'AI-powered' ad ignites creator controversy on Instagram

A new ad from Under Armour featuring boxer Anthony Joshua has come under fire from creatives on Instagram after its director claimed it as the "first Ai-powered sports commercial" — but critics in the industry say it blatantly reused others' work without credit as part of an AI hype cycle cash grab.

Director Wes Walker posted the spot, along with several variations and riffs, on Instagram earlier this week, saying: "Under Armour asked us to build a film from nothing but existing assets, a 3D model of Anthony Joshua and no athlete access. This piece combines Ai video, Ai photo, 3D CGI, 2D VFX, Motion graphics, 35mm film, digital video and advances in Ai voiceover. Every current Ai tool was explored and pushed to the maximum." [I have left "AI" as "Ai" throughout.]

Seen on its own, the ad is not in itself objectionable. Live footage is intercut with 3D models, landscapes and abstract scenes, all rendered in contrasty monochrome.

Walker claimed that the whole thing was done in three weeks flat, which is quite short for a major brand and athlete, and noted of the reliance on AI that "Key in this industry shift is that we stay true to the core of what we’re here to do - tell powerful stories and uplift the human soul with beautiful, provocative and interesting visions...Ai will integrate into our workflows in ever evolving ways … but the heart and the mind that peer behind the veil and doors of perception … is still and will always be ours."

"Ours," however, may have been an overstatement. While this is all quite run of the mill self-promoting pablum, as one often finds in such captions, the director was quickly taken to task by other creatives who pointed out that his ad in large part repackaged another's work — and much more difficult and valuable work at that.

The caption says that 35mm was a part of this "mixed media" production. What probably should have been said is there was an entire existing but unmentioned film-based production, directed by Gustav Johansson two years ago. "Cool film, But all the stuff with athlete is shot by André Chementoff [Chemetoff ] and from a commercial I did?" asked Johansson in a comment.