How can AI impact media research?
The 2026 edition of the Adwanted Media Research Awards has a new category: Best Use of AI in Research Projects.
AI may be the latest buzzword, but what is its role in assisting or even improving the vital research of this industry?
The Media Leader asked some of the 2026 judges to share their thoughts on the part AI plays in this area. If you’re thinking of entering this category for the awards, read on for some vital tips…
Denise Turner, research director, IPA; head judge
“I see AI as a means to an end, helping us get to where we need to go more quickly. A bit like — and this will make me sound really old — how we used to code research data in MS-Dos and now we are so used to dashboards that enable us to interrogate data at the touch of a button.
“Ultimately, though, we still need human insight and interpretation to make sense of what the data is telling us and to keep a healthy questioning approach.”
Euan Mackay, CEO, Route
“AI enables immersive outputs such as digital twins, providing qualitative-style insights instantly. Generative approaches can expand the use of synthetic data, allowing us to enrich samples, handle heavier datasets and integrate first-and third-party data through clean rooms and more-accessible-than-ever advanced statistical techniques.
“With this, the media researcher’s role is shifting — from designing surveys/guides to becoming guardians of truth and auditors of AI outputs. Machine learning can take on repetitive tasks and heavy computation, freeing researchers to focus on interpretation, quality control and implementation of the findings.
“The growth of AI marks an exciting transition: researchers will remain essential, not as survey designers or data processors but as the critical stewards of data quality and integrity in an AI-driven environment.”
Laura Rowe, managing partner, head of Decisions Science, OMD
“AI is already creating efficiencies in data-processing, helping to quickly deep-dive into raw outputs to uncover interesting findings and relationships within data, and is especially useful in transcription of qualitative research.
“Beyond efficiencies, how can we use the perspectives of real people captured through qualitative and quantitative research methods and then layer on AI to extrapolate those opinions into whatever people in our business need to know?
“Not replacing real people; rather, using AI’s ability to learn and mimic to infuse insight into every corner of strategy and planning in our agency. This enables us to extend the reach of research into the every day: where cost, time and resource barriers historically have prevented this level of democratised insight generation.
“The impact of AI on media research is hugely exciting if it’s wielded carefully, with oversight from ethics and compliance experts who ensure developments and usage is accurate and lawful.”
Neil Mortensen, director of ITV Insights Group, ITV
“AI has a fundamental role in reshaping media research. It feels like we are at the start of a ‘gold rush’, characterised by a race to develop sophisticated-looking tools that often prioritise flashy dashboards over methodological rigour.
“Right now, the real opportunity for us is to transform the tedious, humdrum and resource-heavy. We want to reduce the effort, not the insight production, so researchers and analysts spend more, not less, time on thinking about what all of this data means.”
Does your research have what it takes? Deadline for submissions for the 2026 Adwanted Media Research Awards is 1 October, with a late-entry deadline of 10 October.
Find out more information and enter here.
Adwanted Media Research Awards 2026: Denise Turner named head judge