Why the future of AI in advertising will depend on managing consequences responsibly

“Every good thing that enters the market comes with its pros and cons,” says Hassnain Kurreshi, Group Creative Director at Posterscope India, while commenting on the free creation of branded content by AI that blurs the line between authentic campaigns and fabricated ones. A recent example was the AI-generated creative falsely associated with a well-known brand which went viral, reignited conversations around misinformation, ownership, and accountability in advertising. While the brand eventually clarified that the communication was not official, the incident highlighted how quickly AI-generated content can spread and how easily public perception can attach legitimacy to it.

According to Hassnain, the biggest challenge is not the technology itself, but the speed and scale at which content now moves across platforms. “It is social media. Every day, you see an overwhelming amount of content. People are experimenting constantly. It feels like a new tool, almost like a new game, and everyone wants to try it,” he explains.

That unpredictability, he believes, is what makes AI-led misinformation particularly difficult for brands to navigate. “In such scenarios, the simplest thing a brand can do is come forward and clarify that they are not behind the content,” he says, stressing the importance of timely communication and damage control.

But even then, the fallout rarely stays limited to the creator of the content. “At the end of the day, the brand is the one that suffers the most,” Hassnain notes. “In many cases, brands have to step in and take accountability, even if they are not responsible, because there is no other option.”

For him, the larger issue lies in the fact that public perception often moves faster than verification. Once a piece of content becomes viral, audiences tend to associate it with the brand immediately, regardless of authenticity.

At the same time, Hassnain does not view AI as a threat to creativity. In fact, he believes it is significantly transforming creative workflows for the better.

“It is a blessing for all of us, especially for creative professionals across industries, whether in out-of-home, digital, or advertising as a whole,” he says.

He points out that AI is already accelerating multiple stages of campaign development, particularly visualisation and rendering. “Earlier, we would think of ideas and then spend a lot of time creating renders. Now, with AI, the rendering process has become much faster.”

That speed, according to him, directly impacts how quickly ideas move from concept to execution. “It helps us generate ideas quickly, get faster approvals, and start execution sooner. Innovation has become much more agile.”

For Hassnain, AI is not replacing creative thinking. Instead, it is changing the pace and accessibility of creativity itself. While agencies and brands can now execute faster and experiment more freely, the same tools are also available outside traditional systems of control.

And that is where the real challenge begins. The industry, he believes, is now entering a phase where anyone can create, but brands still carry the reputational burden.

As AI continues reshaping advertising workflows across mediums including OOH, the conversation is no longer just about creative possibilities. It is increasingly about authenticity, accountability, and how brands protect themselves in an ecosystem where content can be generated, manipulated, and distributed within minutes.

For Hassnain, the future of AI in advertising will depend not only on how creatively the industry uses it, but also on how responsibly it learns to manage the consequences that come with it.