Daft Punk was right: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

As we roll into 2026, there's a Daft Punk tune running through my head.

AI has already made a major impact on advertising. We can only guess where it takes us next, but more big changes are coming. The question running through my head: will AI make advertising better, faster, stronger – or just harder?

Oli Shawyer believes that "if AI makes execution cheap, marketing gets harder, not easier."

Why? He notes that if "AI can generate campaigns, variants, landing pages, emails, experiments, and reports at near-zero marginal cost, the default outcome is not effectiveness. It is volume. And volume collides with one constraint that does not scale: human attention."

This gives us a crucial insight.

Because faster just means easier. Not stronger.

AI generation is attractive because it promises to solve creation – usually a mysterious black box where unexpected ideas get pulled out and placed into executions that help brands sell. If this process can be automated, it should reduce costs and hours while still achieving the objective.

The big problem? We've applied a generalised tool to solve something specialised.

If you don't understand the process – or at least the principles it follows – it's very hard to solve the problem. Even big brands only have a finite number of 'stages' they'll put their brand on in front of audiences each year. Volume isn't the valuable part here. The strength of the ad itself is what matters most.

So the question we should be asking is: can AI meaningfully improve the various parts of a single ad?

If our industry moves to a model where advertising is created with a click or less, the brands that succeed will be the ones that keep humans doing what humans do best: understanding people, finding unexpected connections, and making work that moves people.

The future ad people may be more like write/directors – orchestrating AI tools, talent, and ideas toward a singular creative vision. They'll still need to work tirelessly to help brands create advertising that is unique, memorable and long-lasting.

And yes, for those people, AI won't kill them. It will make them stronger.