Insight Advertising: How AI Is Turning the Ad Industry on Its Head
PJ Accetturo isn't pitching a far-off future. He's showing creatives what's already working: small teams, wild ideas, and AI workflows that ship fast. His stance is blunt: "A year from now, million-dollar shoots won't exist."
The point isn't that craft disappears. It's that execution gets cheap, control shifts, and the people who think like directors finally get to act like them. Fewer gatekeepers. More experiments. Faster feedback.
The Ad That Broke the Timeline
Genre.ai made a $2,000 spot for Kalishi that ran during the NBA Finals. Cowboy grandpa. An alien drinking beer. People swimming in eggs. It looked like a fever dream, and that was the hook.
One person. Two to three days. Around 300-400 generations to get 15 usable clips. That's roughly a 95% cost reduction compared to traditional broadcast work. The workflow? Script in ChatGPT, shot list via Gemini, generate video with Google's Veo, then stitch in Premiere or CapCut.
PJ's take: prompts are overrated. Story still runs the show. If the idea lands, the tool is just plumbing. The bigger signal was this: TV ads can be made this way now, not just social clips.
The Apprenticeship Ladder Is Bending
PJ shared the story of a friend who made it to Pixar and spent months as a backlighting assistant renderer on "moustache men." That's the old ladder: slow, narrow, and built on permission.
AI blows open the testing phase. If you can think like a director, you don't need a studio or a 60-person crew to try something bold. The new constraint is taste and the time you're willing to put in.
Why Brands Suddenly Care
Hollywood runs on a two-year cycle. TikTok runs on a two-day one. Advertising just moved closer to TikTok. Brands aren't just buying polish anymore; they're buying speed and cultural timing. AI compresses the entire pipeline so you can respond in hours, not weeks.
But it only works if there's a reason to use AI. If your spot looks like it could have been shot practically, it'll struggle. If viewers can tell "this couldn't exist without AI," you've earned attention. Go strange on purpose.
What Actually Stays Scarce
Writing and directing. Taste. Judgment. Scripts, boards, and shot lists will auto-generate as starting points. The director, editor, and creative lead still decide what feels right-they just don't need a small army to make it real.
A Practical Playbook for Creatives
- Pick a lane: comedy spots, category parodies, surreal product ads-be known for one thing.
- Build a one-person loop: write (ChatGPT), plan (Gemini), generate (Veo), edit (Premiere/CapCut), sound (stock SFX/VO).
- Ship 3-5 spec spots in 30 days. Keep each under 30-45 seconds. Publish everywhere. Iterate from comments, not guesses.
- Make the AI visible: impossible camera moves, morphing sets, absurd metaphors that would blow a practical budget.
- Measure what matters: hook rate (first 3 seconds), average watch time, shares. Cut alternate edits and A/B them.
- Collaborate in small squads: trade scripts, polish each other's edits, and reuse winning motifs across clients.
- Cover basics: rights for any likeness, licensed music, brand approvals, and a clear brief on where the line is with weird.
Suggested Starter Stack
- ChatGPT for scripts, alt headlines, and VO beats.
- Gemini for shot lists and variations that widen your options.
- Google Veo for video generations and ref-driven iterations.
- Premiere or CapCut for fast assembly, pacing, and versioning.
The Mindset Shift
Smaller teams. Faster workflows. Stranger ideas. More doors open for people who never had access to big budgets. That's the new ladder.
The ones who win experiment early, share openly, and stop asking for permission. Start a sprint, ship a spec, and keep going until brands call you for the thing you already do well.
Build Your Edge
If you're ready to set up a repeatable AI video workflow and find tools that fit your niche, browse this curated list of options for generative video: Top AI tools for generative video.
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