Today, more brands are embracing generative AI to produce effective marketing content and improve efficiency at scale, however, consumer sentiment is moving in the opposite direction.
In fact, recent Gartner research revealed that 49% of U.S. consumers believe generative AI has made ultimately content quality worse, whilst half agree they would prefer to buy from brands that avoid using AI in marketing altogether.
With customers continuing to value human connection and brands optimizing for speed and output, this widening gap is becoming more apparent as traditional performance metrics fail to capture true customer responses.
Speaking with CX Today, Carrie Parker, Chief Marketing Officer at Medallia, discussed the importance of preserving the human elements of marketing as AI adoption accelerates.
"Authenticity means speaking and connecting authentically," she explained.
"AI is a powerful engine for scaling insights, but human judgment, distinct brand values, and emotional connection must always hold the steering wheel."
The Core Tension, What Brands Want vs What Customers Want
The increasing pressure to produce more marketing content in less time and with fewer resources is becoming more apparent to brands, as the rise of generative AI has made it possible to create campaigns and content at unprecedented speeds.
Whilst this technology delivers clear operational efficiencies, current consumer attitudes suggest a growing disconnect between what brands are optimizing for and what audiences actually value.
In fact, Gartner research found that 61% of consumers frequently question whether the information they rely on is reliable, while 68% regularly wonder whether the content they encounter online is even real.
Skepticism is also particularly strong among younger audiences, with 57% of Gen Z and Millennials believing AI has made content quality worse, as current online discussions reflect this concern.
"I think that AI marketing will undoubtably flood the scene, but more importantly, consumers will vote with their pocket and go for more human strategies," said one Reddit user.
"The most effective channels are still going to be those built on real opt-in and relationships. People will be less willing to pay for marketing," noted another.
With many marketers warning that the abundance of AI-generated content is contributing to a "zero trust" environment where authenticity has become harder to establish.
"Consumers have a zero-tolerance policy for generic AI noise," Parker continued.
"As AI use expands, the human voice and touch become premium differentiators, not an afterthought."
Why Brand Metrics Can Mislead
Relying on traditional marketing metrics can create a false sense of success in the age of AI-generated content, as these outdated indicators primarily measure attention over long-term brand affinity.
This reluctance toward AI-powered information remains critical to CX, as Gartner found that 53% of consumers distrust AI-generated search results, while 41% say AI-generated summaries make searching more frustrating.
At the same time, the customers who become disengaged often do so quietly. They do not necessarily unsubscribe, unfollow, or stop purchasing immediately. Instead, they gradually pay less attention to brand communications, a trend that is rarely reflected in standard campaign reports.
Channing Ferrer, Chief Revenue Officer and Americas CEO at Brevo, told CX Today that marketers should look beyond conventional performance metrics to understand how customers are really responding to their communications.
"Strong impressions and click-through can paper over a rotting foundation, and that should worry CX leaders most. Engagement tells you a message got attention, but not if that attention is curdling into fatigue," he said.
"The number nobody watches is silent disengagement: the customers who haven't unsubscribed, but they've just simply stopped caring. Those people inflate your dashboard."
As a result, strong metrics can mask weakening trust and declining long-term loyalty.