As if social media ads weren’t already phony enough, new AI editing tools are coming to Meta’s Ads Manager. These tools give advertisers the ability to create and alter video ads delivered to your Facebook and Instagram feeds. The rollout has already begun, and Meta indicates the tools should be available globally to advertisers as early as next year.
The New Tools Are Focused on Video Content
There are two main AI capabilities that Meta highlights in its official announcement. First, Video Expansion, which creates “unseen pixels” in a video to expand its aspect ratio. And Image Animation, which lets advertisers generate video from static images to repurpose them for services like Reels.
These new entries increase Meta’s repertoire of AI advertising tools, which currently includes Background Generation, Image Expansion, and Text Variations. Those tools are mainly for images. The new offerings are more focused on video content. That’s because, according to Meta, users spend around 60% of their time engaging with videos.
There are already numerous ways to shortcut the social media video creation process via AI. However, Meta’s announcement implies that it intends to remove some creative heavy lifting, so advertisers can mitigate the roadblocks that occur when marketers eventually sink into burnout.
You’ll Probably See More Ads
Overall, what this means for you is that those obnoxious targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram will likely become even more targeted, and you’ll likely see a lot more of them. And rightfully so. Because why else would anyone want to engage with their news feed if not to constantly expose themselves to corporations vying for their hard-earned dollars?
The announcement follows in the footsteps of companies like Amazon and TikTok, which are already testing AI to enhance advertisements. It’s a concerning new trend that reinforces the rising dominance of generative AI while continually blurring the lines between authenticity and artifice. But the bigger concern is one of consumer trust.
Despite our previous excitement over certain aspects of AI, the negative potential of generative AI is already well established. And while its adoption into the world of advertising seems natural, it’s also rife with potential downsides. Specifically, use in the advertising space means AI will rely on the ethics and morals of companies that have sometimes proven to be immoral and unethical.
That’s a frightening prospect, ultimately raising questions about the need to impose limits on the capabilities of generative AI, both in the world of advertising and on the internet.
