In this week’s Week in Review: New research warns AI influencers could harm brand trust, creative agency Five by Five Global launches an AI-powered sprint, Amazon unveils Alexa+, and UK creatives push back against AI copyright rules. Meanwhile, nearly half of marketing tasks could be automated by AI by 2029 and Big Tech announces a barrage of new AI tools.
Agency
Almost Half of Traditional Marketing Tasks will Be Taken by Gen AI
According to new research from IDC, a global market research analysis body, AI will take over 42% of marketing’s repetitive tasks by 2029 and boost productivity by 40%.
While 79% of marketers already use AI for content, success depends on responsible implementation, says the researchers.
Key benefits include faster content creation, enhanced personalisation, and brand protection through secure AI models. However, challenges like trust, authenticity, and security remain, but experts stress the need for clear AI governance to maintain brand integrity.
Creative Agency Five by Five Global Launches AI Creative Sprint
Independent agency Five by Five Global has launched an AI-powered creative sprint to develop concepts in one day.
Partnering with Ideally, a Gen AI audience platform, the agency has said it can produce campaigns in as little as seven hours, offering clients a fast way to develop and refine ideas.
Five by Five said the sprint includes a morning briefing, lunchtime review, and final presentation by day’s end, with research-ready concepts by midday the next day.
“Plenty of agencies are experimenting with AI, but we’re one of the first bold enough to package and sell a one-day AI-powered sprint, giving clients a no-risk, high-speed option alongside our conventional creative development process,” said Mark Anderson, Managing Director at the agency.
Agency Stagwell Reports Strong 2024 and an AI-Focus
Global marketing and communications company Stagwell has reported strong financial reports from last year and a commitment to AI investment.
Stagwell forecasted an 8% revenue growth for 2025 while larger rivals – like holding company Omnicom – have reported stagnation.
The company saw a 14% revenue increase in 2024, driven by strong creative agency performance, digital transformation demand, and a 72% surge in political advocacy revenue.
Stagwell is also investing heavily in AI, launching new products like The Machine with Adobe to enhance personalised content creation.
Media
New Research Says AI Influencer Marketing Damages Brand Trust
AI influencers used in marketing campaigns can damage brand trust, says new research from Northeastern University in Massachusetts.
Virtual influencers – AI-generated people – are increasingly being used in marketing campaigns by big brands such as BMW and Calvin Klein.
The paper found that despite efforts to appeal to audiences through the use of AI-generated influencers – particularly on Instagram and the Metaverse – these ‘marketers’ are likely to do more damage than good because they are less trusted by audiences.
The findings, which had a focus on the metaverse, asked 255 participants on where they would place blame for a faulty product marketed by an AI influencer, with users more likely to question a brand’s trustworthiness if using a virtual influencer.
Alexa announces Generative AI tool Alexa+
Amazon’s Alexa announced the release of its Generative AI tool Alexa+, which the tech company says is more conversational, smarter and more personalised to a user’s needs.
The new tool runs on Large Language Models (LLMs) and is designed to perform tasks across services and devices – using a group of systems, capabilities, APIs and instructions to carry out specific tasks for customers.
The tech giant also said the tool has agentic characteristics and can carry out self-directed tasks without human intervention.
“Alexa+ can manage and protect your home, make reservations, and help you track, discover, and enjoy new artists. She can also help you search, find or buy virtually any item online, and make useful suggestions based on your interests,” Amazon said.
UK AI Consultation Takes Place And Newspapers Say ‘Make It Fair’
On Tuesday, UK ministers met for the final consultation on how tech companies can use creative works to train AI models.
As it stands, tech firms will be able to use creative works – including music, writing, journalistic articles, art work – to train its AI models unless creatives specifically opt out.
However, audiences argue that this system puts unnecessary and unfair barriers in front of creators being able to protect their work.
The ‘Make It Fair’ campaign was launched in response, fighting for improved and more balanced regulations around the use of creative work by AI companies.
The UK’s major publications, including the Guardian and Times and the Daily Telegraph, showed support through sporting the campaign’s slogan on their front covers.
Music Artists Release Silent Album in Protest of Copyright Law
UK publications weren’t the only ones in protest against the government’s AI copyright rules.
Over 1,000 music artists, including Annie Lenox and Kate Bush, released a silent album to illustrate the damage the ‘opt out’ system could have on musicians, making it easier for AI companies to use copyrighted work without permission.
