If you are reading this, at some point over the last year I am sure you have been asked “In what way can you or your team use AI to improve operational efficiencies in your day-to-day role?” If you’re unsure of the answer, or curious to learn more about how the industry is adopting AI, we have you covered! Basis recently released our 2025 AI and the Future of Marketing report, based on a proprietary survey of marketing and advertising professionals from leading agencies and brands on their use of AI in 2025. The question today is not whether to adopt AI, but how to do so responsibly, strategically, and with urgency.
Our very own Noor Naseer (VP, Media Innovations & Technology) and Amy Rumpler (EVP, Integrated Client Solutions) recently held a webinar to discuss the findings of this survey and how they pertain to the risks, rewards, and opportunities ahead of AI in advertising. You can listen to the webinar and view the slides here. See below for some of the main takeaways!
- Everyday AI use: More than 2/3 of respondents said they are using generative or agentic AI tools every day. The main use cases of these tools are ideation/brainstorming or research, but the use of AI is more present than ever across day-to-day tasks in the digital advertising industry. Additionally, 88% of survey respondents use ChatGPT daily, however there are multiple players in the space with both free and paid premium offerings.
- Who amongst us hasn’t had ChatGPT proofread a big email before sending out to a client? I like to call ChatGPT just ‘Chat’ now as if we are on a first name basis.
- AI + Content Creation: In 2024, 57% of respondents answered content creation when asked what part of the digital marketing process would be most impacted by AI. When asked this year, that number dropped to 30% and answers seemed to be more fragmented with big increases in analysis (26% – up from 11% last year) and creative optimization (18%, up from 10%). It’s also worth calling out that only 4% of users responding with strategic decision making – making it clear that as individuals we still like to have control over ‘fun stuff’ like making decisions and creating content where more human touch may be required.
- Call it a human bias, but in the 3 years we have rolled out this survey, when asked “Is AI Generated Better Than Human Generated Content?” 75% (2025) and 70% (2024 and 2023) of users said NO – AI generated content is not as good as human content. There is some hesitancy around turning over brand identity to AI content as it may lose the genuine human touch when engaging with consumers. We haven’t asked the robots their thoughts on this just yet
- Call it a human bias, but in the 3 years we have rolled out this survey, when asked “Is AI Generated Better Than Human Generated Content?” 75% (2025) and 70% (2024 and 2023) of users said NO – AI generated content is not as good as human content. There is some hesitancy around turning over brand identity to AI content as it may lose the genuine human touch when engaging with consumers. We haven’t asked the robots their thoughts on this just yet
- Impact on Work: When asked if you believe that AI has made you more efficient at your job, 26% of respondents felt that it has made them significantly more efficient (up for 14% in 2024). Equally important, 8% felt that it made them no more efficient, which is down from 20% in 2024. Most respondents (48%) believe that AI makes them moderately more efficient, slightly up from 41% in 2024.
- Think about how you use AI – have you noticed this increases your productivity? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
*this post used 0% AI*