…Don’t misinterpret us as pAIranoid… AI marketing tools have made us more efficient at so many levels: precision targeting, predictive analytics & customer scoring, sentiment analysis & social listening, marketing automation & workflow efficiency… the list goes on. But nowhere on that list is ‘trust amplification.’ Humans instinctively don’t trust the artificial—something pretending to be something it’s not. And what AI is not capable of is real human emotional connection. Just ask your AI girlfriend/boyfriend… right? You’re not going there, and neither should your brand.

And be aware: the consumer backlash against AI is real. The perceived lack of humanity behind AI-driven brands is rapidly becoming a deal breaker. In response to this very real threat of brand abandonment, Dove personal products recently committed to “never using AI to represent its consumers or its products.” Equinox athletic clubs are leveraging anti-AI sentiment by showcasing hyper-real, sweaty, intense workouts in their ads. Across the B2C and B2B spectrum, brands are reconsidering AI content with extreme caution as clients and consumers grow increasingly skeptical of brands using synthetic content to market their authenticity and human touch.

It’s time to weigh the risks of overcommitting to artificial ‘content,’ of replacing authenticity with algorithm-derived emotional insight. The short-term savings hide long-term risk. A loss of brand authenticity can catalyze a precipitous downward spiral of distrust—and with the loss of trust, rapid abandonment. It doesn’t get more ‘financial’ than customer-base erosion.

Plan B: Human-made Connection. Beyond AI.