83% of Consumers Can't Tell AI Advertisement from Real Photo, Advertiser's Own Test Claims
The COOL Company, a provider of AI advertising campaigns, claims that 83% of participants in an online challenge could not identify which advertisement was AI-generated. The company has a commercial interest in that outcome, and independent verification is so far lacking.
Challenge Aims to Show AI Ads Go Unnoticed
The American advertising platform The COOL Company has launched an online test asking consumers to distinguish an AI-generated advertisement from an advertisement featuring real photography. According to reporting by Fast Company, the test found that 83% of participants made the wrong choice: they could not correctly identify which image had been created using artificial intelligence.
The COOL Company positions itself as a platform offering fully AI-driven advertising campaigns, from creation and activation to results analysis. With the challenge, the company aims to demonstrate that the quality of its AI imagery is not inferior to traditional, human-made advertising photography.
How the Test Works
Participants are shown a series of advertisements, each time presenting an AI-generated image alongside an advertisement with real photography. The task is simple: guess which of the two was made by AI. According to the available source material, more than an unspecified number of people took part in the study. Details about the exact research setup — such as the total number of participants, the number of ad pairs tested, the demographic composition of the group, and the research period — have not been fully disclosed in the available material.
It is also unclear whether the study was conducted or verified by an independent party. As far as is known, the figures come from The COOL Company itself and should therefore be read as a self-reported result from a company with a direct commercial interest in the outcome.
Possible Conflict of Interest
The fact that The COOL Company earns its money by selling AI advertising solutions means the results of its own challenge are not neutral. A high percentage of "wrong" answers directly supports the company's marketing message: that clients can work with AI-generated advertisements without compromising on visual quality. Independent confirmation of the methodology used, or replication of the experiment by third parties, has not yet been found.
Broader Discussion on AI in Advertising
The COOL Company's challenge fits into a broader debate within the marketing and advertising world about the rise of AI-generated imagery. As generative AI models produce increasingly realistic visuals, the discussion about transparency is also growing: should consumers be able to know whether an advertisement was made with real photography or with AI? Regulators and industry organizations in various countries have long been considering guidelines for labeling AI content in advertising, partly due to concerns about deception and disinformation.
Conclusion
The COOL Company's results suggest that for many consumers, AI-generated advertisements are visually no longer distinguishable from traditional advertising photography. At the same time, independent verification of the figures and methodology is lacking, and the study was conducted by a party with a clear commercial interest in a positive outcome. This makes the claim telling in relation to the trend, but not yet hard proof.