This post was created in partnership with Integral Ad Science
Conversational AI is quickly opening up a new world for marketers, with opportunities in audience reach and targeting. But the rapid pace of marketing in large language models (LLMs) raises questions and challenges around trust, credibility, and transparency.
During an ADWEEK House Advertising HQ panel co-hosted with Integral Ad Science (IAS), industry leaders sat down with Ryan Joe, editor-in-chief at ADWEEK, to discuss how to navigate this evolving channel and best practices when it comes to AI guardrails and working with trusted partners.
Brands retain control
A primary question for brands advertising with LLMs is how much control they have over where and how they appear to consumers.
Samantha Jacobson, VP of monetization partnerships at OpenAI, explained that ChatGPT has one LLM for organic chat and one LLM for advertising. This divided “house” allows her team to work closely with brands on suitability, giving marketers control over when and where an ad shows up.
“Advertising gives merchants the ability to influence how they’re being surfaced and when they’re being surfaced,” Jacobson said. “We’re giving insight and controls to advertisers but also making that sponsored experience entirely separate from the organic experience.”
Ben Hovaness, EVP of global specialized capabilities at Omnicom Media, explained that uncertainty around what ads consumers see and when has a “historical analog” to marketing in radio, TV, and even paid social. But brand safety could exist on those platforms because advertisers are able to give guidelines on where ads appear, such as avoiding social issues or news and politics.
The fundamental question of “Is this ad OK to appear next to that piece of content?” can still be governed by brands in LLMs, Hovaness said.
“That’s the decision logic,” he explained. “And that can be implemented in a platform, even if the advertiser never knows exactly why the organic response was what it was, you can still have a decision rule appended to that, controlling what ads appear next to the content.”
Strict guardrails
Jacobson also brought up the existing guardrails in OpenAI’s model, including not showing ads when a user is having a “sensitive or confidential conversation.” OpenAI’s partnership with IAS oversees whether or not ChatGPT is “honoring the criteria or guardrails that have been put in place.”
“That kind of oversight and insight is incredibly important to make sure that advertisers have that comfort and that awareness for how consumers are experiencing their brand,” Jacobson said.
And when in doubt, OpenAI is more cautious. “We would rather not show an ad than show an ad in a questionable environment,” Jacobson shared.
A journey that’s just beginning
Lidiane Jones, CEO of IAS, acknowledged that the technology is new and will continue to evolve at a rapid pace. It’s up to companies like IAS, working in partnership with AI companies, to keep up with the technology to properly support brands and marketers.
“We’re starting with the foundation of trust and transparency, which has always been core of what we do, and we want to make sure that we’re evolving,” Jones said. “We’re really excited to help our advertisers. There is a real desire for that rapid evolution of contextual information for suitability and safety.”
