Does the human brain react differently to an AI-generated advertisement? To answer this question, Versus, the Heroiks Group’s 100% generative AI creative agency, and HABS, a French startup specializing in neurocognitive analysis, measured the reactions of 80 participants in a laboratory setting while they watched a 30-second commercial created entirely using AI.
A neuroscience-based approach
Over several weeks, 80 participants aged 18 to 55 were exposed to the film under four experimental conditions: with or without sound, and with or without disclosure of its AI generated origin.
Unlike traditional self-report studies, the protocol relied on the direct measurement of neurophysiological responses through a system combining 64-channel EEG, eye tracking, cardiac activity monitoring, galvanic skin response, pupillometry, and respiratory sensors.
The data were analyzed using HABS’ Neuro-AI models and compared against a proprietary benchmark comprising several hundred advertising assets previously tested in laboratory conditions. The model achieved a Concordance Correlation Coefficient (CCC) of 0.779, among the highest levels reported in scientific literature for comparable conditions.
What the study reveals
The results show no significant variation in attention, engagement, or memorability depending on whether participants were informed of the content’s artificial origin. Furthermore, the commercial achieved levels of attention, emotional impact, and memorability comparable to those observed among the top-performing campaigns within the HABS benchmark.
The study therefore suggests that audience responses are driven more by the narrative and emotional quality of the content than by its method of production. The film ranks among the highest-performing creative assets in the benchmark database, with awe identified as the dominant emotional response. Its suspicion score remained limited to 12%, compared with approximately 85% typically measured for deepfake-type content. Moreover, no significant signals associated with the “uncanny valley” effect (the psychological discomfort caused by digital characters perceived as artificial) were detected.
A question for creative industries
The authors acknowledge an important limitation: the study focuses on a single commercial produced to a very high standard. But that is precisely the point — the findings suggest that emotional and narrative coherence, rather than the production method itself, is what determines audience reactions.
The results demonstrate that AI-generated creative work can elicit credible emotional responses when it reaches a high level of visual, narrative, and emotional consistency. This conclusion extends well beyond advertising. As generative technologies become increasingly accessible, the broader creative industries (including film, video games, and brand design) may face the same reality.
« This study does not point to the disappearance of human creativity. It shows that generative AI can deliver credible emotional experiences when it is harnessed in service of a strong creative vision. As technology becomes more widely available, value lies less in the production of images themselves and more in the ability to create narratives, evoke emotions, and build coherent worlds. »
Sébastien de Milleville, Managing Director, Versus
« The question is no longer whether an image was created by a human or by AI, but rather what it genuinely triggers in the person viewing it. In the future, the differentiating factor will no longer be content production itself, but its ability to generate attention, emotion, and memorability. » Olivier Locufier, Founder and CEO, HABS
