Marketers warned over 'AI slop' as GenAI content soars

Marketers are risking a major consumer backlash by ploughing more and more of their budgets into generative AI-powered creator content – and even diverting spend from other disciplines – amid fears that the move could trigger a surge in “AI-slop”.

That is according to a new independent research by global creator-first social agency Billion Dollar Boy, which reveals four in five (79%) marketers have increased spend on GenAI content in the past 12 months despite the fact that just one in four (26%) consumers prefer it over “human” content – down from 60% in 2023.

Meanwhile, a further three quarters (77%) of marketers plan to divert a greater proportion of budgets from other marketing channels to GenAI-powered content in the next 12 months.

Three quarters (76%) of marketers also believe AI will increase total creator economy adspend next year, as part of an accelerating shift in industry budgets towards AI-powered creator marketing.

With 71% of US marketers and 52% of UK marketers now investing more than $1m annually in creator marketing, the research shows how AI has become an important and significant driver of growth for the creator economy and reveals the scale of budget reallocation across the wider advertising industry.

In fact, 81% of marketers agree that GenAI has made creator collaborations more cost-efficient.

Meanwhile, 73% of marketers and 78% of creators agree that content they have produced by integrating GenAI as part of the process performs better than that produced exclusively by humans and the vast majority of creators (84%) agree that generative AI has alleviated their workload.

In response to rising investment, 87% of creators have increased the use of AI in their content creation process in the past year; a further 86% plan to increase again in the next 12 months.

Increased adspend is providing an incentive for greater creator adoption, with 85% of creators saying AI has boosted their potential earnings.

Interestingly, many consumers continue to see the potential of AI to improve the quality (38%) and diversity (41%) of creator content, showing that they can appreciate when AI is used intentionally in the creative process and enhances originality, rather than replacing it.

Optimism for the technology’s future sustainability in the creator economy remains particularly high among younger audiences – with two in five (40%) consumers aged 25-34 preferring GenAI-powered creator content compared to traditional creator content.

However, simultaneously there has been a sharp increase in consumer scepticism, represented in a 44% drop in preference overall since Billion Dollar Boy originally conducted research in 2023.

What is more, in 2023 34% of consumers predicted AI would positively disrupt the creator economy compared to 18% who thought it would negatively disrupt it. In the period since, the proportion of consumers who feel the technology has been a positive and a negative disruptor is now at parity (31% and 32% respectively).

These swings correlate with the rise in low-effort, mass produced AI content, or AI ‘slop’, across consumer social media feeds.

Ultimately, consumers are not yet rejecting AI, but how it is often used. They respond when AI enhances creativity, but not when it is used to churn out repetitive, low-quality output.

Billion Dollar Boy chief innovation officer Thomas Walters said: “Our research shows consumers continue to recognise and appreciate the capacity of well-considered and integrated GenAI applications to improve the quality and diversity of creator content and a growing rejection of poorly produced content.

“When Billion Dollar Boy first researched AI’s potential in the creator economy 2023, the appearance of generative AI creator content present on platforms was obvious and novel. Fast forward to the present day, the novelty has worn off, and mass produced, unlabelled, and poorly conceived AI ‘slop’ is driving the negative sentiment we are seeing.

“Despite this swing, the creators surveyed are reporting an increase in performance of content they have produced utilising generative AI as part of the process. So it’s clear that there remains considerable consumer appetite and interest where it’s applied correctly.

“There is a huge opportunity for creators and marketers who apply GenAI creatively and strategically. As marketers pivot their AI strategies from test-and-learn pilots to long-term investment plays, the winners will be those who find the right balance between machine capability and human creativity and who champion quality over quantity.

“As we enter the next stage of AI’s growth in the creator economy, spend alone won’t guarantee success. Brands and creators must work with forward thinking experts to navigate them through a more challenging post-AI creator economy.”