The proliferation of AI-generated content has eroded consumer trust to a new low. People increasingly assume that what they see is not real, creating a significant hurdle for authentic brands that must now work harder than ever to prove their genuineness and cut through the skepticism.

Users are dissatisfied with purely AI-generated creative outputs like interior design, calling it "slop." This creates an opportunity for platforms that blend AI's efficiency with a human's taste and curation, for which consumers are willing to pay a premium.

While businesses are rapidly adopting AI for content creation and communication, Gen Z consumers have a strong aversion to anything that feels artificial or inauthentic. If this demographic can detect AI-generated content in sales or marketing, they are likely to ignore it, posing a significant challenge for brands targeting them.

Receiving a detailed, complimentary email is flattering until you realize it was AI-generated. The perceived value of the communication drops because the effort, a key component of the gesture, is missing. The thought is appreciated, but it's not the same as a personally crafted message.

OnlyFans deliberately bans fully AI-generated accounts to protect its human creators' ability to monetize. CEO Keily Blair bets that as AI-generated "slop" proliferates online, users will increasingly crave and pay more for authentic, human-produced content and the genuine connection it provides.

The debate over using AI avatars, like Databox CEO Peter Caputa's, isn't just about authenticity. It's forcing creators and brands to decide where human connection adds tangible value. As AI-generated content becomes commoditized, authentic human delivery will be positioned as a premium, high-value feature, creating a new market segmentation.

Sam Altman argues that even a superhuman AI host would likely not be more popular than a human one. Our deep, biological obsession with other people—their stories, flaws, and shared experiences—ensures that being a "real person" will increase in value in a world of unlimited AI content.

As AI makes creating complex visuals trivial, audiences will become skeptical of content like surrealist photos or polished B-roll. They will increasingly assume it is AI-generated rather than the result of human skill, leading to lower trust and engagement.

Even when AI performs tasks like chess at a superhuman level, humans still gravitate towards watching other imperfect humans compete. This suggests our engagement stems from fallibility, surprise, and the shared experience of making mistakes—qualities that perfectly optimized AI lacks, limiting its cultural replacement of human performance.