What if we made a machine that created “ads for good”?

Not better ads.

Not smarter ads.

Not more “personalised” ads.

Just ads that actually did some good.

Because the truth is, ads don’t really have a creativity problem.

They have an intent problem.

Over the years, “personalisation” became our stand-in for relevance.

If we could just make something feel personal enough, we told ourselves, it would justify its existence.

You know the drill… “how do we collect emails, phone numbers, clicks, so we can retarget?”

And somewhere along the way, personalisation stopped being about meaning… and became about “how do we collect just enough personal info to bug our customers until the end of time?”

And we all feel it.

That half-second hesitation before typing in your email. The quiet acceptance that this “free” thing isn’t really free — it’s just the beginning of a very long follow-up.

Which made me wonder:

What if personalisation didn’t exist to benefit the brand at all? What if it existed to benefit someone who was actually in need?

In a world where technology lets us generate cheap content instantly, contextually, and at scale — is there finally room for purposeful personalisation?

Not gonna pretend to have the answer. But I do enjoy the thought experiment. My wife says I need new hobbies. She’s not wrong.

So I decided to experiment in my little personal playground: ozz.fm

(Yes — the radio-station-wannabe project I still bang on about.)

I started with a simple question:

How do you make something personal in a way that actually matters?

Not:

“Hi {{firstname}}! How’s your day going?”

But something more vulnerable.

More intimate.

More real.

Less marketing.

More this actually matters.

That search led me to organisations using tech to do good and that’s when I came across GIVIT.org.au.

They connect donors directly to real people with real needs. Small, specific needs. Local needs. A live feed of what people in your community need right now.

Honestly? It’s a beautiful thing.

So then I came back to Ozz… is there a world in which it could help organisations like GIVIT?

(For context, Ozz is an AI-powered, self-generating radio / podcasty type thing. It creates audio content on the fly and pulls from the web in real time.)

And on normal radio, what happens between songs?

Those things we all love.

Ads.

So I asked myself:

What if we kept the format… but changed the intent?

What if, instead of selling ad space, those moments became micro-giving moments?

On Ozz, between songs, instead of ads about cars or mattresses, you might hear about:

A woman escaping domestic abuse who needs $20 for a movie voucher for her kids, school uniforms, a grocery card to get through the week.

(That’s a real example I found on GIVIT.org.au)

And then, as you hear the “ad for good” right there, in that moment, you can help. Like as the ad was playing, what if there was a link, to give that woman $20 or whatever.

Just one human helping another.

A tiny, simple use of technology that doesn’t feel hollow… and actually connects.

It’s a crazy dream, but the reality is that’s all now possible thru AI… as in today. That’s what a machine for “ads for good” could look like.

And yes, AI is getting some seriously deserved heat, but there’s another side of the coin here… organisations like GIVIT dont usually have “big ad spend”… and especially not for an individual in need. But now? In a world where ads can be created in under 30 seconds? And in context?

So… yeah, for some fun… I went and built that just to see if it was possible. And it is.

Ads on OZZ.FM are now live… and they aren’t ads… they are cries for help…. From real people in your area right now.

And I’ve just sent it to GIVIT to see what they think.

Happy trails.