When Coca-Cola debuted its first fully AI-generated holiday commercial in late 2024, the project marked a turning point in branded storytelling. Created in just four weeks by Secret Level, the spot was a sleek display of AI’s production power, but its lasting impact may be more cultural than technical.
“It was very much a team of bespoke creatives crafting a single piece of advertising art,” said Eric W. Shamlin, CEO of Secret Level, on The AI Download. “There was no automation really in it. It was very handcrafted. You know, every frame was contemplated and debated and discussed and revised.”
That distinction between AI as a speed enabler and AI as a creative surrogate is now at the center of a larger industry divide.
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Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta plans to fully automate ad production on Instagram and Facebook by 2026, allowing brands to upload a product image and budget while AI handles visuals, copy, targeting, and spend. Meta’s goal is to scale advertising to its logical extreme. But not everyone is on board.
“You can either chase hyper-personalization through algorithms—algorithm-based content—but you can’t build culture that way,” Shamlin said. “Culture comes through creating meaning, supporting artists, connecting with fans, being sort of co-creating with them.”
Unlike Meta’s push for efficiency at scale, Shamlin believes the next frontier for AI lies in “meaning at speed.” It’s a mantra that underscores Secret Level’s broader pivot—from 30-second spots to full-length films and AI-assisted documentaries. The studio recently had work screened at Sundance and is under consideration at Cannes.
“We’re not letting algorithms debate or discuss or determine what the creative is,” Shamlin explained. “We’re very much leading with writers, creative directors, artists—letting them determine what the art is, what the story is, what the message is.”
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That positioning comes as traditional agencies begin to feel the pressure. WPP, one of the largest ad conglomerates, recently cut its 2025 global ad growth forecast amid mounting concerns about automation and AI’s disruption of legacy business models. According to Reuters, shares of Publicis, Omnicom, and other major firms have also slipped following Meta’s automation reveal.
Where AI Helps—and Where It Doesn’t
Shamlin isn’t anti-AI. In fact, his studio is built on it. But he emphasizes that the tools should serve creators, not replace them.
“We lead with writers, creative directors, artists,” he says. “AI just lets them move faster, prototype faster. But the ideas still come from people.”
That approach contrasts sharply with algorithmically driven ad production, where personalization, targeting, and optimization often leave little room for craft or cultural nuance. “You can chase hyper-personalization through algorithm-based content,” Shamlin adds, “but culture doesn’t emerge that way.”
The risk, he argues, is not just homogenized creative output, but the erosion of emotional impact. And increasingly, that impact is becoming digital.
On The AI Download, Shamlin and Shira Lazar also explored how AI is shifting emotional dynamics between humans and machines. With the rise of therapy bots and digital companions, questions around attachment, ethics, and responsibility are coming into focus.
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A study from Waseda University warns that users may develop toxic emotional dependencies on AI companions, while Time and The Washington Post have highlighted concerns that generative therapy tools could reinforce delusions or enable manipulative behavior.
Shamlin doesn’t downplay these issues. Instead, he sees them as further reason to keep humans in control of the storytelling.
“Culture is emotional. It’s relational,” he says. “If we remove people from the equation entirely, we’re not just changing media—we’re changing the way we experience meaning.”
This episode is sponsored by PRophet, an award-winning AI and services for marketing and PR leaders looking to make better, faster brand decisions.
