The machines, it turns out, would like to know what you think of their work.
That is one way to read the current moment in advertising, where artificial intelligence tools have moved from novelty to something closer to infrastructure, and where a growing number of creative teams are trying to figure out which parts of their jobs require a humaneli and which parts can be safely handed to software that never asks for vacation.
Alex Mashrabov, the chief executive of Higgsfield, an AI video company, offered his perspective in a recent interview ahead of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Mr. Mashrabov, who previously worked at Snapchat overseeing generative AI efforts, suggested that the shift has been faster than many anticipated.
"From around 2014 to 2024, video AI was looked at as a toy," Mr. Mashrabov said. "Recently, that has changed."
According to Higgsfield's data, more than 80 percent of activity on its platform now involves commercial creative projects, with social media advertising representing the largest share. The company recently helped produce a 95-minute feature film, "Hell Grind," in partnership with professional directors — a project that required approximately 100 hours of AI-generated footage to yield the final cut.
(One imagines the craft services budget was minimal.)
Mr. Mashrabov was careful to note that human judgment remains essential. "Someone still has to decide what makes a good story and what doesn't," he said. "AI can generate thousands of variations, but marketers still need to define the strategy."
The pressure on brands to produce content continuously — particularly for platforms where the average lifespan of a post is measured in hours — has made such tools attractive. Traditional production cycles, Mr. Mashrabov noted, can take weeks. AI-assisted workflows can compress that to under an hour.
Looking ahead, he predicted that within 12 months, "almost all ads will be either AI-generated or AI-assisted."
Whether that represents progress or something else may depend on one's filing cabinet.
Original story published in Adweek: "Where AI Ends and Creative Strategy Begins"