Consumer Concern Impact of Generative AI on Brand Trust & Transparency

Low knowledge of generative AI applications is driving high consumer concerns that brands should not ignore

March 23, 2023, Los Angeles, CA – CX platform DISQO released “HI on AI: Human Intel on Artificial Intelligence,” a new report exploring consumers’ experiences with and perceptions of generative AI. As companies devote more resources to AI-generated tools and content, DISQO’s insights suggest that brands should continuously experiment with and evaluate their generative AI implementations with a strong customer experience lens.

“Early adoption of emerging generative AI technologies represents a massive opportunity for brands to leapfrog their competition, but only if they are vigilant about customer experiences,” said Patrick Egan, Director of Research and Insights, DISQO. “Leveraging generative AI for innovation, increased efficiency, and profitability makes business sense, but consumers are wary and need to be informed and educated about what’s in it for them.” 

DISQO surveyed 28,376 nationally representative consumers from its 100% opted-in audience from February 28th to March 2nd 2023. Key takeaways:

Knowledge and use of generative AI is low, but massive learning is underway.

• Two-thirds of adult consumers haven’t used AI tools and are not interested in using them down the road.
• Less than 10% said that they have high knowledge of these tools; this drops below 5% among certain audiences (e.g., older adults, women).
• Only about 10% have used generative AI tools so far; this rises as high as 20% among Gen Z and as low as 2% among older adults.
• 25% say they only know a little about generative AI, highlighting opportunities for brands to focus on education when rolling out their tools.

There are strong feelings about where and how generative AI should be used.

• 34% don’t think generative AI tools should be used for most consumer-facing content. This rises to 43% among Boomers and is lower at 21% for Gen Z.
• Older generations (Boomer+) are much less open to generative AI in various content, including marketing materials, online courses, social media posts, and news articles. 
• Contexts where AI-generated content is deemed least appropriate include blogs, interviews, and opinion pieces; there’s also a great deal of reluctance around using these tools for news and entertainment.

Consumers can’t discern AI-generated content and expect brands to disclose use of the technology.

• Only 8% have high confidence in their ability to identify when generative AI is at play. 
• Only ~25% believe that they’ve read media content that was generated by AI. 
• 86% think it’s important for companies to disclose their use of AI-generated content, and about two-thirds of those consumers think it’s very important. 

Download DISQO’s new report, HI on AI: Human Intel on Artificial Intelligence.  DISQO offers Audience, Ad Testing, Brand Lift and Outcomes Lift solutions to help brands create, test, evaluate, market, and communicate AI-generated content with speed and confidence.