Gartner Predicts: 20% of Brands Embrace 'Acoustic' Approach Amid Growing Concerns over Generative AI

Article Brief:

The latest forecasts from Gartner’s marketing practice indicate that marketing chiefs are anticipated to increase their investment in talent with expertise in generative artificial intelligence (AI) in order to maximize the impact of their budget.

The researcher predicts that by 2026, 80% of top creative roles will have an increased focus on generative AI to achieve unique and impactful results. Generative AI is expected to be used to save time and increase productivity, encouraging creatives to explore strategic applications of the technology for product and service innovation.

Furthermore, the rapid growth of generative AI is projected to lead to a 50% or more decrease in organic search traffic to brands by 2028, impacting sales potential. This trend, combined with concerns about authenticity in an increasingly artificial environment, should lead marketing leaders to invest more in AI guardrails.

Article Insight:

The latest outlook from Gartner highlights the double-edged sword that generative AI presents for marketers. On one hand, the potential to automate processes at a faster pace could result in new creative opportunities and reduced time spent on marketing tasks. This could lead CMOs to significantly increase their investment in AI talent, a trend that may benefit agencies that are rapidly developing the necessary infrastructure to support this technology.

Agencies are eager to embrace generative AI, hoping to capitalize on the potential increase in demand for marketing services. WPP, the world's largest advertising group, recently partnered with Nvidia to develop a content engine using generative AI. It is expected that many companies will soon tout their expertise in AI, similar to how they claim to specialize in digital, causing the term to lose some of its significance.

However, the growing use of AI and its association with fake news will present challenges for CMOs and their marketing service providers. Gartner predicts that by 2027, one-fifth of brands will use the absence of AI in their business as a way to differentiate themselves and meet the demand for authenticity.

According to a survey by Gartner, 72% of consumers expressed concerns about the potential for AI-based platforms to spread false and misleading information, indicating underlying trust issues. As social media grapples with bot issues, toxic discourse, and fake news, over half of respondents (53%) believe the platform has deteriorated, with 70% of them worried that generative AI integrations could further harm the user experience.

Emily Weiss, senior principal researcher at Gartner’s marketing practice, predicts that the lack of trust in AI's capabilities will lead some consumers to seek out AI-free brands and interactions. She believes that certain brands will prioritize a more human approach over AI, using an "acoustic" concept to distance themselves from perceptions of AI-powered businesses as impersonal and homogeneous.

By 2026, 60% of marketing leaders are projected to utilize tools such as content-authenticating technology and user-generated content in order to safeguard against AI-related pitfalls. Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) will also have to address the impact on search results as major platforms such as Google and Microsoft's Bing introduce generative AI features that could reduce the number of websites visited by users. According to a survey conducted by Gartner, 79% of consumers anticipate using AI-enhanced search within the next year, and roughly 70% expressed varying levels of trust in the results provided by these services.