We run Meta ads for a living, so read this with that in mind. Meta is building towards a world where you may not need someone like us to make an ad. We think that is partly true, and worth understanding properly.
What Meta is reported to be planning
In June 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that Meta plans to let brands create and target ads entirely with its AI tools by 2026. As MediaPost summarised it, the advertiser would give a goal and a budget, and Meta’s AI would produce the finished ad and deliver it to an audience. The report also described different versions of the same ad for different viewers, for example by location.
Meta executives said the aim is to save advertisers time, not to remove agencies. This was a report about plans, not a product launch. Parts of this automation already exist in Ads Manager under the Advantage+ name, and what is available changes often, so check your own account for the current options.
What AI is already good at
- Finding the audience. Broad targeting with good tracking often beats hand-picked interests.
- Making variations. Different crops, backgrounds and text versions of an ad you already have.
- Moving budget. Shifting spend towards what is working, faster than a person checking once a day.
What still needs a human
- The truth about your product. A jewellery buyer wants to see the real piece, on a real hand, in real light. An AI-generated image of a product that looks slightly different from what arrives means returns and bad reviews.
- The offer. Price, bundle, free shipping, COD. The AI optimises whatever you give it. It does not know your margins.
- Tracking. Meta’s AI learns from the purchase data your store sends back. If the Pixel and Conversions API are set up wrongly, it learns the wrong thing with great confidence.
- The store itself. No ad fixes a slow site or a confusing checkout.
- Judging results by profit. A campaign can look good in Ads Manager and still lose money after returns and RTO.
Our view
The more Meta automates the buttons, the more the result depends on what you feed it: honest creatives, a sensible offer, clean tracking and a store that converts. Those were always the hard parts. If you get those right, the automation works for you. If you do not, it spends your money faster.