AI, advertising and the future of the internet
Talk to 10 different people about the possibilities of AI enhanced advertising, and you’ll get three completely different answers. For some, it heralds a new age of possibility — personalisation of our online experience to facilitate advertising that is genuinely helpful and well timed. For others, it suggests a deeply unsettling future. One where facial recognition becomes misused, or where our personal data is harvested and weaponised against us. Many consumers in the global South face these developments with few regulatory protections, or grapple with very different political and structural landscapes to those of us in Europe.
The collision of conversations about advertising, consent, privacy and brand safety, have created unprecedented scrutiny of the complicated world of adtech. Consumer and digital rights groups are challenging the legality of real time bidding under GDPR, while publishers pilot alternative funding models, and Tim Berners-Lee draws up a new contract for the web. Meanwhile, smart cities, AR, opt-in advertising, and the CX movement within martech create new opportunities and design principles to consider. What’s certain is that the future of AI enhanced advertising will be shaped by factors beyond the advertising industry.
Over the course of my fellowship, I’ll be exploring the potential benefits, pitfalls and unintended consequences of AI enhanced advertising, globally, but with a particular focus on the UK, India and Brazil. Assessing each from a consumer perspective and making recommendations for its development that can be used by both advertisers and consumer groups wishing to join the conversation.
If any of the points raised above piques your interest, or if you have recommendations about who I should speak to, please feel free to get in touch with me at hello [at] harrietkingaby.com or via LinkedIn.
I’ll also be blogging via this Medium channel and Tweeting on @HKingaby.
