Dive Brief:
- Half of consumers say they would prefer to do business with brands that don’t incorporate generative AI into their consumer-facing messages, advertising and content, according to a Gartner survey of more than 1,500 U.S. consumers released Monday.
- While many shoppers are using AI, that doesn’t correlate with trust. Three in five of consumers say they frequently question whether the information they use to make decisions is reliable, and more than two-thirds say they frequently wonder whether the content they see is real.
- According to Emily Weiss, senior principle analyst at Gartner, AI has its place in the experience, but it should be implemented with care. Leaders need to treat generative AI as a consumer trust decision as well as a technology decision.
Dive Insight:
Customers aren’t sold on generative AI, and it’s up to businesses to overcome their skepticism by implementing the technology in ways that enhance their experience while remaining optional.
Consumers need to trust AI before they will embrace its use, according to Kate Muhl, VP analyst at Gartner. Currently, shoppers trust neither consumer brands nor big tech companies to build AI tools for the customer’s benefit.
“A decade-plus into life in the attention economy, consumers are well aware that if they are not paying, they are the product,” Muhl said in an email. “Half a decade of life in inflationary conditions, they are highly suspicious of pricing and the way companies use technology to extract the highest price possible from the customer.”
With this distrust in mind, brands should clearly label when and how they’re using AI in their experience, and these tools should be optional, according to Muhl.
“Disclosing that a tool is powered by AI is not the same as promoting that a tool is powered by AI,” Muhl said. “Except for the most tech-forward offerings and innovation-centered brands, the risk of alienating people who are ambivalent or anti-AI with a label is likely to be greater than the reward of drawing in AI enthusiasts.”
AI enthusiasts are unlikely to punish a brand for failing to incorporate AI, according to Muhl. In contrast, consumers who are ambivalent or distrust the technology may walk away if they feel forced to use AI.
The best place to integrate AI into the experience is early on the customer journey, according to Muhl. Consumers are using these tools for inspiration and deal-seeking, so using AI in search and personalization can benefit the consumer with low risk to the brand
