50% Of Consumers Can Detect AI-Generated Content

A recent study by digital asset management firm Bynder has uncovered how consumers interact with AI vs human content in 2024.

As more people start to use AI, consumer awareness of the tell-tale signs of unhuman content will likely increase. To test this, Bynder ran a study to reveal how many people can tell when content is written entirely by AI and how this impacts their engagement and opinions of the associated brand.

In a survey of 2,000 UK and US participants, Bynder presented two articles, one written by ChatGPT and one by a trained copywriter. Both had the same brief: “Write 300 words on how to clean your car”.

50% of consumers can spot AI-generated copy

The study concluded that 50% of consumers can correctly identify AI-generated copy.

Millennials (aged 25-34) were the most successful at spotting non-human content, aligning with the age of consumers most likely to use AI when creating content.

US consumers are the most knowledgeable about the signs of AI-generated content, with American participants 10% more likely to spot when content is AI-generated than UK consumers. A study in March 2023 found that 58% of US adults have heard of ChatGPT, but 42% have never heard of it. The number of Americans aware of AI means they are more likely to spot the content it generates.

55% of US participants correctly spotted which copy was written using AI, compared with 45% of UK-based consumers. A study of UK citizens found that only 26% have used a generative AI tool, significantly less than those in the US. -This correlates with the findings from Bynder’s study, with UK consumers 10% less likely to spot AI-generated copy as they are less likely to use an AI tool such as ChatGPT.

More than half of consumers felt more engaged with AI-generated content

When presented with the two articles (without being told which was which), 56% of participants said they preferred the AI version over the human-made article.

However, when quizzed on their attitudes towards reading copy that they suspect is AI-generated, 52% of consumers cited that they will become less engaged.

Participants aged 16-24 were the only age group to find the content created by a human more engaging than the AI-generated version. Of those in this age bracket who had a preference, 55% voted for the human-written article as the most engaging. 

The consumers find brands using AI impersonal, study reveals

Participants were asked how they felt about reading AI-generated content on various platforms. Regarding website copy, 26% of participants would feel the brand is impersonal if the copy does not feel human-written, and 20% would think the brand is lazy.

Similarly, for social media copy, which appears to be AI-generated, 25% of consumers would feel the brand is impersonal, 20% untrustworthy, 20% would feel lazy, and 19% would think they are uncreative.

If a consumer interacts with a chatbot that they suspect is AI-generated, over 30% would think the associated brand is impersonal.

Warren Daniels, CMO at Bynder, said: “As AI advances and an increasing number of marketers use it for content creation, it’s important that we don’t lose sight of best practices. Our research shows that as AI use increases, the most important element of a marketing campaign should be the human touch.”

“AI offers significant benefits for marketers. Each year, marketers are faced with the challenge of creating and managing more assets than they did the year prior, and the ever-advancing AI tools are a revolutionary way to aid this task. However, responsible AI should always be prioritised.”

Bynder is the global leader in Digital Asset Management and offers a range of AI tools, such as Content Workflow, as part of its software to support marketers throughout the process.
Bynder’s Content Workflow module is fully integrated with its DAM. It marries editorial content with creative imagery to speed execution, collaborate, and deliver exceptional content experiences.
Content Workflow enables marketers to benefit from the efficiencies of Generative AI within a platform that facilitates the human touch to ensure all content created is as engaging and performant as possible.