Artificial intelligence continues to make its presence known in all sorts of ways: the FCC stepping in to ban AI-faked voices in robocalls, Paul McCartney using AI to create the final Beatles song, a growing list of products you can use, from ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini to special-purpose GPTs. AI showed up at Sunday’s Super Bowl as well, in some of the highly anticipated commercials airing during the championship game, which the Kansas City Chiefs won 25-22 in overtime against the San Francisco 49ers.
Some ads highlighted how AI helps their products, others used AI to actually make their ads, and at least one poked fun at AI. Here’s a look at the AI-related ads, and be sure to also check out our roundup of all the Super Bowl ads.
Microsoft Copilot: ‘Watch Me’
Microsoft’s “Watch Me” commercial promotes Microsoft Copilot, the company’s AI assistant found in Windows 11, and plays off the idea that AI will replace artists and creatives. In this ad, people call on AI to help them complete their movie, video game or study for a chemistry test.
Google’s Pixel 8: ‘Javier in Frame’
We live in a selfie- and camera phone-focused age, but you may never have thought about how those with impaired vision are able to take photos. Google features an accessibility feature called Guided Frame for its Pixel 8 smartphone, using Google AI to alert them about when and how many faces are in the frame. Blind director Adam Morse — with an ending voiceover by blind singer-songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder — explains the feature in his Super Bowl ad.
CrowdStrike: ‘The Future’
Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike travels back to the Old West in an ad showcasing how it uses AI for security. When creepy Star Wars-looking robots try to attack the town, one lone woman armed with CrowdStrike’s AI-powered cybersecurity shuts them down fast.
Etsy: ‘Gift Mode’
Ah, it’s always a good time to poke (gentle) fun at the French. In Etsy’s Super Bowl ad, Americans about to receive the Statue of Liberty use Etsy’s AI-powered Gift Mode to decide what to give back to their French friends. Spoiler: It’s cheese.
Avocados from Mexico: ‘Guac-AI-Mole’ site
Avocados from Mexico has made some of the funnier Super Bowl ads in recent years. (In 2015, a college football draft spoof showed Australia drafting the kangaroo, the US going for wheat, and Mexico, of course, avocados.) The company didn’t have a Super Bowl ad this year, but its website was hyping “Guac-AI-mole,” where AI generates guacamole recipes based on information submitted by users.
Body Armor: ‘Field of Fake’
There’s also at least one ad that used AI sheerly to poke fun at the concept. If you’ve watched enough AI-assisted videos, you know that some can be unnervingly bad, with creepy voiceovers and obviously fake creatures and humans. The Coca-Cola-owned sports drink BodyArmor tackles that aspect of AI, spouting random AI-sounding lines such as “Teammate Trust Tackle Ball” and showing a football player dunking a basketball on the gridiron. The commercial then sneers, “Artificial? No!” and proclaims that “nothing in sports should be artificial” before plugging the “real sweeteners, real flavors” of its drinks.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.
