• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 12, 2025

Consumers are getting wise to artificial intelligence (AI). Seventy percent say they have noticed it being used in marketing emails, advertising and customer service, according to a global two-part study by HubSpot and Survey Monkey.

But that doesn’t mean they like it. Only 23% say they like or love AI when applied to marketing emails. In contrast, 43% dislike or hate it. 

It is not clear how consumers discern AI usage.

But the gap is even higher when it comes to customer service, with 59% who say they dislike or hate it, while 24% say they like or love it, and 45% who loathe it when used for marketing content, while only 24% are in favor of it.  

Of the Boomers surveyed, 91% say they prefer human customer support, but so do 73% of Gen Zers. 

And there is also a search trust deficit — 30% of consumers trust AI, while 50% feel they must verify answers and 17% assume the results are inaccurate. 

Yet most marketers say AI is more important to their strategy this than last — 75% for marketing, 59% for sales and 59% for the customer experience.

Teams say AI has improved their workflows in these areas:

• Content creation and SEO optimization — 93%
• Analytics and insights — 92%
• Customer relationship management (CRM) — 92%
• Internal communication — 90%
• Market research — 90%
• Sales intelligence and enablement — 89%
• Marketing automation and campaign management — 89%
• Sales coaching and training — 86%

Are teams ready for AI? Overall, 68% say they are, with marketing leading the way in preparedness:

• Marketing — 77%
• CX — 72%
• Sales — 59% 

How are brands preparing their teams for AI? They are using:

• Training — 33%
• Hands-on access to tools or projects — 31%
• Online courses — 29%
• Peer support — 25% 
• Dedicated learning time — 24% 
• Professional development funding — 20%

SurveyMonkey surveyed 15,000 consumers worldwide and 1,800 business leaders in June 2025. Of these, roughly 6,700 consumers and 1,000 leaders were in the U.S.