As if social media advertisements weren’t already inauthentic enough, new AI editing tools are making their way into Meta’s Ads Manager. These tools enable advertisers to create and modify video ads that will appear in your Facebook and Instagram feeds. The rollout has started, and Meta has stated that these features should be available to advertisers worldwide as early as next year.
New Tools Emphasizing Video Content
Meta has outlined two key AI features in its official announcement. The first is Video Expansion, which generates “unseen pixels” to broaden a video’s aspect ratio. The second is Image Animation, allowing advertisers to convert static images into video content, perfect for platforms like Reels.
These new developments expand Meta’s collection of AI advertising tools, which already includes Background Generation, Image Expansion, and Text Variations, primarily designed for images. The new enhancements place a stronger emphasis on video content because users reportedly spend about 60% of their time interacting with videos, according to Meta.
There are already various methods to simplify the social media video creation process through AI. However, Meta’s announcement suggests its aim to alleviate some of the creative workload, helping advertisers avoid the burnout that often comes with marketing efforts.
Expect to See More Ads
In general, this means that the annoying targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram are expected to become even more precise, and you will likely encounter many more of them. And honestly, why wouldn’t advertisers want to take every opportunity to capture your attention in your news feed, competing for your hard-earned cash?
This announcement follows initiatives by companies like Amazon and TikTok, which are already experimenting with AI to enhance their advertisements. This is an alarming trend that showcases the growing prevalence of generative AI, further blurring the lines between what is genuine and what is fake. A bigger concern, however, lies in consumer trust.
While there has been excitement around certain aspects of AI, the potential downsides of generative AI are already well-recognized. Its integration into advertising seems expected, yet it carries significant risks. The use of AI in this field means it will depend heavily on the ethics and principles of companies that have sometimes shown questionable morals.
This raises grave concerns about the necessity of establishing limits on the capabilities of generative AI, both in advertising and across the internet.
