The news: Advertisers are broadening how they use AI tools for marketing campaigns beyond data analysis, per a report from DoubleVerify.

• Nearly half (46%) of advertisers plan to use AI for creating media strategies in 2025, up slightly from 2024. An equal percentage of marketers are using AI for bidding optimization and mid-flight plan optimization.
• 40% plan to use AI for data analysis in 2025—down from 43% in 2024.
• Marketers are increasingly turning to AI for help with dynamic creative optimization (40%), campaign activation (41%), and summarizing media briefs (31%).

The trend: AI is transforming the marketing landscape.

• 57.4% of marketers expect AI to impact content creation significantly, leveraging the technology for its ability to contribute to tasks like content drafting and generating ad iterations.
• 41% of marketers rely on AI for its ability to assist in identifying and segmenting audiences for improved targeting, enabling teams to better personalize material.
• AI is promoting internal efficiencies, with 21% of marketers using AI tools to streamline workflows and processes for cost savings and faster campaign execution.

Yes, but: Marketers might be implementing AI more, but there are downsides to overreliance.

• A human touch remains critical in an effective ad strategy. Over half (54%) of marketing decision-makers worldwide worry about the potential for overreliance on AI to erode the human creativity that makes ads connect with audiences.
• Consumers are still skeptical about the technology. Only 12% of US adults are more likely to buy a product from a brand if they know it used AI in advertising, while 37% view brands using AI-powered advertising negatively.
• A lack of transparency in how AI makes decisions remains an issue for many marketers. Thirty-five percent are concerned about transparency, while 40% cite ethical issues in AI.

Our take: Widespread AI adoption in marketing is inevitable as AI tools proliferate across industries. Success hinges on how, not if, marketers implement the technology.

• Consumers are more likely to trust brands that are transparent about how they use AI in their ad materials. Being open when AI is used in ads instead of hoping no one will notice if something is AI-generated will show consumers that you’re invested in using the technology responsibly.
• AI is best when it supplements human creativity rather than replaces it. Implementing AI tools for select tasks while maintaining the human edge that makes ads connect is most likely to be effective.