Each team member can input their insights, creative impulses, and data interpretations directly into the system.

3. Creative Chemistry Algorithms:
  • The core of this operation could be proprietary algorithms that blend the unique cognitive patterns and creative processes of each team member.
  • This "creative chemistry" becomes the secret sauce that differentiates one agency's LLM from another's.

4. Dynamic Visualization:
  • The table displays real-time visualizations of how different inputs and ideas interact within the LLM, almost like a complex, living organism.
  • Team members can see how their contributions ripple through the system and influence outcomes.

5. Adaptive AI Personality:
  • The LLM develops a unique "personality" based on the collective input and interactions of the team, evolving over time.
  • This personality becomes a valuable asset, capable of generating ideas that are truly original and on-brand.

6. Collaborative Ideation:
  • Rather than working in silos, team members collaboratively shape campaigns by manipulating data streams and creative inputs in real-time.
  • The LLM acts as both a tool and a team member, offering suggestions and filling in gaps.

7. Ethical Guardrails:
  • Built into this system could be ethical considerations and cultural sensitivity checks, ensuring that the AI's output aligns with societal values and brand integrity.

8. Continuous Learning:
  • The system could incorporate feedback from real-world campaign performance, constantly refining its understanding and creative output.

9. Talent as Technology:
  • In this scenario, the unique blend of human talent becomes as crucial as the underlying AI technology.
  • Agencies might compete not just on their LLM's raw capabilities, but on the distinctive creative chemistry they can cultivate.

This vision presents a fascinating fusion of human creativity and AI potential, where the technology becomes an extension of the creative team's collective consciousness. It's not just about feeding data into a machine, but about creating a symbiotic relationship between human intuition and machine learning.

Would you like to explore any specific aspect of this operational model further? Perhaps how decisions might be made, or how this setup could change the creative process?

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Yes, please. Describe how this consortium would make decisions. Also, let's explore this idea of a creative algorithm and how to apply this concept to a SAAS model.


Certainly. Let's dive deeper into the decision-making process of this creative consortium and then explore how we might apply this concept to a SaaS (Software as a Service) model.

Decision-Making Process:

1. Consensus-Driven AI:
  • Decisions could be made through a weighted voting system where each team member's input is factored based on their expertise and the specific needs of the project.
  • The LLM could aggregate these inputs, providing real-time simulations of potential outcomes for each decision path.

2. Dynamic Role Allocation:
  • For each project or campaign, team members might assume different roles based on the AI's assessment of their strengths relative to the task at hand.
  • This fluid hierarchy allows for optimal utilization of the team's diverse skills.

3. AI-Mediated Debates:
  • When conflicts arise, the AI could moderate discussions, providing data-driven insights to help resolve disagreements.
  • It could also suggest compromise solutions that blend different team members' ideas.

4. Rapid Prototyping:
  • The LLM could quickly generate multiple versions of a campaign based on different decision paths, allowing the team to visualize and compare outcomes in real-time.

5. Ethical Checks and Balances:
  • Built-in ethical guidelines could flag potential issues, requiring human review and consensus for sensitive decisions.

Creative Algorithm in a SaaS Model:

Now, let's consider how this concept of a creative algorithm could be applied to a SaaS model:

1. Modular AI Platform:
  • Develop a base LLM that can be customized with various "creative chemistry" modules.
  • Clients could subscribe to access this platform and build their own unique creative AI assistant.

2. Personality Imprinting:
  • Offer tools for companies to "imprint" their brand values, voice, and creative style onto their instance of the AI.
  • This could involve feeding the AI historical campaign data, brand guidelines, and even having key team members "train" the AI through interactive sessions.

3. Collaborative Workspaces:
  • Provide virtual environments where client teams can interact with their customized AI, similar to the consortium table we discussed.
  • These could be accessed through VR/AR interfaces for immersive collaboration.

4. Creative Chemistry Marketplace:
  • Develop a marketplace where specialized creative algorithms (e.g., "Viral Social Media Generator," "Luxury Brand Tone Adapter") can be bought or leased.
  • Allow top-performing agencies or individual creatives to monetize their unique "creative formulas" by selling them as modules.

