AI intel round-up: We trust genAI more than government and ad land's 27% ‘confidence gap’

That’s why we’re launching an AI intel series, wrapping up the findings of the best research that crosses our desk each month.

1. AI’s 27% ‘confidence gap’

This week, programmatic media shop MiQ released the findings of its AI ‘Confidence Curve’. They surveyed 3,000 marketers, both brand and agency-side, and found that 72% intend to increase their use of AI in the next year. With only 45% saying they “feel confident applying it effectively,” that leaves what the researchers are calling a 27% “AI confidence gap”.

40% of those surveyed said their organization doesn’t fully grasp how to use AI, and plenty are willing to blame lagging measurement standards: nearly half cite “poor measurement frameworks”, reporting reliance on proxy metrics like clicks and web traffic.

2. We trust AI more than government (and influencers)

According to a survey of over 5,000 adults in the UK conducted by PR shop 72 Point, 44% of us now trust AI tools and assistants. That’s more than the government at 38% and almost double the figure for influencers, which languishes at 24% - but it lags well behind news media (55%) and scientists and experts (80%).

AI trust is highest among Gen Z at 65%, with that figure falling through the generations – millennials are at 59%, Gen X at 38%, and boomers at 26%.

But that trust has its limits: 82% say they verify results from AI tools against other sources.

As AI marches into every corner of our lives, people have widespread concerns. With 27% of us now relying primarily on AI summaries instead of original news sources, 74% are concerned about AI in journalism.

3. We’re getting more comfortable with AI CX

Data agency Acxiom and research consultancy MTM dropped research into customer expectations around what they called “the dawn of AI-curated experience”. Based on surveys of 4,000 real people and 600 CX experts, the research found an increasing acceptance of AI in customer experiences. 55% of people said they’d rather speak to a “smart assistant” than wait on hold; generally, 77% said they “appreciate AI-driven conveniences”.

Brands are gearing up for this AI-dominated CX future: 83% of brands think that in 10 years’ time, AI will handle most customer decisions. Are people happy about that? Maybe not – 65% of us say that if AI decides for us, it “stops being our experience”, and more than half (53%) say we look for genuine human connections in our lives as customers.

4. Lightning round

Plenty of other research suggests capability and confidence gaps in marketing departments. And elsewhere in the research world…

• The University of Exeter’s Digit Lab found 70% of creatives fear that AI will replace their jobs, and 81% of designers think it “dulls creativity”.
• Semrush has found that 73% of brands are currently invisible in AI search results.

• Social agency Billion Dollar Boy surveyed 4,000 consumers, 1,000 content creators and 1,000 marketers about virtual influencers, finding a surprisingly high appetite for (or tolerance of) virtual influencers. 76% trust virtual influencers for product recommendations; 68% trust them to inform purchasing decisions. 85% of creators said they’re open to creating a ‘digital twin’ in partnership with a brand, but 57% were concerned that digital twins erode trust.
• While the industry continues to chase the holy grail of ‘personalization at scale', Valtech found that of 700 senior retail figures, only 14% offer genuine personalization across all channels.
• According to a survey of 800 CMOs by AI video shop Veed, 69% of marketers are using AI to accelerate video production.

Got high-quality AI research for next month? Let us know at editorial[at]thedrum.com.