Artificial intelligence (AI) is a revolutionary tool, used by brands to target, engage and convert audiences into consumers.
Its widespread integration has shifted advertising into a new trajectory.
Bang Digital, a Perth based marketing agency, strives to merge AI with their marketing strategies.
Customer experience director, Geordie Frost describes AI as already having a profound impact on the way that advertising and marketing operates.
“The focus for us is using it to augment what we currently do and make it better, whether that’s better quality, faster, or unlock different skill sets we don’t have,” he says.
While these tools have proven to be of useful, beneath the surface, a web of ethical dilemmas and practical challenges lie.
The privacy problem
AI systems track users’ behaviour, preferences and personal details to target advertisements.
“I think what it’s going to enable is just like hyper- personalisation and so people’s experiences in the digital space are going to be very specific to them,” says Mr Frost.
A Statista report from early 2025 found 41 per cent of Australians felt uncomfortable with companies personalising ads based on their online behaviour, showing people’s privacy remains a concern.
“There is a super high risk of your data being leaked into the sandbox for these language models and you don’t know what’s happening and how it could be surfaced,” says Mr Frost.
From an advertising perspective, it’s important to ensure that customers understand both the risk and reward.
Since Australia’s Tranche 1 Privacy Act reform (2024), advertising companies have had to introduce stricter measures to ensure that clients’ personal information is secure.
In practice, agencies get penalties if consent is not obtained for data-driven marketing.
At Bang Digital, Mr Frost explains that it’s important for their company to consider what data they are putting into AI systems to protect their clients’ privacy.
They provide tools that are safe and contained, so there’s no risk.
“[AI’s] empowerment with guard rails, and that’s what we kind of try to preach to our clients and our team internally.”
Transparency
Responsible disclosure should be used by all advertising agencies when using AI.
ECU Senior Lecturer in Communications, Dr Kelly Choong, says that he considers this the biggest ethical concern.
“A lot of information is generated with [AI] actually through prompts by advertisers.”
Dr Choong explains that consumers should have the opportunity to understand how and where AI has been used in the advertising they are seeing.
Transparency about AI systems being used will help build confidence in technology.
The Way Forward
Geordie Frost is excited to witness the impact of AI on advertising.
“It might take a couple of years to come around for the whole ecosystem.
[But] I think it’s going to really revolutionise how we communicate with businesses.”
With the right rules, transparency, and respect for privacy, AI will remain a driving force in advertising’s future.