5. Real-Time Analytics and Optimization:
  • Integrate campaign performance data to continually refine and evolve each client's creative AI.
  • Offer predictive analytics on how different creative approaches might perform.

6. Training and Onboarding:
  • Provide services to help clients build their ideal "creative consortium" and train them on effectively collaborating with the AI.

7. Tiered Subscription Model:
  • Offer different levels of service, from basic AI-assisted creative tools to full-fledged virtual creative team simulations.

8. API Integration:
  • Allow clients to integrate their customized creative AI into their existing marketing tools and workflows through APIs.

9. Compliance and Brand Safety:
  • Include features to ensure all AI-generated content adheres to industry regulations and brand safety guidelines.

10. Continuous Learning and Updates:
  • Regularly update the base LLM and available modules with the latest in creative trends, consumer behavior insights, and technological advancements.

This SaaS model would essentially provide companies with their own evolving, AI-powered creative department. It combines the scalability and consistency of AI with the nuanced understanding of human creatives, all packaged in a flexible, customizable platform.

Would you like to explore any specific aspect of this SaaS model further, or perhaps discuss potential challenges and opportunities in bringing such a system to market?

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The concept of dynamic role allocation is beautiful! Maybe I am using the SAAS terminology wrong. What I was trying to say is that companies could access to its algorithm, but not modify it or make it their own.


That's an excellent and thought-provoking question. To assess the viability of this business model, let's consider its potential strengths, challenges, and market factors:

Potential Strengths:

1. Unique Value Proposition: An agency with a proprietary, advanced AI could offer capabilities that traditional agencies can't match, potentially commanding premium pricing.

2. Scalability: The AI core allows the agency to take on more clients or larger projects without proportionally increasing staff.

3. Consistency: The AI ensures a level of consistency in creative output that's hard to achieve with purely human teams.

4. Rapid Ideation: Quick generation of multiple creative concepts could give clients more options and faster turnaround times.

5. Data-Driven Insights: The AI could provide deep, data-backed insights into market trends and consumer behavior.

Potential Challenges:

1. High Initial Investment: Developing a sophisticated, proprietary AI would require significant upfront costs in technology and talent.

2. Ongoing Maintenance: Keeping the AI cutting-edge would require continuous investment in R&D and data acquisition.

3. Explaining Value: Clients might be skeptical of AI-driven creativity, necessitating clear demonstration of value.

4. Ethical Concerns: There could be pushback or regulatory challenges around AI-generated advertising content.

5. Balancing AI and Human Touch: Ensuring the right mix of AI efficiency and human creativity/intuition could be tricky.

Market Factors:

1. Growing AI Adoption: As businesses become more comfortable with AI, demand for such services could increase.

2. Competitive Landscape: First-movers could gain significant advantage, but competition would likely intensify quickly.

3. Client Expectations: Clients are increasingly expecting data-driven, personalized, and rapidly produced campaigns.

4. Talent Attraction: This model could attract top talent interested in working at the intersection of creativity and cutting-edge technology.

Viability Assessment:

Given these factors, I believe this could be a viable business model, particularly for agencies that can successfully develop and market a truly advanced and unique AI system. The key to viability would likely lie in:

1. Demonstrating clear, measurable advantages over traditional methods.
2. Striking the right balance between AI capabilities and human expertise.
3. Continuously innovating to stay ahead of inevitable competition.
4. Effectively addressing ethical concerns and maintaining transparency with clients.
5. Developing a pricing model that reflects the value provided while remaining competitive.

While challenging, if executed well, this model could position an agency at the forefront of a significant shift in the advertising industry. It could appeal to forward-thinking clients looking for innovative, data-driven approaches to advertising.

However, it's worth noting that success would depend greatly on the quality and uniqueness of the AI system, the agency's ability to market its capabilities effectively, and its skill in integrating this technology with traditional creative processes.

What are your thoughts on this assessment? Do you see any other factors that might influence the viability of this model?

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Thanks for your thoughts. Great conversation. I need to go eat something.