'No AI' is the new message brands are leaning into to woo disgruntled customers

Artificial intelligence has been a popular topic of late.

From AI's role in skyrocketing electricity prices to the prevalence of so-called "AI slop" across the internet, the technology has experienced widespread pushback in recent months. 

Now, some brands are trying to capitalize on anti-AI sentiment in an effort to appeal to consumers.

"We commit: No AI-generated bodies or people," asserted Aerie, a maker of intimate apparel, in an ad campaign, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Market research has revealed that, as a result of generative AI, many people have begun questioning the authenticity of what they see online. 

According to Gartner, a research firm, more than two-thirds of consumers routinely wonder whether the content they view is real. Additionally, Gartner found that half of the people surveyed preferred supporting companies that do not use generative AI in their marketing, per the Journal. 

Some brands have seen such AI skepticism as an opportunity to assert their own authenticity.

"Our DNA is about realness, about not changing a person, you know, not erasing stretch marks," Stacey McCormick, the chief marketing officer for Aerie, told the Journal.

Beyond marketing, however, the prevalence of AI-generated images and videos has forced people to reconsider how they determine what is real when it comes to all kinds of content, including current events. 

In addition to pushing back on what they perceive to be AI content, many users routinely mistake real content as being produced by AI. 

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"There's never been a moment where consumers are more aware of how marketing works," said Rachel Karten, who writes a newsletter about social media, per the Journal. "What's even scarier than the skepticism around actual AI is that a lot of people are assuming real stuff is AI."

While AI has the potential to reap positive benefits, such as by helping to develop new medicines, many people wonder whether the technology's pros outweigh its cons. 

For example, as the energy-hungry data centers that power AI models have proliferated, the electricity bills of ratepayers across the United States have spiked. Similarly, communities have raised concerns about the massive amounts of water that data centers use, fearing it could lead to drinking-water shortages.

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