Advertising has always been shaped by technology. The painted hoardings of the 1950s gave way to photography, and later, stock image libraries transformed the way agencies sourced visuals. Now, artificial intelligence is set to disrupt the very model those libraries were built on.
With AI tools capable of generating images on demand – tailored to brief, diverse in representation, and produced within seconds – photographers, illustrators, and agencies such as iStock, Getty Images, and Shutterstock face an uncertain future. What once required expensive shoots, model releases, and licensing fees can now be achieved with a few lines of text.
The democratisation of design is no longer about cheaper software or easier access to stock. It is about whether human creators remain necessary at all when a well-trained algorithm can produce an endless stream of market-ready visuals.
Too real to ignore
The quality of these AI visuals is improving at a staggering pace. Many images and videos are so lifelike that they can easily mislead an unsuspecting viewer. The line between ‘created’ and ‘captured’ is blurring to the point of invisibility.
Looking ahead, it is not inconceivable that bulky movie cameras will be wheeled off to museums. Entire feature-length films could be made on a laptop or a smartphone, with actors summoned from the ether and directors reduced to selecting facial expressions from a drop-down menu.
For photographers, illustrators, and even actors, the threat is existential. If agencies and studios can create multiple visual options instantly, why would they wait days or weeks for a shoot?
RuPay’s digital Mona Lisa
A recent RuPay Credit Card campaign illustrates how brands are already embracing this visual revolution. The ad features a digitally savvy Mona Lisa – updated, modern, and plugged into today’s lifestyle – showcasing how legacy icons can be reimagined with AI for contemporary storytelling.
RuPay’s playbook is clearly evolving. With Hrithik Roshan anchoring the narrative and a new wave of Gen Z entering the frame, the brand is attempting to bridge aspirational legacy with digital relatability. It is a sign that brands are not merely adopting AI imagery for cost efficiency but also using it to reposition themselves for younger, tech-first audiences.
By blending a Renaissance icon with Bollywood star power and AI aesthetics, the campaign signals how advertising may look in the years ahead: a mash-up of past, present, and algorithmic imagination.
A surprise comeback for print
Interestingly, while digital visuals undergo this transformation, a counter-trend is visible in advertising. RuPay itself has invested heavily in full-page newspaper advertisements, underlining how print – despite declining circulation – retains prestige value.
A full-page spread still conveys credibility and scale in a way digital banners rarely can. A broadsheet full page or double spread, whether seen at the breakfast table or in the office lobby, still carries a symbolic weight that cannot be matched by a smartphone pop-up.
Brands may increasingly use print as a stage for high-impact campaigns, even as the bulk of their tactical advertising remains online.
Creativity under pressure
These shifts raise a larger question: where does creativity stand? While AI can multiply options, it cannot yet guarantee originality, cultural nuance or emotional resonance. An image of a smiling professional may be accurate, but it will not automatically be authentic. Similarly, print may offer reach and impact, but its ability to engage is limited compared to interactive formats.
What seems clear is that creativity is being reshaped rather than replaced. The human role may evolve into guiding, curating, and verifying AI outputs, ensuring that speed and scale do not come at the cost of trust. Creatives may become less about ‘making’ and more about ‘managing’ – supervisors of imagination rather than its sole source.
The dark side of realism
There is also a regulatory angle. If AI-generated visuals can mislead or impersonate, the implications extend beyond advertising. Already, deepfake videos have raised alarms in politics, entertainment, and even personal security. A convincing AI-generated endorsement from a celebrity – or worse, a politician – can spread online before fact-checkers have time to react.
For brands, the reputational risk is enormous. Misuse of AI imagery could easily cross into manipulation, leading to regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Industry guidelines on disclosure and labelling may be inevitable.
Creativity, handle with care
As with every technological wave, some professions may diminish while new opportunities emerge. The challenge for agencies, creators, and platforms will be to adapt quickly—finding ways to blend human judgement with machine efficiency.
The most successful brands may be those that strike a balance: using AI for scale and speed, using print and legacy media for prestige, and retaining humans at the core to ensure authenticity.
But the question remains—if cameras do end up in museums, will creativity itself follow them behind glass? Perhaps, in some not-too-distant exhibition, alongside the typewriter and the film reel, we may find a new display case labelled: ‘Creativity – handle with care.’
