Content production has undergone a seismic shift over the past two years, largely driven by advancements in automation and artificial intelligence. Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, AI has impacted all industries and while the pace of innovation has been relentless, we are still relatively early in the lifecycle of GenAI. 2025 will see many industries move past the “early adopters” stage and into the realm of the “early majority”. AI for content production will:
- be more widespread across industries
- businesses will shift from “experimentation” to deploying at scale”
- regulatory frameworks will take shape
- AI agents will make automation more autonomous
As we look ahead to the next two years, AI will continue to fundamentally reshape content production. Here are some of the key trends we’re seeing:
1. AI-Driven Personalization at Scale
AI will enable hyper-personalization in marketing content at an unprecedented scale. By leveraging real-time data and predictive analytics, brands will be able to create highly tailored content and recommendations for their customers. This level of customization will drive deeper engagement and conversion rates, making AI an indispensable tool for marketing teams. The likes of Amazon, Walmart, Nike, Netflix, Airbnb and Expedia are using AI to personalize pricing, curate content recommendations, hyper-personalize purchase recommendations, optimize the supply chain based on shopping habits and fully personalize home pages.
2. Modular Content for Efficiency and Consistency
Content repurposing and modularization will become standard practice. Modular content is pre-designed, reusable content blocks. Examples of modular content elements could include product descriptions, product shots, call-to-actions and voiceovers. Brands can then adapt content assets more easily for different platforms, audiences and campaigns. This improves efficiency, consistency and brand equity.
3. The Rise of Virtual Production and Extended Reality (XR)
The democratization of virtual production will redefine how brands engage with consumers. With advancements in extended reality (XR), brands will shift budgets towards immersive content experiences. Virtual brand spaces will replace traditional high-street retail experiences, offering consumers a more interactive and engaging way to connect with products and services. By using real-time 3D creation tools like Unreal Engine, content creators can produce cinematic-quality visuals in real-time, reduce post-production time and build content once but deploy everywhere.
4. Growth of the Agile, Innovation Led Agencies
A new breed of agencies has emerged, with an “innovation first” mind-set, prioritizing “emerging technology to enable creativity”. By blending technology, design and storytelling, these agencies can build immersive, digital experiences with AI powered content, alongside interactive installations and 3D worlds.
5. Sustainability and Energy-Efficient Production Models
As sustainable practices grow in importance, both AI and automation have an extremely important role to play. The shift to virtual production can significantly reduce waste and carbon footprint, through a single location (studio) shoot, upstream investment in previsualization and a reduction in the need for physical resources resulting in less transportation emissions and lower material waste, storage costs, digital carbon footprint and production energy costs.
Conclusion
The next two years will see unprecedented changes relating to how content is produced. From ideation, creation, immersion, personalization and performance, AI will influence every facet of the content production and measurement lifecycle. Ensuring leadership teams have the necessary deep understanding required to make informed decisions, recognizing technical limitations (hype v reality), developing a framework for ethical and legal risks and developing a change program around talent and workforce resistance, will all be necessary to fully embrace the AI opportunity.
