The AI perception bubble
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AI has become an everyday tool for communicators, but many of the audiences they're trying to reach remain deeply skeptical of how it's being used.
Why it matters: Communicators risk getting stuck in a pro-AI bubble, where the ubiquity of the technology among colleagues and executives makes it easy to overlook the skepticism — and sometimes outright hostility — it generates.
- Half of U.S. consumers prefer to give their business to brands that don't use generative AI in consumer-facing messages, advertising and content, according to a Gartner survey from earlier this year.
- Younger consumers were particularly skeptical: 57% of Gen Z and millennials said generative AI has made content quality worse.
- In contrast, AI has become deeply embedded in comms. Earlier this year, Muck Rack found 80% of PR professionals say they already use generative AI in their workflow.
Zoom in: Comms teams have to know the audience. That includes creators, whose livelihoods depend on understanding what their audiences will tolerate, celebrate or reject.
- YouTuber Hank Green faced backlash after viewers of a July 29 video zeroed in on language they associated with ChatGPT and accused him of using AI to write his script.
- Green denied the allegations but acknowledged that he'd become overly reliant on the technology for research and later shared a personal AI policy restricting how he'll use it going forward.
- OpenAI's first influencer brand trip — a luxury "Summer Club" retreat in New York's Hudson Valley — backfired as participating creators were criticized for promoting the company amid broader concerns about AI's environmental impact, job displacement and corporate power.
The big picture: The episodes highlight just how unsettled the boundaries around acceptable AI use remain.
- "Where do you draw the line of what's immoral and what is moral?" content creator and marketing strategist Sam Ogborn says. "It's a very subjective question that I believe every person has to answer for themselves."
- Communicators must help companies read the room. "Don't become so fascinated with the technology that you forget your audience is human," Reddit chief communications officer Adam Collins said.
- "The best way for communicators to avoid an AI bubble is the same way communicators have always avoided any information bubbles: Listen to people outside of it," he said.
AI companies can avoid that whiplash by figuring out where an audience's line is before crossing it.
- "We don't want to rage bait people for no reason," says Higgsfield founding growth lead Alisher Shariyazdanov.
- He explained the AI video company proactively addresses concerns. For example, a 10-person team studies the audiences of creators Higgsfield partners with and develops a different brief for each community of filmmakers, marketers and content creators.
- The company also built an internal dashboard that tracks social trends to gauge the backlash risk of potential campaigns.
Zoom out: It's not just AI. There's a broadening influencer fatigue. (See the viral "no influencers" sign in Nantucket.)
- Consumers know they're addicted to their phones and are trying to solve for that, fueling interest in tech like Brick, which locks users out of their social apps.
- The economic backdrop and wealth gap have also left audiences irritated rather than inspired by displays of wealth, including flashy brand trips.
Between the lines: Anti-AI sentiment is part of broader anxiety about jobs, creative work, the environment and the power of technology companies.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday called for a pause on the development of more advanced AI systems, arguing that companies are moving forward without adequately accounting for their effects on workers and society.
- Silicon Valley's futurist predictions have fallen flat before, argue anti-AI activists.
- Tech companies, most notably Meta, spent billions trying to build a metaverse where users could shop, go to concerts and attend meetings. And, of course, who can forget NFTs?
Reality check: AI isn't like any of those things. Hundreds of millions of people already use AI products, and the technology is increasingly embedded across the economy.
- "It's very easy to say, 'I'm anti-AI,' without recognizing that AI is embedded now in every part of our lives," said Ogborn.
- But widespread adoption doesn't mean widespread acceptance.
- Social media can push people to further extremes. "The more anti-AI someone becomes, the more they're going to continue to see that content," she noted.
The bottom line: The biggest risk can come from trying to appease everyone. Pick a side and be transparent with your audience, says Ogborn. "The worst is when people try to play both sides, whether it's companies or creators."
Madison Mills contributed reporting.
