As the marketing world navigates the implications of an AI-driven future, questions surrounding brand identity, and the authenticity of visual content are more relevant than ever. Generative AI offers an exciting avenue for enhancing efficiency and creativity, but understanding consumer attitudes toward AI-generated imagery is crucial before integrating these tools into your marketing strategy.

Since 2020, Getty Images has been monitoring global consumer sentiment on AI through our VisualGPS platform. With AI tools now permeating nearly every industry, our latest report, “Building Trust in the Age of AI” emphasises the importance of authenticity in AI-generated visuals. Nearly 90% of global consumers want to know if an image was created using AI, making it essential for communicators to weigh the benefits and risks of using generative AI created content.

Assessing when to use generative AI

If you’re wondering where to begin, start by considering the core message of your campaign. Determine what content best aligns with your goals – be that commissioned, preshot, UGC, CGI or AI generated. Effective advertising has always depended on meaningful storytelling and in many cases to quote the media theorist Marshall McLuhan, “the medium is the message”. How a story is presented visually is important to the message. AI gen visuals work well to represent a future world that does not yet exist whereas building trust in the here and now needs genuine connection to present day social and aesthetic trends. According to our report, nearly every consumer (98%) believes that authentic imagery is critical for building trust in brands.

Staying true to your brand’s mission

If your brand’s mission is to tell inclusive stories about real people, this alone should guide you toward human-created visuals over AI-generated ones. Our VisualGPS research indicates that consumers define ‘authenticity’ as being ‘real,’ ‘truthful,’ and ‘original.’ This sentiment is reflected in the popularity of our collections like #ShowUs, The Disability Collection, and The Disrupt Aging Collection, which are all created by or informed by the people they represent.

A prime example of staying true to a brand’s mission is Dove’s #ShowUs Collection. Dove has pledged never to use AI imagery to depict real women in their advertisements, a decision rooted in their own research, which revealed that nearly half of women worldwide feel pressured to alter their appearance based on imagery they consume, even if it’s AI-generated. This commitment underscores the importance of aligning your visual content with your brand’s core values to maintain consumer trust.

Navigating consumer sentiments on AI

It’s not just self-esteem that consumers are concerned about when it comes to AI. Our research highlights the complex attitudes toward AI in Europe, with a 50/50 split between those who are excited and those who are nervous about AI’s impact. While Germans are the most optimistic about AI’s possibilities, French and British consumers are among the most apprehensive. Marketers need to balance building consumer trust with understanding their audience’s concerns when incorporating generative AI content into their campaigns.

AI as a game changer for product campaigns

Marketers are now experimenting with AI, testing the technology for new ways to engage consumers. For instance, creative agency McCann used generative AI to create the ‘Mucus Masher' game for Reckitt’s Mucinex, allowing customers to interact with the brand’s mascot and engage with the product in a novel way. This campaign effectively leveraged AI technology to resonate with audiences excited about new innovations while maintaining transparency about the AI-driven nature of the game.

Other applications we are seeing are brands looking at how they can customise AI models to align with their brand’s visual style, creating on-brand content for their campaigns. And this is just the beginning. If marketers can get the fundamentals right about when and where to leverage the technology, we will see some fantastically creative uses which hit the mark with consumers.

 Image: Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images.