A.I.

AI ads are here — and they're invisible

For as much information as tech companies already have on us, the AI tools being rolled out could know us as intimately as friends

ByJackie Snow

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Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s AI & Tech newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest AI & tech news, analysis and insights straight to your inbox.

Mark Zuckerberg laid out Meta's advertising future on a recent earnings call, and it sounds like a marketer's dream. Advertisers will simply provide a business objective and payment information, he said, and AI will figure out everything else, including generating personalized video and creative content tailored to individual users.

For as much information as tech companies already have on us, the AI tools being rolled out could know us as intimately as friends. And unlike today's algorithms that track clicks and purchases, these systems will understand your insecurities, your aspirations, and exactly what it takes to change your mind. That psychological profile then becomes a product — think Google AdWords meets your therapist's notes — sold to the highest bidder.

Google is already testing ads in its AI chatbot responses. OpenAI is staffing up a new advertising platform. Ticketmaster is running AI-generated Facebook ads featuring........

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