Ad Schools Add AI to the Curriculum as industry evolves

For decades, ad school graduates have entered agencies armed with classic
creative skills like copywriting, art direction, and design. The next wave
will bring something new to the table: fluency in artificial intelligence.

When a new term begins this fall, ad schools including Miami Ad School,
Brandcenter at Virginia Commonwealth University, and London’s School of
Dialog Arts (SCA) are rolling out curricula that incorporate AI
education.

They’re doing so to prepare students for a workforce being reshaped by AI.
The tech is already affecting the general job market for entry-level
workers, The Wall Street Journal reported. While the national unemployment rate is about 4%, for new college
graduates it was 6.6% over the past 12 months ending in May.

The ad industry specifically appears to be shedding younger workers as AI
use becomes routine at agencies, as
ADWEEK reported
last week.

Even before AI’s rise, the
traditional ad school model was under pressure
from economic factors and digital disruption. As 2023, Miami Ad School
has closed campuses in San Francisco, Toronto, and most recently
Atlanta. The
Chicago Portfolio SchoolAtlanta’s
Creative Circusand the U.K.’s watford Course have also shut down in recent years.

Many ad schools are now racing to keep up with the pace of change and
convince both prospective students and industry employers that their
education is fit for the future.

As Vann Graves, executive director of Brandcenter, put it: “The industry is
moving at a pace so much faster than it has ever moved. Education needs to
move even faster than that.”

Cracks in the Ad School Model

Modern portfolio schools emerged in the 1990s,when agencies scaled back
on-the-job training.Programs like Miami Ad School, founded in 1993, and
Creative Circus, established in 1995, offered intensive instruction in
advertising fundamentals and portfolio building to help graduates stand out
in hiring rounds.

But the model has drawbacks. Cost is a major barrier: Miami Ad School’s two
year portfolio program costs $38,000, while SCA’s three-semester course is
about $24,640.

Ad schools can also focus too narrowly on portfolio development meant to
catch the eye of advertising creatives at the expense of broader business
training, said Alex Grieve, global chief creative officer of BBH.

“I didn’t go to ad school, and I’ve always felt it’s given me an
advantage, because I did think differently [when I entered the
workforce],” Grieve said. “At ad schools, there’s this kind of obsession
with building a portfolio of work that will get you noticed, and not enough
on genuine problem solving for clients.”

Linda Carte, a former Miami Ad School instructor and longtime agency
creative director, agreed the business side of advertising is sometimes
overlooked in ad school training.

“In an ad school or for a student, it might seem unsexy,” she said. “but
the business side of it is almost 50%: knowing your client’s business,
knowing their concerns, knowing their landscape.”

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, which temporarily halted in-person education,
cracks in the ad school model have begun to appear.

“The pandemic was really hard for [Miami Ad School Toronto] because they
had a really great, vibrant culture at their physical location,” said Steve
Miller, a former instructor. “[the school] lost some of that vibe… that
was just the start.”

AI Education

The recent acceleration of AI has made it even more imperative for ad
schools to evolve.

Starting with the current cohort scheduled to graduate in September, Miami
Ad School introduced a 10-week boot camp called “AI for Creatives.” The
course teaches students how to create with AI tools, culminating with a
final project of an AI-powered campaign.

Miami Ad School launched the program after hearing from agencies that want
to “bring on more juniors if they know how to use AI tools,” said Rebecca
Rovirosa, its chief creative officer and academic director.

Simultaneously occurring, just as some agencies have appointed chief AI officers,
Brandcenter recently hired its first director of technical training, Micah
Berry from Arts & Letters. Berry will help students and faculty keep
abreast of developments in AI and emerging tech, Graves said.

“Young ad folks can’t just be an art director or copywriter now. They have
to be polymaths,” he added.

SCA’s changes are more extensive. Starting with the 2025-2026 cohort, the
school will conduct a series of 10 two-hour workshops teaching students how
to creatively think and problem solve using AI.

The goal is for students to leave with “AI as your personal creative
partner,” said Marc lewis, head of SCA.That’s a change from the previous
system of students teaming up with peers, which will now be optional. With
AI training, the cohort will also be able to create portfolios and pitch
decks much faster, he added.

“They’re going to need to be able to operate like a one-person agency. They
now need to think as a creative director, working with AI as your junior
and giving it feedback and direction,” lewis said. “AI should be like an
exoskeleton, helping people think further and faster.”

The Future

Many educators agree that ad schools need to quickly adapt. “A school that
gets it right is one that knows they need to be nimble,” Carte said.

For Miller,that means having leadership committed to constant curriculum
updates,especially as new tools emerge. “Schools need a leader who’s
staying on top of the curriculum and making sure that it’s as current as
possible,” he said.”With AI, art directors need to have a glimpse into
Midjourney… writers [need to] learn how to use ChatGPT.”

One option may be agencies taking the reins of education again,giving
talent real-world experience. As a notable example, BBH runs an eight-month program
called the Barn, led by the agency’s former executive creative director
Nick Gill.The Barn pays participants about $39,000 per year, and many
grads get jobs at BBH or other agencies, Grieve said.

But despite the pressures on traditional talent training models, the idea of
AI fully replacing entry-level talent is unrealistic, Graves said.

“You still need juniors to train up and implement new ideas,” he said.
“There’s going to be a great awakening on what junior roles look like and
the expectations of students coming into the field.”

While AI is changing the industry, “it doesn’t remove you,” said Vasti
Marcelo, managing director of Miami Ad School.

“This coudl be a vrey scary time for students, but please understand that AI
is just a tool to help your creativity work faster,” marcelo said.