Podcast Summary: The GaryVee Audio Experience

Episode: The Future of Marketing With AI and Attention | Adweek Interview

Host: Gary Vaynerchuk
Date: September 5, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features an insightful conversation between Gary Vaynerchuk and an Adweek moderator, focusing on the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on marketing, media, and society at large. Drawing on parallels from past technological shifts—like the rise and fall of NFTs and the emergence of blockchain—Gary discusses the fears, promises, and practical impacts of AI. The conversation explores shifts in consumer behavior, societal perceptions of authenticity, the ongoing evolution of art and content creation, and the challenges brands face navigating generative AI.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Historical Lessons: NFTs, Blockchain, and Shifting Hype Cycles

• NFT Lessons as a Lens for AI:
  Gary draws comparisons between the hype around NFTs and the current buzz about AI, emphasizing the tendency of people to focus on headlines rather than substance.
  • "So much of our biggest point of view was that Metaverse wasn't real..." (01:00)
• Technological Layers:
  NFTs were a form factor on top of blockchain technology driven by speculation, while AI is a fundamental, broad-scope change, likened to "oxygen" for its pervasive potential.
  • "AI is oxygen. It's such a profound, overwhelming technology." (02:14)
• Blockchain’s Future Relevance:
  With the rise of AI-generated content and deepfakes, blockchain’s role in verifying authenticity will be critical.
  • "That providence moment of truth is about to come very handy because AI is about to make a lot of fake stuff." (04:17)

2. Current Consumer Attitudes and Behavioral Shifts

• AI’s Largest Marketing Impact (So Far):
  • Major influence is through social algorithms (e.g., TikTok, Instagram For You pages).
    "The most significant AI that our industry is feeling is in that environment now to consumer." (02:58)
• Fear and Resistance:
  • Societal anxiety about AI is compared to the initial demonization of electricity. "Electricity was like incredibly demonized when it was first available to people. The most common belief at the time was there was demons in it." (03:21)
• The Rise of New Search Behaviors:
  • Young people are abandoning traditional search engines for AI-based tools.
    "My 37 year old brother ... doesn't use search anymore at all. 100% of his search behavior is now chatgpt or perplexity." (03:46)
  • Future generations may never know the concept of a "search engine," much like the Yellow Pages. "I think you're gonna have an entire generation of gen Alpha ... that is going to potentially live in a world where they don't even know what a search engine is." (04:13)

3. Authenticity, Deepfakes, and Blockchain Verification

• Verifying Reality in a Synthetic Age:
  • The spread of deepfakes will make video evidence untrustworthy, and blockchain verification will become essential. "We will go from everybody here sees any video they believe it's 100% true to in 8 to 10 years everybody here seeing a video and not believing it's true." (07:05)
• NFTs Beyond Collectibles:
  • Future NFTs may serve as authenticated proof of origin for content, not just as digital collectibles. "One of the most important use cases ... is going to be using the blockchain to put your content on." (06:28)

4. AI, Art, and Societal Acceptance

• Recurring Debates Over “Real Art”:
  • Similar resistance met new artistic mediums historically (e.g., canvas art was seen as "fake" compared to murals). "Do you know that everyone thought a canvas piece of art was not art hundreds of years ago?" (08:21)
• Coexistence of Human and AI Art:
  • Gary predicts both will flourish and argues that consumers will accept both, regardless of artists’ opinions. "There will be incredible room for originally created human art ... and incredible room for generative art. And the consumer will accept both." (09:13)
• Case Study: Music and Technological Evolution:
  • Gary believes technology expands, rather than replaces, what's valued in music and art (e.g., auto-tune, electronic music). "What about House EDM Music? What about DJs? Everybody told us electron. What about Auto 2? T-Pain ... I'm very bullish on AI." (10:06)
  • He even jokes about using AI to become a music artist despite lacking musical skills. "I will use AI to actually make hit music. I really believe that before I'm done." (10:53)

5. Privacy, Social Media, and Pendulum Swings

• Evolving Attitudes Toward Sharing:
  • People are growing weary of oversharing on social media; Gary notes he’s always separated private life from public content. "I've never shared a single thing about my personal life." (12:38)
• Value of Privacy:
  • Gary stresses the importance of maintaining boundaries, especially when considering children and relationships. "There's nothing more valuable. My relationships, my family." (12:42)

