We (reluctantly) Tried Using AI, Here's Why It Has No Place at Ambition

Authentic storytelling...that's what we do here at Ambition. Our data proven results are unique and custom to each client. Authenticity sets us apart. AI does not.

We (reluctantly) tried using AI, here's why it has no place at Ambition. Background: two clients of ours needed content that we just couldn't take. The one didn't have the budget, the other didn't have the items in hand yet to produce the images. They asked us to use AI.

AI content is highly overrated, which is why we did not want to use it in the first place. It's misleading, it's all over the internet, and there's nothing true about it. If you pay attention you can start to see the AI fatigue in the world. Using AI goes against everything we stand for at Ambition. Nevertheless, we told the clients we would test it as a temporary solution.

The result? AI is banned at Ambition.

Our test was short and done in agreement with the clients. We started with ChatGPT, then Google Gemini, then we signed up for Higgsfield.ai to use multiple engines. We had success with Nano Banana and Reve, the others fell flat for what we needed. Eventually we moved on to try Mintly, which worked for the newer version of Seedream but nothing else. Lastly we used Creatify.ai, which ended up being really good for video production for UGC, but still fake looking. Don't get us wrong...these platforms are excellent options. They do what they say. We'll even give applause to Mintly for their customer service. These platforms are just not for us.

Overall? Waste of time, money, and exposure. Lack of authenticity.

It takes way too long to generate good images.

We spent hours getting a handful of photos. When you need something specific, or you have a logo that needs to stay intact, AI is not the best option. We could have done an entire media set up to get better content in the time it took to set up the AI images. Now some people might say this is user error, it's not. If you need to generate a standard jar of face cream on a colored backdrop with themed props, you're set. Beauty is a big industry for AI and it has the knowledge to generate. If you need to generate a niche article of clothing with a custom logo, forget it.

It cost a lot of money to get good results

If you need images that are near perfect and very realistic, you'll be paying for it. On average we were paying $50 in a month, and we were spending 4-6 hours generating for one client. The cost per useable image was around $40 per photo. These images were all greatly different. A media shoot for the same content would have required multiple set ups with completely different backgrounds and props, so that would cost $25-$30 per photo. In our search we even found image generation companies that charge $1,500-$2,500 for AI content. At that price, our clients could have multiple real media shoots.

It is very stressful

Imagine you are painting. You've spent one grueling hour painting a beautiful watercolor, but there's one spot that just is not right. You need to make a small adjustment, then it will be perfect. You move in with your brush and at the last minute, you sneeze. Your brush swipes across the entire canvas, your painting is ruined. This is a repeat feeling with AI. We did not find one AI model that did image generation edits well. Most times we took the image into Photoshop and used generative fill to fix the mistakes.

It has limited social media reach

Real, authentic content reaches more people with better results, every single time. There is no question. Social media platforms push real media over AI media. Users have nothing to engage with when they see generated content, because there's no life to the content. The content falls flat.

It ruins customer trust

There are so many scams online, and most of those scams use AI image generation for fake products. So why would a customer trust your ecommerce store with AI content over the scam ecommerce store with AI content? We already said what sets our clients apart - authenticity. There's none when your whole brand is generated by AI.

It does not speak to your customer

Using AI for text, captions, blogs, and emails could be a whole separate post, but we'll keep this to just one point. Sure, you can train AI to speak in a personal, casual, low key tone...but that's still not the voice of your customer. Every region has different tones, phrases, wording, pronunciation, etc. AI cannot grasp that. We can. Take Philadelphia as an example. How many times do you see Philly accents mocked online? That's what AI is learning. We told AI to write some text for our Philly based clients as a test...what do you think the results were? They were tragic.

So there you have it. When you Work With Ambition, you get authenticity. You get real creativity. Our clients stand out. Our clients are different. If this sounds like a match, contact us today.