Hi there,

People keep asking me if I'm scared of AI replacing creativity.

I'm not scared of AI.

I'm scared of what we're becoming because of it.

Creativity was already dying long before AI showed up.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized—AI isn't the problem. We are.

For years, brands have pushed for speed over craft, scale over originality, efficiency over emotion. Marketing teams optimized their processes to churn out more content in less time. They trained audiences to expect instant gratification, designing for engagement metrics instead of meaning.

And now? AI is simply giving us what we asked for.

The Real Crisis Brands Are Ignoring

Here’s what should keep every CMO up at night: we’re heading toward a creativity crisis that will make your brand invisible.

The next generation of marketers and creatives is growing up in a world where they think they can generate a logo in seconds, write copy with a prompt, and create campaigns without ever struggling with a blank page. They’re learning creativity from AI that was trained to please the masses.

What happens when your creative team never learns to sit with uncertainty? When they never develop their own taste because an algorithm is always suggesting the next move? When they never push through creative blocks because there’s always an AI shortcut?

Your brand isn’t just automating creativity. It’s making it unnecessary. And you’re getting pulled into the race to the bottom, disguised as innovation.

The Copy-Paste Era

Look around—everything is starting to look the same.

• The same formulaic LinkedIn posts, optimized for engagement but lacking soul.

• The same carousel templates, designed for algorithms, not originality.

• The same AI-generated brand voices, slightly tweaked, but ultimately indistinguishable.

We’re caught in a loop of imitation. People aren’t just using AI—they’re copying each other’s AI-generated content. Repackaging, reposting, repeating.

And it makes sense. The algorithm rewards what works: proven formats, familiar structures, content that feels predictable and safe.

Right now, AI is trained on the past, on what’s worked before. That’s why it keeps pulling from the same formulas. But true creativity isn’t about repeating patterns. It’s about breaking them.

The Massive Opportunity Everyone's Missing

While everyone races to the bottom with AI efficiency, there’s never been a better time to stand out.

Here's the thing: our brains are getting sharper at detecting AI content. I keep seeing AI-generated ads that look polished—like solid passion projects you'd submit for a portfolio review. But drop them into a real campaign? They feel completely hollow.

Take Coca-Cola's AI-generated Christmas ad that sparked outrage this year. It wasn't bad because of poor execution—it was bad because it felt utterly soulless. Compare that to Apple's human-crafted campaigns that people still quote decades later.

There's something about authentic storytelling that AI simply can't replicate. When I watch a documentary, I want to hear real people speak, see actual places, feel genuine emotion. Not some synthetic version optimized for engagement metrics.

Isn't it ironic? "Authentic voice" was the marketing buzzword everyone chased just a few years ago. Then AI flooded the market with synthetic authenticity. Now the thing everyone was trying to fake has become genuinely valuable again.

Those AI-generated TikTok UGC videos absolutely terrify me. But honestly? I get it. Companies were already paying "influencers" to post fake testimonials. So what's real anymore?

How to Use AI Without Losing Your Soul

The answer isn't avoiding AI—it's using it strategically:

1. Use AI as a starting point, not the finish line. Let it generate ideas, but use human judgment to shape them into something original.

2. Train AI differently. Instead of letting it pull from mass-market trends, feed it unexpected inputs—cultural references, artistic inspiration, contrarian viewpoints.

3. Prioritize disruption over efficiency. The best creative work challenges norms. If AI gives you something that feels safe, push beyond it.

4. Layer AI with human experience. AI can process data, but it can't feel culture, understand emotion, or take creative risks.

At Lento, we use AI not to mass-produce safe ideas, but to push creative boundaries, work smarter, and execute concepts that actually stand out.

What This Actually Means for Your Brand

This is your moment to double down on creative thinking and talent that delivers real storytelling. While your competitors churn out AI content that looks professional but feels empty, you can stand out by taking creative risks that might not work—instead of following safe, predictable formulas.

The brands that win won't be the ones with the most sophisticated AI tools. They'll be the ones that understand when to use AI—and more importantly, when to think for themselves.

Because in a world drowning in synthetic content, authentic creativity becomes your only real differentiator.

What to Do Monday Morning

Ask your marketing team these questions:

1. What percentage of our content could be replaced by AI without anyone noticing?

2. When did we last take a creative risk that might have failed?

3. Are we optimizing for metrics or for meaning?

4. What makes our brand voice genuinely different from our competitors?

The answers will reveal whether you're racing to the bottom or building something that endures.

We're standing at a crossroads. One path leads to automated mediocrity—the safe, predictable route where every brand sounds the same. The other leads to a renaissance of authentic creativity, where your voice cuts through the noise because it's unmistakably yours.

This choice isn't being made in Silicon Valley boardrooms. It's happening every day, with every creative decision you approve or kill.

And right now, you still get to choose.

Brand Wars: Battle of AI-Generated Ads

Kalshi

This ad has been getting a lot of buzz. The AI-generated visuals look polished and professional, showing how far the technology has come in creating complex scenes and cinematography. But from a creative standpoint, there's still a disconnect. While individual shots are visually appealing, the storyline feels stitched together rather than flowing as a coherent narrative. The scenes don't quite connect to form a complete story. But I do feel this style of ad is going to be on trend in 2025.

Toys"R"Us

Toys"R"Us went full AI for their origin story commercial, creating an entirely synthetic brand narrative. Like Kalshi, it's technically impressive and generated significant online buzz, but suffers from the same storytelling issues - beautiful individual moments that don't quite gel into an emotionally coherent whole.

Ad Vault: Liquid Death

"Tested Spicy Ghost Pepper Flavor on Their Real Moms" (2025)

This is what authentic content looks like in a world drowning in AI-generated testimonials.

Liquid Death put cameras on their employees' actual mothers trying ghost pepper water. The unfiltered reactions—genuine confusion, horror, honest feedback—make for pure entertainment gold.

It's strategically brilliant too. Instead of trying to convince people the product tastes good, they lean into the absurdity and let real human suffering prove the intensity.

The genius is using the most universally trusted voices possible: people's moms. Their authentic reactions become both proof of concept and brand storytelling.

Simple, human, and impossible to fake.

Lento Vibes

A bit of random inspo from around the grounds:

• Polaroid Says Put the Phone Down: In a bold anti-scroll statement, Polaroid takes over outdoor spaces to promote phone-free creativity. A love letter to the analog pause. See the takeover

• Trump’s TikTok Tease: Trump claims he has a buyer ready to snap up TikTok. The future of the app in the US just got a whole lot messier. Read the drama

• Canva Said It Themselves: “Make the Logo Bigger” Canva teams up with Stink Studios to poke fun at every designer’s least favorite client request — by leaning into it with zero shame. Watch the burn

• Dominos x Mykonos = Chaos Clubbing in Mykonos? Now imagine pizza delivery at 4 a.m. through lasers, yachts, and sweaty dance floors. Wild. Join the party

• Max the Stress Ball This quirky spot turns a squishy stress ball into a full-blown office therapist. Smart, silly, and strangely relatable. Meet Max