• by Camm Rowland , March 21, 2024

The following was previously published in an earlier edition of Marketing Insider.

At the core of the ongoing conversation about AI in marketing is the nuanced way people perceive AI-generated content — which will be a strong determinant of how and when marketers use it in the future.

A study from MIT Sloan uncovered a fascinating dichotomy: While individuals tend to favor human-made content when its origin is known, they often prefer AI-generated content when the source remains undisclosed. This contrast underscores a conditional acceptance of AI, where the perception of authenticity can outweigh the actual experience of the content.

Research has also shown that sentiment towards generative AI varies across professions, with product managers, data scientists, and others in roles that might see AI as a boon to efficiency show more positive sentiments around its progress. In contrast, creative professionals might feel threatened by AI's ability to effectively imitate their craft or use their works without consent, and display more negative sentiments.

Furthermore, a Pew Research Center survey revealed that attitudes towards AI's impact vary by demographic factors: men perceive AI's impact in specific areas more positively than women, individuals with higher education recognize AI's benefits more broadly, and those with higher incomes consider AI more useful for specific tasks.

These insights lead us to understand that the acceptance or rejection of AI-generated content and sentiment around AI advancement is a complex spectrum influenced by various contextual factors.

In the world of marketing, grappling with the adoption of AI is a daily challenge. Early apprehensions about AI's use are beginning to wane, but we’re not out of the woods yet. AI’s evolving capabilities, along with dynamic legal and ethical conversations, mean that if, how and when to best utilize AI can change week to week.

Despite these constant changes, adoption is increasing. The Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies provided a bold forecast: It anticipated that by 2025 to 2030, 99% to 99.9% of internet content, overall, could be AI-generated, suggesting that marketing resistance to AI adoption might soon be a thing of the past.

Where does that leave human creators? The shift points to a future where human-made content will become an increasingly rare commodity, prized for its unique creativity and authenticity in a predominantly AI-generated landscape. The critical questions will evolve from whether to use AI, to strategic considerations of when to employ AI, when to leverage the increasingly rare premium of human creativity, and how to provide transparency on a piece of content’s origin.