A new Gallup and Bentley University survey of 3,270 U.S. adults found that 79% saw an ad they believed was AI-generated in the past 30 days, and 49% view businesses using AI to make ads negatively, compared with just 19% who see it positively. The gap matters most for small businesses and marketers leaning on AI tools to cut ad production time and cost.
What the Survey Found
Bentley University and Gallup ran the study between May 4 and May 11, 2026, surveying 3,270 U.S. adults through Gallup's probability-based panel, with a margin of error of about 2.4 percentage points. The topline numbers split people almost evenly into three camps: 49% negative, 32% neutral, 19% positive.
The breakdown by use case is the more useful part of the data. 75% of respondents said they're fine with AI helping employees brainstorm or draft ad copy, as long as it's disclosed. That acceptance drops to 53% when AI creates the final text, image, or video outright with no human pass. And 62% call it unacceptable when an ad uses an AI-generated synthetic person or voice to deliver the pitch.
Age and politics both shape the reaction. Adults 18-29 report the most negative views at 66%, ahead of 30-44 year-olds at 51%, then 60+ at 46%, and 45-59 the least negative at 38%. Democrats report more negative views (59%) than Republicans (36%), with independents in between at 49%. None of these groups is close to a majority feeling good about it.
What It Means for Your Ads
The lesson isn't to stop using AI. 97% of marketing leaders already use AI daily in their creative work, according to a separate Epsilon benchmark study released the same month, and that number isn't going backward. The real lesson is that disclosure and where AI sits in the process matter more than whether it's used at all.
The gap between 75% acceptance for AI-assisted drafting and 53% acceptance for fully AI-made final creative is the number worth remembering here. Customers are largely fine with AI doing the grunt work behind the scenes: research, first drafts, targeting, optimization. They get uneasy when the finished ad, especially one with a synthetic face or voice reading a script, looks like nobody real actually made it or stands behind it.
This is exactly the line platforms like KenjiAI (kenjiai.com) are built around: use AI to handle the heavy lifting of ad production and targeting while keeping a real offer, a real voice, and a real business behind what the customer actually sees and hears. Businesses that treat AI as a production shortcut sitting behind a genuine offer tend to hold up fine against this kind of skepticism. Businesses that let AI write and voice the entire pitch with nothing real behind it are exactly what this survey says a majority of people already distrust.
What To Watch
Meta's My Ad Center already rolled out a "How this ad was made" panel that tells users when creative was made or modified with AI, a first real step toward the disclosure this survey suggests people actually want. Expect Google and TikTok to ship something similar within a few quarters, since the generational and political split in these numbers means the pressure for transparency isn't fading on its own.
For now, the practical move is simple. If AI wrote your first draft or handled your targeting, that's fine and mostly invisible to the customer, and the data backs that up. If AI is the only thing behind the finished ad, with no real product, offer, or person standing behind it, that's the exact setup this survey says a majority of Americans already distrust. Disclose where it's warranted, keep a real person's judgment on the final pass, and the AI-skepticism numbers stop being a problem for your ads specifically.
Published by the Media Traffics | KenjiAI team. kenjiai.com
