This week: TV industry’s worst advertising downturn in 15 years; Backlash over fake AI writers & speakers; ASA releases guidance for green claims in ads… 

Last Friday we saw consumers spend a record USD $9.8bn (£7.7) on Black Friday, while contrastingly, this week brought into focus the precarious state of the TV industry’s advertising downturn. Channel 4’s chief executive reported that the broadcaster has slowed down on spending and is considering tapping into its emergency credit facility next year. 

In the world of AI, we’ve seen backlash surrounding the use of fake writers and speakers. Sports Illustrated was criticised for publishing articles created by fake AI generated authors, while the DevTernity developer conference in Latvia received backlash after its organiser created a fake profile for a female speaker, which resulted in the event’s cancellation. Amazon also unveiled its new AI chatbot, Q, which has been designed specifically to meet the needs of customers’ business needs. 

This week we also saw the publishing of new guidelines from the ASA regarding guidance for green claims in advertising. Under its recommendations, absolute claims made by brands should be supported by a high level of substantiation, and claims must be based on the full lifecycles of products unless stated otherwise. 

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