More isn’t better: How brands can stay distinct in an AI-driven world

Originally published in creativebrief

As AI lowers the barriers to creation, distinctiveness will depend less on output and more on clarity, writes Christine Bourdon.

We’re barely three months into 2026, and I’m already exhausted by the term “AI slop.” But here’s the uncomfortable truth: the reason the term stuck is because most of what we’re seeing is slop. It’s technically perfect and emotionally vacant. As a leader in design, I’m seeing the gap between 'making things' and 'making things matter' grow wider every day.

Over the past twelve months, several high-profile AI-heavy campaigns have sparked debate about quality, authenticity, and the role of human creativity in brand work. From Paramount’s Novocaine promo to Vogue’s AI model and Coca-Cola’s much-maligned Christmas ad, each has prompted questions about where automation ends and creative judgement should begin.

AI can generate at scale, but scale doesn’t always translate to quality.

For brands and creatives, the challenge isn’t producing more; it’s creating work that actually matters. In today's AI-saturated landscape, distinction increasingly comes from new places: work that algorithms can recognise, people feel is real, and audiences are actually persuaded by.

To cut through, brands should embrace a new creative triad: stop scaling just because you can; curate rather than generate; and place humans at the centre of all work.

Stop scaling just because you can

AI gives brands the ability to scale like never before. Campaigns can be generated in minutes, variations tested instantly, global audiences reached at speed. But scale alone isn’t a differentiator and without direction, it quickly becomes creative noise.

The industry loves to talk about AI as a ‘shortcut,’ but reality is more complicated. Look at the Coke holiday campaign - it took a massive team and endless iterations to get it even close to right.

If we’re spending the same amount of human energy just to make something look ‘almost’ real, we’ve lost the plot. The goal shouldn’t be using AI to save time; it’s using that saved time to actually think.

That’s why purposeful scale starts with clarity. What does a brand actually stand for? Who is it speaking to? Without that foundation, scaling risks stretch a brand thin. Every AI-generated asset still needs to ladder back to a clear narrative.

There’s also a new dimension to consider: distinct recognisability. Algorithms are now becoming scale’s third audience, so creativity has to be legible enough for platforms to classify and distribute, yet original enough to earn human attention.

As AI lowers the barriers to creation, distinctiveness will depend less on output and more on clarity, consistency and recognisability at scale.

Curate, rather than generate

AI has expanded what’s possible. The problem is that it’s expanded everything. More ideas, more images, more iterations available - all arriving faster than teams can meaningfully evaluate them. We need to turn our attention to smarter selection, using AI to sharpen creative judgement.

Curation is where creativity becomes strategic. AI can reveal patterns in how people respond to tone, imagery, and themes, but ultimately humans still decide what actually matters. That judgement - what resonates, aligns, and what should be left behind - is all human work.

This is where distinct realism comes in. AI-generated campaigns - from Coca-Cola, to Valentino’s imagery and J.Crew’s sneaker mishap - show a growing gap between visuals that are technically coherent and visuals that feel emotionally credible. AI can help us “get the idea”, but understanding the concept isn’t the same as feeling a connection.

When something looks almost real but not quite - the familiar ‘uncanny valley’ effect - audiences notice instantly. The details are ‘off’ just enough to unsettle people. Trust slips. And the emotional connection brands rely on begins to erode.

Choosing then becomes the creative act. The temptation with AI is to produce endlessly and respond to every trend. But intentional brands favour consistency over volume, preserving brand integrity by elevating what feels human.

Used this way, AI doesn’t overwhelm creativity, but rather helps teams to focus on what deserves attention and ensures every output contributes to a coherent whole.

Place humans at the centre of all work

The more capable AI becomes, the more essential human judgement is. Being memorable, sparking emotion and connecting with audiences remain the fundamentals of advertising because that’s what great storytelling does. And that hasn’t changed.

Can AI help create those moments? Absolutely. It can generate spectacle, novelty, entertainment - and early testing even suggests some AI-generated ads outperform traditional ones.

But AI does this by drawing on patterns that already exist. It can provoke a reaction and spark emotion, but attention alone isn’t the objective. Advertising needs to convert those reactions into action - and eventually into purchase.

Audiences have built up a remarkable tolerance for the persuasion tricks advertising has used for decades. Which means the real challenge isn’t generating more content - it’s staying ahead of those patterns. Otherwise, the fallback becomes promotions. Of course, discounts can drive short-term sales, but I doubt brands want their long-term strategy to revolve around 20% off.

That’s where distinct persuasiveness matters. Influence that feels like value rather than salesmanship. AI can generate endless ‘great stories’, but human judgement is what gives those stories meaning, cultural context and originality.

We must rethink creative collaboration. Let the machines handle repetition. Humans provide relevance and interpretation. Brands that balance AI’s efficiency with human empathy by embedding intuition and meaning throughout the process will stand out.

Stay distinct in an AI-driven world

Volume won’t make brands stand out. Value will. Scale means nothing if it amplifies noise, while curation sharpens what a brand stands for. Human insight is what turns efficiency into real impact.

Together, this triad transforms automation, proving that in the age of AI, the future of creativity belongs to those who combine clarity, strategy, and humanity.