Artificial intelligence in advertising risks accelerating a global crisis in information integrity.

 


With spending on advertising topping $1 trillion a year worldwide, the United Nations on Wednesday highlighted the untapped power of major brands to shape the future of Artificial Intelligence, warning that a failure to act could deepen a global information integrity crisis.

In a new brief titled Strengthening Information Integrity: Advertising, Artificial Intelligence and the Global Information Crisis, the Department of Global Communications and the Conscious Advertising Network caution that unchecked AI adoption in advertising is accelerating risks across the whole digital information ecosystem.

The brief notes that the advertising industry sits at the centre of how information flows online, with its spending decisions influencing which content is produced, amplified and monetised. As AI tools become embedded in media buying and content generation, those dynamics are intensifying.

“Advertising funds the systems that help shape what people see, trust and believe. Without swift action and guardrails, AI risks accelerating the breakdown of information ecosystem integrity. Advertisers have the power to help fix it.”  said Charlotte Scaddan,UN Senior Adviser on Information Integrity.
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