Artificial Intelligence Videos: Data from 2,008 consumers showing generational receptivity

Action Box: Improve your landing pages

In addition to creating videos, AI can help with your landing pages. For example, go to MeclabsAI – it’s totally FREE to use (for now) – choose the Conversion Pro expert, and paste in this prompt:

Could you please scan the content on this page and suggest improvements?

[URL here]

(Meclabs is MarketingSherpa’s parent organization)

Idomoo and Atomik Research shared exclusive, never-before-published data with MarketingSherpa about what different age groups feel about artificial intelligence. I also interviewed both teams, and reached out to marketers and entrepreneurs in different generations to get some personal perspectives as well.

The research team defined these generations as:

• Generation Z – 18 to 27 years old
• Millennial (also known as Generation Y) – 28 to 43 years old
• Generation X – 44 to 59 years old
• Baby Boomers – 60 to 78 years old
• The Silent Generation – 79 years old and older

Here’s a visual look at the data, along with some insights from your marketers and entrepeneurs and the research teams. I included the data tables at the very bottom of the article if you want a closer look at the numbers.

65% of American and British consumers interested in receiving AI videos from brands

Chart #1: How interested are you in receiving AI videos from brands?

Millennials lead in AI interest

Respondents were given four options:

• I’m very interested in receiving AI videos from brands
• I’m open to receiving AI videos from brands
• I’m indifferent to receiving AI videos from brands
• I don’t want to receive AI videos from brands

In the above chart, the first two options were also grouped into the ‘more interested’ field and the second two options grouped into the 'less interested' field.

It's somewhat surprising to see Millennials (78% ‘more interested’) leading over Gen Z (76% ‘more interested’), countering the expectation that the youngest, most tech-native generation would be the most enthusiastic about emerging technologies. Also, 38% of Millennials said ‘I’m very interested in receiving AI videos from brands’ versus 32% of Gen Z.

The margin of error is +/-2 percentage points with a confidence level of 95% so this doesn’t mean Millennials are necessarily significantly more interested, but even a tie raises an eyebrow. Keep in mind the oldest Millennial is 43 and the youngest Gen Zer is 18. So a Millennial could have had a 20+ years in their college and professional career before ChatGPT came out, while a Gen Zer could have had AI through half their time in high school or college or at the start of their career.

For marketers, what should make your ears perk up about this discovery is that Millennials have greater purchasing power than Gen Z. If AI isn’t just a toy for the youngest adults, it opens up your campaign options to a bigger audience.

Regardless of who was most interested, the two youngest demographics both showed high levels of interest. “I expect brands to adopt AI video as an integral part of their content strategy much more rapidly than with other media, like legacy video for example. The reason for this is that not only are their most desired audiences craving it, but the technology itself makes it easy to generate quality, usable content at scale,” said Yotam Ben Ami, CMO, Idomoo.

And that ease of video creation in general, along with the accessibility of advanced functionality like personalization, is why marketers and entrepreneurs should be glad to hear about Millennials’ (and other generations’) interest.

"In my experience, videos that incorporate AI technologies not only streamline the production process but also enhance the customization and relevance of the content, leading to higher engagement rates,” said Ronak Kothari, Owner, Ronkot Design, LLC, a member of Generation X.

AI not universally appealing

At MarketingSherpa, we never try to hype only one side of an issue. And in this case, you can’t assume that every younger person embraces AI, even though detractors are in the minority. ‘I’m indifferent to receiving AI videos from brands’ was chosen by 13% of Gen Z respondents. “AI is unable to create an emotional appeal in an ad or message because AI is unable to process and comprehend the complexity of human emotions,” said Jonathan Simpson, Owner, 427 Digital, a member of Gen Z.

Some in Gen Z are even less convinced – ‘I don’t want to receive AI videos from brands’ was chosen by 11% of respondents. “I’ve grown up surrounded by technology, but what I crave most is the soul behind the brand. AI video feels relatively soulless because it was cooked up by an algorithm. It’s not as funny, creative, or heartfelt as real creators,” said Brooke Webber, Head of Marketing, Ninja Patches, a member of Gen Z.

Some in Gen X were skeptical as well, with 15% responding ‘I’m indifferent to receiving AI videos from brands.’ Some of that apathy may be conditional – there are certain cases where artificial intelligence videos would be fine, but others where they could be misleading.

“I’ve had rental businesses share AI videos of their spaces with me and I find it hard to partner with any of these brands. As far as I’m concerned, AI videos are simulations of a space – they aren’t true depictions of anything. In my industry, it’s crucial that I can vet the true conditions of the listings published on my site,” said David Ciccarelli, Founder & CEO, Lake, which lists rental properties. He is a member of Gen X.

