Cruddy AI-generated content, or “AI slop,” is infiltrating the internet. Which is why, for better or worse, AI is changing the industry’s understanding of premium.
The term premium historically referred to production value. But nowadays, premium is becoming synonymous with user engagement, regardless of quality – which is another slippery term.
We all see AI slop on the regular, including advertising executives and decision-makers. During a panel about this topic at AdExchanger’s Programmatic AI conference in Las Vegas earlier this week, our associate editor Victoria McNally kicked off the discussion by asking the audience to raise their hands if they frequently encounter AI slop.
Lots of hands went up in the air.
But it’s worth pointing out that not all AI content is “slop” – that is, low-quality, error-riddled AI-generated junk churned out for clicks. Yet even higher-quality AI content has a bad rap. Consumers eschew AI-generated content for its lack of authenticity. For example, roughly 30% of Gen Zers and millennials feel negatively about AI-generated ads, up from 18% in 2024.
That skepticism shows up in how the industry thinks about using AI, too.
For example, as much as AI can help smaller businesses generate high-resolution ads on a budget, even ad executives find themselves wishing that the “people” in AI-generated ads were real, Liam Kristinnsson, head of programmatic strategy at DISH Media, told the Prog AI crowd.
Yet whether we like it or not, AI is only becoming a bigger piece of media production. The operational efficiency and control that AI promises brands are simply too tempting to pass up.
Slop sells
The debate over what the heck counts as “premium” video is an argument media companies have been having since YouTube started shouldering into the traditional TV upfronts in 2022.
Traditional broadcasters assert that “premium” refers to long-form, professionally produced content filmed for the big screen on the wall, not the short-form, user-generated (or should I say AI-generated?) content that people watch on YouTube. YouTube unsurprisingly argues that premium refers to the emotional connection viewers feel when they watch influencers, creators and other real people they can relate to.
The common denominator linking both arguments is engagement, because all parties agree engagement is a precursor to ad performance. And AI slop certainly garners engagement – even if it’s just people wondering or complaining about it. Trying to figure out whether or not content is AI-generated is driving a lot of human conversation, both in real life and in the comments section on platforms where AI-generated content lives.
Nowadays, premium is about “attracting interest and keeping people glued to their screens,” Kristinnsson said, whether the object of that interest is “a podcast or whether it’s UGC.” Or, I’ll say the quiet part out loud, whether it’s AI. (Or worse, AI slop.)
Agencies agree that brands care most about marketing in or around content that drives engagement.
Premium has become less about “highly produced content or creative messaging,” said Tracy Morrissey, SVP of media at agency INNOCEAN USA, speaking on the panel. What matters more are the “signals” marketers get from their video ad buys to help them personalize their next campaigns. In this case, “signals” refers to engagement.
Morrissey observed that she’s heard clients and partners use the word “premium” less and less over the years. Perhaps one reason is because consumer backlash makes it difficult to categorize AI as premium, yet industry experts agree that engagement is premium – and AI drives engagement.
Uh … got any good news for me?
But there are still ways that publishers and brands can tap into AI without sacrificing the authentic content that builds long-term consumer connections.
Take Mirror Digital, an ad network that serves multicultural publishers and content creators looking to relate to diverse audiences on the basis of genuine experiences and cultural realness.
“Our publishers and creators are using AI in ways that Google [Search] allows,” said Mirror Digital CEO and Founder Sheila Marmon, who was also on the panel. For example, content owners in Mirror Digital’s network often use AI to quickly analyze culturally relevant content and “match it to brand objectives,” she said.
But creators and media companies “get dinged by Google on their websites [when] using AI-driven content,” Marmon added, “unless it’s really upscale and refined based on human intelligence and unique insights” that creators or companies would have about their own audiences.
According to Marmon, AI-based content simply misses the mark without the “richness” of human experience that real human content creators can deliver.
“There’s a lot of pushback in the industry” against AI-based content production, Marmon said, because of “concern about [content] credibility and job loss.” As an industry, she said, “we have to be willing to experiment” with other ways to use AI for enhancing the viewer experience, but without sacrificing the human touch (or humans themselves).
For example, a few media companies have been touting AI-driven features that make it easier for viewers to follow live sports games. During its upfront event last week, Amazon showcased AI features that track game plays and scores for various football games and NASCAR events.
Many upfront events, including Amazon’s, also spotlighted dynamic creative optimization, or AI-based technology that can deliver different versions of ad creatives to different audiences depending on certain consumer attributes such as purchase intent.
These features are examples of how AI can help “drive deterministic outcomes” for brands without eliminating the human touch that creates consumer trust in the long term, Kristinnsson said.
In other words, get ready to hear the words “dynamic” and “engagement” as much as or more than “premium” for the rest of the year and beyond.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree that AI is changing what premium means? Let me know your thoughts. Hit me up at alyssa@adexchanger.com.