Any money made from the album, entitled ‘Is This What We Want?’, will go to the charity Help Musicians.
There has been an ongoing dialogue on the impact of AI on musicians and others in the creative industry. Creatives have expressed fears of AI using their copyrighted works without permission.
These concerns become more pressing, creatives say, if AI video, music and image generation models are then able to replicate works and possibly replace artists.
Tech
Chinese Tech Firm Tencent Releases AI Model
Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent has launched a new AI model, Hunyuan Turbo S, aiming to surpass DeepSeek with faster response times and lower deployment costs.
The rapid AI race has particularly intensified in China, where DeepSeek’s arrival has reportedly driven renewed competition. This move joins a wave of AI advancements from major tech firms in both the US and China, spurred by Chinese startup DeepSeek’s breakthrough in matching top US models at a fraction of the cost.
Meta Releases ChatGPT Chatbot Rival
Meta has announced it will launch a standalone AI chatbot called Meta AI in Q2 of this year. The new chatbot will rival the likes of OpenAI’s ChatGPT feature.
The tech giant said it will test a paid subscription service for the chatbot.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has committed up to $65 billion for AI expansion in 2024. Meanwhile, Meta faces EU regulatory scrutiny over data privacy concerns, with multiple complaints alleging the company is using personal data to train AI models without proper consent.
OpenAI Launches Latest AI Update with Fewer ‘Hallucinations’
ChatGPT creator OpenAI has launched GPT-4.5, its most advanced AI model, with a 37% hallucination rate – down from nearly 60% in GPT-4o.
The release comes amid growing AI competition, with Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI also unveiling new models.
OpenAI continues to push large, compute-intensive models despite rising competition from smaller, cheaper alternatives like DeepSeek’s R1.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is reportedly in talks to raise $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation as it races to lead the AI industry.
Pega Announces New AI Tool for Optimisation
Workflow and decisioning software company Pega has launched Customer Engagement Blueprint, an AI-powered tool designed to help businesses create and optimise customer engagement programmes.
Built on Pega GenAI Blueprint, the platform lets marketing and AI teams visualise customer journeys, personalise interactions, and streamline multi-channel engagement, the company said.
The firm said the tool integrates with Pega Customer Decision Hub, allowing strategy implementation and real-time adaptation.
X Launches AI-Powered Ad Tool Powered by Grok
X (formerly Twitter) has launched two AI-powered advertising tools, Prefill with Grok and Analyse Campaign with Grok, to enhance ad automation on the platform.
Powered by X owner Elon Musk’s AI system, Grok, the tools assist advertisers by generating ad drafts based on brand URLs and analysing campaign performance to offer optimisation suggestions. XAI recently released Grok 3, which claims improved reasoning and problem-solving but has faced criticism for potential content bias after censoring criticism of President Donald Trump and Musk.
Despite concerns, X continues expanding its ad tech, recently introducing Quick Promote to simplify turning posts into ads for advertisers.
OpenAI Launches Sora for UK Audiences
OpenAI has launched its AI-powered video generation tool, Sora, in the UK, sparking renewed debate over copyright concerns in the creative industries.
The tool, available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users, allows users to generate videos from text prompts. Its release follows criticism of the UK government’s proposal to let AI firms train models on copyrighted works without permission.
Nvidia Reports Strong Financial Results Despite DeepSeek
Nvidia reported strong Q4 earnings, posting $39.3 billion in revenue and $22.1 billion in net income, surpassing analyst expectations.
Its data centre unit, driving AI advancements, brought in $35.6 billion, exceeding forecasts. Despite record profits, Nvidia’s stock dipped slightly after hours, possibly due to a decline in gross profit margins.
The company expects $43 billion in revenue next quarter. While its growth remains impressive, concerns over competition from China’s DeepSeek AI and broader market volatility have pressured Nvidia’s stock, which has dropped nearly 10 percent over the past month.
Number of the Week
$126 billion. That’s how much the creative industries generate for the UK economy. This number was used as an example in the recent ‘Make It Fair’ campaign against the unregulated use of creative work to train AI models.
The government’s consultation on changing the UK’s copyright law to make it easier for AI companies to use creative works took place on Tuesday.
In response, leading figures in the British creative sector have spoken out against the change – which would require writers, journalists, artists, and musicians to purposefully ‘opt out’ – and highlighted the need for meaningful protections.
The campaign was started by the Creative Rights in AI Coalition which is urging the government to reconsider their current ‘opt out’ system.
