Image by Omar Lopez Rincon on unsplash.com | Local marketing agencies are tuned into their clients’ needs while also balancing the creative impact and potential of artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence offers new efficiencies in the marketing world. At the same time, it poses a challenge to agency leaders who set a preemptive focus on ethical considerations to protect clients and employees.

Valley-based marketing agencies say the technology has proven useful for repetitive tasks and inspiration. But AI is not a replacement for the real human beings behind their creative work.

Embrace with limits

At Jeffrey Scott Agency (JSA), Chief Creative Officer and Managing Partner Jessie Irwin said AI has already changed how the firm manages workloads.

“It’s just been a real game changer in terms of shoring up those efficiencies — to free up time,” Irwin said. “It’s giving us the bandwidth to do the things that we’re really, really good at.”

Irwin emphasized that JSA never lets AI operate unchecked, viewing it less as an employee “replacement” and more as a tool in the toolbox for their marketing experts.

“There are still a lot of mistakes that can be made with AI, so nothing goes out without the human touch,” she said.

Ethics at the forefront

CEO and Managing Partner Marcus Young called the ethical side of AI “the crux of everything” in advertising.

“On one hand, it’s easy; on the other hand, it’s more nuanced,” Young said. “At what point will the client simply say, ‘You know, I just don’t want to spend that much money on a spot. Can you figure out some other way to do that?’”

Young said that client-driven desire to expedite projects will be the driving force behind expanding the firm’s further use of AI in projects.

“I think, honestly, that’s when the other shoe is going to drop,” he said. “It’s not going to be an agency-led initiative.

For now, Young said that a majority of what’s produced by AI is still quite distinguishable from human-generated content. So, from a creative standpoint, the threat of AI immediately taking jobs from marketing talent is low — and something that JSA hopes to avoid altogether.

“I don’t think you have to be in the business to know when something is not real, even if the message is real,” he said.

Transparency forward

ADvine, another agency utilizing AI across its departments, also stresses the importance of restraint and transparency. CEO Layne Ryan said staff use AI in strategy sessions, using applications to help design work where privacy laws may restrict more conventional “in the field” approaches.

“It’s used in cases of design where HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) laws may prevent us from using anything with actual patients,” Ryan said. “It’s used very carefully and very strategically, mostly for creative inspiration. Nobody in the copywriting department would ever dream of using anything straight from AI. But it does inspire, it does help break writer’s block.”

Ryan added that ADvine never uploads confidential information into its AI systems.

Human touch

Despite continued concerns about AI replacing employees, Ryan said his staff has been assured that AI is all about assistance rather than replacement.

“We want to keep the human element, and we want to make sure the company always retains a ‘soul’ which, unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of AI, especially where design work is involved — the human element slides right out the front door,” he said.

Ryan, who recently spoke at a Fresno State panel on AI and privacy, added that today’s debates and skepticism over AI mirror those decades ago over online payments and credit card information.

“Just like 15 years ago there were people who swore they would never upload credit card information onto a phone or online — if you think about today what companies like Google or Apple have access to from all of us as individuals — as crazy as that sounded 15 years ago, I think that’s where AI is headed,” he said.

Over at JSA, Young and Irwin said they may look to implement AI into creative exercises and hiring tools in the future, particularly for market research. But both continued to stress that human judgement will remain key in applying what the technology generates.

Policy debates grow

The conversation in California over ethics in AI is not limited to agencies; the California Chamber of Commerce this week launched a statewide campaign to urge policymakers to avoid regulation that could push the state’s AI industry elsewhere, urging them to cautiously embrace the technology and the opportunities it brings to the table.

“We want California’s elected officials to work with us in helping ensure our state continues to be where the story of AI’s exciting future is written for years to come,” said CalChamber President and CEO Jennifer Barrera.

California is home to over half of the world’s 50 leading AI companies (32), with entrepreneurs raising $74.6 billion in venture capital for AI in the first half of 2025 alone — more than triple the previous year’s pace, according to the chamber.

CalChamber warned that over-regulation of the industry could stymie innovation and cost California billions in potential growth.

For local agencies like JSA and ADvine, the balancing act will likely continue — adopt the tools that improve efficiency while retaining the human element of their work.