Let me be clear about something: Generative AI for commercial production is extraordinary. It allows the creative part of a producer’s brain to think broader than ever before. The quality is remarkable, and it gets better — not year over year, but literally day by day. As someone who has spent decades in production, I find myself genuinely amazed and excited at what these tools can do.
But amazed doesn’t mean uncritical.
The 75% Problem
Here’s the honest truth about Gen AI in commercial production: it gets you there 75% of the way. And for a lot of applications, that’s genuinely useful. But in CTV commercial advertising, that last 25% is everything. CTV is fundamentally a direct response medium, and effective creative requires understanding the subtlety of a specific audience. AI still often doesn’t get that.
A commercial isn’t just a moving image. It’s a carefully constructed piece of communication designed to hold a viewer’s attention, build trust, and drive action. Every frame matters, especially the first few. When something is off, viewers feel it, even if they can’t name it. And when they feel it, you’ve lost them — and their consideration of your product.
Gen AI, left unsupervised, makes mistakes. Sometimes subtle, sometimes glaring. A hand with six fingers. A logo that morphs mid-scene. Text that dissolves into gibberish. A background that shifts between frames in ways that quietly undermine the credibility of everything around it. I’ve seen commercials on air with uncaught AI errors — and every time, I lose trust in that brand.
Here are a couple of examples of AI hallucinations from projects we’ve worked on. Worth noting: some of these errors took more than one set of trained eyes to catch.
Can you spot what’s wrong in this clip? (a. hoses go nowhere, b. safety harnesses do not match, c. the safety harnesses are not attached to anything, and d. the guys are twins!)
In this clip, the AI could not decide whether our character was using a cordless or corded phone.
Watch carefully as one of our hero cow kind of walks out of the TV screen
These aren’t unique cases. They’re the norm when Gen AI is running without a trained eye guiding it. And in a CTV environment — where your spot is running alongside premium content on a big screen — these errors don’t just look amateurish. They actively work against your brand.
Holding the Viewer’s Attention
There’s another dimension to this that goes beyond technical errors. Effective commercial creative isn’t just technically clean — it’s intentionally constructed to hold attention from the first frame to the last.
That requires decisions a producer makes: pacing, visual hierarchy, where the eye goes, when to cut, how to land the message before the viewer’s attention drifts. Gen AI can produce beautiful imagery. It cannot — yet — make those judgment calls with the consistency and intentionality that an experienced producer brings.
That difference shows up in your commercial’s performance. A visually stunning spot that doesn’t hold attention doesn’t convert. And a spot with subtle anomalies — even ones viewers can’t consciously identify — erodes trust in ways that hurt your brand long after the impression is gone. A well-produced spot built around proven creative principles minimizes exactly those risks.
There Is a Place for Self-Serve AI
None of this means automated Gen AI creative has no role. It does — and we believe in it enough that we’re building our own platform. In the coming months, we’re launching a self-serve tool built on our years of experience creating CTV commercials and direct response programming.
For small and local businesses taking their first steps into CTV advertising, a self-serve AI creative tool can be a genuine on-ramp. It’s faster and more accessible than traditional production, and it opens up a medium that was previously out of reach for smaller budgets.
But even here, the limitations are real. Templated creative reduces cost and makes production scalable — and that’s valuable. It also means every spot using that template risks looking like every other spot using that same template. The ceiling on effectiveness is lower, and errors still need a trained eye to catch before anything goes to air.
To stand out, users of a self-serve platform need to lean into the editing tools — customizing, refining, and making the creative genuinely representative of their brand. The platform opens the door. The effort to personalize it is what drives performance. To steal from an old infomercial: don’t just “set it… and forget it.”
Seeing It Done Right
The best way to understand what producer-guided Gen AI creative looks like is to see it. Here are two spots we recently delivered — both built using a combination of Generative AI and proven production technique, with a trained eye on every frame before they went to air.
→ UTG Reaves:
→ AG Network by CTV Buyer:
Two different clients. Two different audiences. Two different creative approaches. One consistent standard: nothing goes out the door until it’s right.
AI Is the Arrow. The Producer Is the Archer.
The way we think about it at Carpe Canum: Gen AI is one of the most powerful arrows we’ve ever added to our quiver. It has expanded what’s creatively possible for our clients, removed budget ceilings, and opened up new ways to produce work we’re genuinely proud of.
But an arrow doesn’t aim itself.
The producer’s role isn’t diminished by these tools — it’s elevated. Someone still needs to concept the spot, direct the AI outputs, catch the errors, shape the pacing, and ensure that what goes to air is doing its job. That’s the craft. That’s what we do.
Our Take
Gen AI is not a replacement for production expertise. It’s a force multiplier for it. The brands getting the most out of these tools aren’t the ones handing the keys to the AI and walking away — they’re the ones pairing powerful new technology with experienced producers who know how to use it.
If you’re curious about what that looks like in practice — or wondering whether your current creative is leaving performance on the table — let’s talk.
Ready to see what’s possible? Let’s talk about your project.
Reach out: carpecanum.com/contact-us