As part of ExchangeWire’s 2026 predictions series, Natasha Barnden, Design Director at eight&four, contributed insight on how creative optimisation is evolving in the age of AI and why human craft remains essential as automation accelerates.
AI has reshaped the advertising ecosystem, with creative processes seeing some of the most significant change. As the technology develops, it is now possible for AI to execute large parts of an advertising campaign end to end, from concept creation through to targeting and optimisation, with minimal human intervention.
This shift was underscored earlier this year when Meta announced plans to offer full advertising automation across its platforms by the end of 2026. The announcement raised concerns across the industry. Allowing AI to generate campaign concepts presents clear risks, including reinforced bias, lack of cultural nuance and the potential reproduction of copyrighted work.
While handing full creative control to AI remains problematic, Natasha highlighted that creative optimisation is where AI already delivers real value. AI has supported optimisation for years, but its creative potential is now deeper, faster and more impactful.
A central theme of Natasha’s contribution was the importance of human oversight. Rather than replacing creative craft, AI is expanding it, enabling ideas to be tested and strengthened much earlier in the creative process.
In image generation and asset visualisation, AI allows teams to build photo realistic visuals from scratch, accelerating client alignment and enabling reactive content that needs to go live quickly to stay relevant. Video storytelling is also evolving, with AI powered animatic storyboards allowing teams to explore mood, motion and pacing earlier, strengthening ideas before production begins.
Looking ahead to 2026, Natasha suggested that the strongest creative work will come from teams that collaborate effectively with AI, using it to remove friction and push creative boundaries, while keeping human judgement, cultural understanding and strategic intent at the centre.
As creative optimisation continues to evolve, AI may change the tools of the craft, but the craft itself remains human.
Read the full article on ExchangeWire here.
