53 Percent of Consumers Do Not Trust AI-Generated Social Content — Authenticity Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

More than half of consumers — 53 percent — do not trust AI-generated content on social media, according to research released ahead of the Retail Technology Show 2026 in London. The finding comes as brands pour resources into AI content creation, and 50 percent of shoppers report noticing low-quality "AI slop" in brand campaigns over the past six months.

The survey, which polled more than 1,000 shoppers, was published by RTIH on April 10 ahead of the April 22-23 event at London ExCel, where brand founder and digital broadcaster Grace Beverley is confirmed as a headline speaker. A separate Klaviyo study cited in the same report produced the "AI slop" figure, and the combined picture is unflattering for brands that have leaned hard on generative content tools over the past year.

The Paradox: AI Adoption Up, Trust Down

Consumer behavior and consumer sentiment are moving in opposite directions. Acosta Group research from December 2025 found that 70 percent of shoppers have used AI tools somewhere in their shopping journey, and Adobe's Holiday Shopping Report measured a 758 percent year-over-year increase in AI-driven e-commerce traffic between November 1 and December 1, 2025. Shoppers are using AI. They do not trust what brands make with it.

The RTIH research puts hard numbers on that gap. Fifty-three percent distrust AI-generated social content. Fifty-one percent agree AI risks eroding brand trust on social platforms. The skepticism is sharpest among Gen Z — the cohort that grew up with these tools — where 58 percent distrust AI content, above the overall average. This is not technophobia. It is the generation most fluent in the technology recognizing its limitations first.

Authenticity as Currency

The flip side of the distrust data is where the opportunity sits. Forty-three percent of consumers say the rise of AI has made authentic, human-led content more important when they browse or buy on social channels. For Gen Z, that figure climbs to 62 percent. And human-created social content is still driving real-world purchase behavior: 46 percent of shoppers say they are more likely to engage with or buy from a brand in person after seeing its social content, rising to 69 percent among Gen Z and 68 percent among Millennials.

The dynamic is counterintuitive. As AI floods social feeds with polished, low-effort content, genuine human-created content stands out more, not less. Influencer fatigue that peaked in 2023 is quietly reversing — mediocre human content now feels more trustworthy by comparison with machine output. Authenticity signals that cost nothing to add a year ago, like a named author or a visible editorial voice, are becoming economically valuable.

What This Means for Brands and Platforms

Brands using AI to generate social content at scale are saving production costs but paying for it in trust. Half of shoppers already notice "AI slop" — and once they notice, the brand association is damaged. The winning strategy in 2026 is not AI content versus human content. It is AI for production efficiency plus human editorial voice and authenticity signals on top. For comparison platforms that publish shopping guidance, independent editorial voice becomes more valuable as AI-generated content becomes more ubiquitous.

Mubboo's Take

This research confirms something we have felt in our own content strategy. When every brand can generate polished social content with AI, the content that stands out is the content with a real point of view — specific recommendations, honest anti-recommendations, and the willingness to say "skip this one." Across our shopping coverage on mubboo.com and our Australian shopping guides, every article is written by a named editor with verifiable experience, not generated by AI without human judgment. We use AI tools extensively for research and production efficiency, but every recommendation carries a human editorial signature. In a world where 53 percent of consumers already distrust AI-generated content, that distinction is not just a principle — it is a competitive advantage.