Move over Don Draper; it seems like at least one advertising agency has had enough with human creativity and is ready to see what AI can generate. Bluefocus Intelligent Communications Group Co., one of China’s most renowned media and public relations companies worth $3 billion has contacted Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. to explore their technology with the intentions to replace their external copywriters and graphic designers with ChatGPT-like generative AI models. This news sent their shares surging a whopping 19%, though it inevitably fell back 6% by the close.
In an internal staff memo, the company declared to embrace this generation’s AI generated content and put a stop to all third-party spending on copywriters and designers. AI’s potential is on a steady rise as OpenAI’s ChatGPT demonstrated its capacity to not only provide natural-sounding responses but also create captivating poetry, essays, and fiction from scratch. Despite worrying from media executives that such bots will take up their readers and advertisers, Bluefocus decided to take a path of no return.
Bluefocus Intelligent Communications Group Co. is one of the leading media groups in China, with a portfolio of clients including Samsung and BMW. For years, fears about AI replacing humans have made their way through most sectors, however this strategic decision taken by the $3 billion company could open a new path. Despite the threats generative AI poses to fields like journalism and advertising to name a few, Bluefocus stands out as a brave pioneer who has taken the risk to explore the potential of AI-based content generation.