South Africa, Oct. 2 -- But what happens to the quality of the decisions behind the work? A brand can become faster and cheaper to run while becoming easier to overlook.

If AI adoption concentrates entirely on reducing the resources needed to produce marketing, businesses risk weakening the very capabilities that give that marketing value: understanding people, recognising an original idea and deciding when to take a creative risk.

As production becomes more accessible, those capabilities deserve greater investment.

Conversations with four leaders at Google brought this tension into focus. Across their different perspectives on AI and marketing, a common concern emerged.efficiency alone is too narrow an ambition for a technology with t...