6. Brand Attitudes, Generative AI, and Industry Challenges

• Cautious Adoption Among Brands:
  • Most brands, according to Gary, are uncertain and slow to make commitments about the use of generative AI. "You don't need to make an official statement yet... let's take a beat." (14:00)
• Predicting the Inevitable:
  • Gary foresees that current stances (e.g., Dove refusing to use generated humans in ads) will eventually change out of competitive necessity. "I'm on the record that saying Dove at some point ... will make generative people." (15:15)
• Analogies to Food Styling & Truth in Advertising:
  • He critiques the idea that AI-generated food imagery crosses a new ethical line, noting food ads have long been unrealistic. "Every single commercial that Burger King shows the Whopper looks nothing like the Whoppers I get at Burger King." (16:13) "I would argue food styling and commercials is more fucking AI than AI." (16:27)
• Legal and Ethical Unknowns:
  • Uncertainty around copyright, trademark, and indemnity is a key reason for industry caution. "We want to really understand, like, where the content's coming from because we have to indemnify our clients." (17:48)

7. Fragmentation, Algorithms, and Community

• Content Fragmentation Myths:
  • Gary challenges the narrative that today's audience fragmentation is unprecedented, arguing that people have always sought their own niches, just now at a larger scale. "The fragmentation has existed forever. People always read the books they want and ... fewer options. The misnomer is we didn't take advantage of those fewer options." (19:23)
• From Mass Audiences to Micro-Communities:
  • He concedes the shift from mass events to niche interests creates loneliness and less common ground but believes curiosity and selflessness can counteract isolation. "Honestly, I do think loneliness is a big concern of mine at fragmentation at scale." (22:29)
• Marketing’s Challenge:
  • Traditional one-size-fits-all marketing is obsolete; relevance and personalization are the future. "The idea that you're going to make a 30 second commercial and you're going to pump it on television and it's going to work is fucking delusional." (23:02)
• AI-Driven Personalization:
  • Gary’s agency already uses AI to personalize digital ads, but emphasizes caution until legal clarity emerges. "We do believe it is still a trademark and copyright issue and we will not go full generative AI over production until there's more clarity." (23:36)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI’s Significance:
  "AI is oxygen. It's such a profound, overwhelming technology."
  — Gary Vaynerchuk (02:14)

• On Fear of New Technologies:
  "Electricity was like incredibly demonized when it was first available to people. The most common belief at the time was there was demons in it."
  — Gary Vaynerchuk (03:21)

• On Content Authenticity:
  "We will go from everybody here sees any video they believe it's 100% true to in 8 to 10 years everybody here seeing a video and not believing it's true."
  — Gary Vaynerchuk (07:05)

• On Art, Technology, and Acceptance:
  "One of my good strengths is history tells me the future."
  — Gary Vaynerchuk (08:44)

• On Brands’ Slowness to Change:
  "You don't need to make an official statement yet... let's take a beat."
  — Gary Vaynerchuk (14:00)

• On the Inevitable Embrace of AI:
  "On the record, I don't see any scenario that in 35 years [Dove] haven't done it because there'll be a competitive disadvantage to a business."
  — Gary Vaynerchuk (15:27)

• On Food Advertising:
  "I would argue food styling and commercials is more fucking AI than AI."
  — Gary Vaynerchuk (16:27)

• On Marketing’s Future:
  "The idea that you're going to make a 30 second commercial and you're going to pump it on television and it's going to work is fucking delusional."
  — Gary Vaynerchuk (23:02)

Key Timestamps

• 01:00 – Parallels between NFT hype and AI buzz
• 02:14 – “AI is oxygen” and Madison Avenue vs. Silicon Valley
• 03:21 – Societal fear of AI compared to early fears of electricity
• 03:46 – Rise of AI search engines and the decline of traditional search
• 04:17 – Importance of blockchain in a world of deepfakes
• 06:28 – NFTs as “proof of origin” for content
• 07:05 – Trust in video evidence will collapse
• 08:21 – Historical resistance to new art forms
• 10:06 – Music, AI, and the perpetual evolution of creative fields
• 12:38 – Gary’s approach to privacy and public content
• 14:00 – Brands’ slow, cautious adaptation to generative AI
• 15:27 – Brands’ eventual need to embrace generative AI
• 16:27 – All food ads are already “faked”
• 17:48 – Copyright, trademark, and risk in generative content
• 19:23 – Content fragmentation: myth and reality
• 22:29 – Effects of niche fragmentation and loneliness
• 23:02 – “Delusional” old-school marketing tactics
• 23:36 – The future and limits of AI-personalized ads (legal hurdles)

Tone and Final Thoughts

Gary Vaynerchuk’s tone throughout is lively, irreverent, historically informed, and optimistic—but clear-eyed about challenges. He weaves analogies and past lessons into predictions about AI, marketing, and culture, promoting openness to new technologies while stressing thoughtful, deliberate adoption.

For anyone navigating the shifting landscape of technology, media, and society, Gary’s advice is measured but forward-thinking: “Take a beat, stay curious, and remember history—because it often tells the future.”