While the ad industry turns out in force for CES, not many people make it to the showroom floor.
So this year, the AdExchanger editorial team brought the two worlds together. We scoped out the showroom floor, sharing insights about the tech we think the ad industry will be using in years to come. Think digital out-of-home screens that correctly infer your age and gender and serve you ads appropriately. Or if the smart washer and dryer data might feed insights (or personalization) for CPG laundry detergents.
We also discuss responsible use of AI. AI can enhance product design and user experience, explained Dave Meeker, EVP and head of AI innovation at Monks. On the showroom floor, AI robots showcased their personalities – it’s not too far off to imagine AI chatbots to be programmed to reflect different brand identities.
AI is also used for personalization. But hyper-personalization is a double-edged sword. At best, it feels comfortable and easy to be delivered an experience that’s exactly what you want. At worst, it can eerily mirror your needs and come across as creepy. Finessing this experience has been a challenge for marketers before AI, and it will continue to be a challenge after AI.
It’s clear that in 2025 most people in our industry will be leaning into their experimentations with AI. In many conversations at CES, people talked about how they personally are trying to use AI tech to be more efficient at their jobs. It can help them analyze data better or summarize briefs. But there are also concerns that AI will lead to job loss or co-opt the content of creatives and deny them compensation.
What I want most from AI is transparency. To embrace its use, but for marketers and employees to share what they are doing and how they did it, as we all get used to its presence in the year ahead. And on that note, I’ll share that I used Otter.ai to transcribe our podcast recording and summarize the insights. Then, I read that summary before writing my own recap. Cheers to the new year, and to new tech.
