Will Advertising Professionals Continue to Operate as ‘Aesthetic Intermediaries’ in the Age of AI?

Advertising is often conceived instrumentally as a managerial tool of persuasion, and its powerful influence over the aesthetics of popular culture (Schroeder, 2009) can be under-appreciated. As a ubiquitous presence in 20th century developed economies, advertising assimilates, adapts and amplifies cultural expressions of visual taste. Professionals who work in advertising, especially but not exclusively on the creative side, possess a degree of cultural power alongside others working in the creative, cultural, design and media industries in the sense that they influence visual taste as a socio-cultural construct. Cronin (2004) posited advertising agency professionals as cultural intermediaries, combining high and popular cultural symbols to communicate new, commercially-inflected cultural meanings. In this chapter we discuss the role of advertising professionals as aesthetic intermediaries in the light of the changes digital technologies are imposing on the production and consumption of advertisements.