Baby Boomers and Silent Generation curiosity despite resistance

While 38% of Baby Boomers and 57% of the Silent Generation indicate they ‘don’t want to receive AI videos,’ there’s a noteworthy 42% of Boomers and 27% of the Silent Generation that are ‘more interested,’ suggesting an underrecognized openness to new technology among older demographics.

Might initial resistance among older American and British consumers be overcome with increased familiarity and understanding?

70% of American and British consumer want to know if a brand video was created with AI tools

Chart #2: If you received a video from a brand, would you want to know if it was created with AI tools?

Across generations consumers value transparency

Counter to the assumption younger people may be indifferent to the use of AI, 77% of Gen Z and 72% of Millennials want to know if a video is AI-generated.

"I would like to know when AI will be used. AI is still so new that brands don’t know how to proceed, but full transparency is the best way forward,” advised Michael Nemeroff, Cofounder & CEO, RushOrderTees, who describes himself as an elder Millennial.

This high demand for transparency spans all groups, with 71% of Gen X and even 57% of the Silent Generation preferring to be informed, highlighting an overarching desire for honesty in AI content creation across all ages.

"Knowing if a video is AI-generated impacts the trust factor and adds depth to my understanding of the brand's approach to innovation, engagement, and consumer respect,” said Robert P. Dickey, President, AQ Marketing, Inc., a member of Generation X. “We focus on building trust through transparency, especially when deploying new technologies. We've integrated AI-driven video content in campaigns to enhance hyper-targeting and personalization, which positively affected engagement and conversion rates.”

Much like data collection and ad personalization, it could help to show the value of this new technology to your customers. “Perhaps brands should provide consumers with the reasons why they leverage AI tools to create content. If brands were to be more transparent about the benefits of AI videos, such as having the ability to create more personalized content that is relevant to individual consumers or to ensure that consumers aren’t receiving irrelevant communication, then consumers would feel more comfortable receiving AI-generated content,” said Chandler Worley, Director of Insights & Analytics, Atomik Research.

Older generations care less about AI transparency

While 23% of Gen Z doesn’t care about knowing if a brand’s video was created using AI tools, larger portions of older demographics – 36% of Boomers and 43% of The Silent Generation – answered ‘no.’ “If the message and visuals are clear and engaging, I don't care,” said Besty Kent, President, Be Visible, a Baby Boomer.

So what’s a marketer to do?

AI-created videos have clear value to marketers and entrepreneurs. For one, you can create videos less expensively. “We see clients who spend millions of dollars and hundreds of work hours on producing relatively straightforward video ads. AI video can do that work in minutes and at a fraction of the cost,” Ben Ami said.

But if you stop at cost, you aren’t really getting the most value out of artificial intelligence. AI videos can also help you better understand and serve your customers. “This will allow brands to adopt a more agile approach to video production, based more on testing many content variants and replicating the winners than on trying to predict which content will work ahead of time,” Ben Ami told me.

And if you stop at cost, you also aren’t practicing customer-first marketing, which can damage your brand and, really, the entire industry. Think of any new technology. It can be used to better serve customers, or it can be used to add more crap into their world, to annoy and disturb them. Email and text were great communication mechanisms, and then along came spam or even legitimate messages from brands that were low quality and annoying. Social media was a fun way to connect (at first), but thanks to bots it can be a bit of a cesspool.

Which brings us to a key role marketers have had to embrace this century with the explosion of technological advances. A role that will become ever more important with the growth of AI – helping their brands navigate waters that are murky and treacherous, yet filled with opportunity and treasure.

“My role as a marketing leader in a startup is tricky – I have to balance between limited budget and resources, with ambitious goals (and the never-changing high expectations and standards from marketing…right?). That said, my time resource is scarce and must be entirely optimized. If AI is used to concise content and create better entertaining visuals – well, that’s always good. However, if AI is used as it is at this point, i.e. creating robot content that’s hard to listen to, that won’t work,” said Sivan Michaeli-Roimi, VP of Marketing, Pynt, a Millennial.

Related resources

AI Video Content Creation: High earners, millennials, and Americans are most interested in AI video generators

AI Customer Simulations: A Marketing Revolution!

Artificial Intelligence Demo: A look at the output from an AI-powered podcast assistant service

1. How interested are you in receiving AI videos from brands?

2. If you received a video from a brand, would you want to know if it was created with AI tools?