The Business Of Data With Jon Lafayette: AI and Automation
Artificial intelligence is shaping the business in new ways every day. Sometimes it takes AI to figure out what's happening, and how to address it. As the robots take over, it's important to know what they're doing, why they're doing it and whether or not that's really what we want. This newsletter was written by a human. Enjoy it while you can.
In an AI World, XR Makes Sure Actors Get Paid for Digital Characters
‘AI is going to fundamentally change how celebrities and synthetic talent are portrayed in advertising, and agencies, brands, and talent agents must be ready to support this shift,’ said XR’s Tim Hale
Artificial intelligence is pushing change in the advertising industry and affecting different businesses in unexpected ways.
Generative AI is being used in the production of commercials and in some cases, advertisers are using AI-generated performers. This is designed to make the process move faster, and in some cases reduce costs, but those performers still need to be paid.
XR, the company that handles payments to celebrities who appear in commercials, has created a system for paying AI-generated performers to comply with 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract. [READ MORE]
Nexxen Takes Smart TV Home Screen Ads Programmatic
Ads on TV home screens are being positioned as prime real estate by smart set makers, and the race is on to buy and sell those commercial units programmatically.
Nexxen says it has made a deal with independent agency H/L that will enable the agency to buy home screen ads using private marketplace deals and its demand-side platform, the Nexxen DSP.
The feature, Nexxen TV Home Screen, is designed to help marketers reach viewers when they are deciding what to watch. [READ MORE]
AI Agents vs. the Ad Agency: Friend or Foe?
The only way to deal with the torrent of data available to marketers today seems to be the increased use of artificial intelligence and agentic systems that make AI easy for mere humans to use.
This might not be good news for the advertising agency business, which was showing creaks and cracks before AI muscled its way into every conversation and strategy session, according to a new study.
The study of 200 advertising professionals was conducted by Basis, which makes an operating system for autonomous advertising. There are two layers of concern when it comes to AI and the ad agency business. One is that AI will take the jobs of people. The second is that AI will enable advertisers to take the job of the agencies in-house. [READ MORE]
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