By Graham Deneys. A trip to the future where reality and fiction combine to create a hybrid-being and a targeting dilemma.
Just a short while ago, I read a whitepaper that outlined what advertising and media might look like in the near future—2035 to be precise. There were fascinating ideas on every page, but among the 56 comprehensive pages of predictions, the term “AI gatekeepers” stood out.
What are AI gatekeepers?
AI gatekeepers, for those not familiar, is a term for automating many manual processes using artificial intelligence. It’s a way of protecting time, triggering responses and reactions to requests for information. Sure, it sounds handy (I must admit, I have a bit of admin phobia and my organisational skills leave much to be desired). But what got my neurons firing was the effect that these services could have on our projected selves—our often carefully curated digital realities. Could AI gatekeepers create an additional human-like layer, blurring reality and fiction?
A human core in an AI shell
I see this layering concept as a real human at the core, surrounded by concentric AI circles of protection, each producing data signals every millisecond. Engaging the actual human would require a powerful relationship—a ‘supersonic key’ to unlock each layer as trust is earned.
My marketing brain hurtled down the rabbit hole, unravelling one implication after another. But I scribbled down just two words: segmentation and targeting.
If these hyper-intelligent gatekeepers were authorised and trained to envelop humans in layers, they could include tactics like cloaking, multiple personas, scrambled location, manufactured interests and digitally manipulated habits, within each concentric layer. So, how will brands adapt to serve the right message at the right time to the right consumer in the right environment? How do we ensure we’re reaching our actual consumer, not just a manufactured trait or signal?
What about data?
Is it still a “view” if an AI gatekeeper, instructed to “report back if interesting”, does the viewing?
Currently, we rely on signals for our research and targeting: claims, perceptions, location data, browsing habits, intent-based searches, purchase history, basket size, and various forms of first-party data. These signals stem from actual human behaviour, not from a layer of orbiting artificial intelligence.
Our systems and tech must evolve rapidly. The whitepaper reveals that by 2035, three in four respondents want an AI assistant vetting their ads and promotions. This shift is inevitable and imminent.
Our tools will need to discern between AI gatekeeper activity that reflects genuine behaviour and activity designed to mask reality—both will appear nearly identical.
In a nutshell, nobody wants to run an event and have an AI gatekeeper show up wearing a fake moustache and glasses instead of the actual people we were trying to reach.
How would you even share that on social?
Graham Deneys is the chief strategy officer at Dentsu Media Brand
