New data released by Borrell Associates shows that while the use of artificial intelligence is becoming more acceptable in the marketing workflow, local retail advertisers are drawing a hard line regarding what they expect to pay for it. The data highlights rising client concerns surrounding accuracy, proper disclosure, and the practice of charging human labor rates for machine-generated work.
While audio quality is no longer the primary hurdle, the data points to transparency as the main issue. A recent blind-listening study has confirmed that more than half of radio listeners cannot reliably distinguish an artificial intelligence voice from a professional human read. However, once listeners are informed that a voice is machine-generated, their trust in the content drops significantly.
For commercial radio sales managers and digital directors, this data serves as a clear warning. Advertisers are seemingly open to the efficiency of artificial intelligence in ad creation, but they demand price transparency and expect the cost savings of automated production to be passed down. Failing to disclose the use of artificial intelligence, or billing clients standard creative rates for automated output, poses a direct risk to client trust and long-term retention.
Source: Borrell Associates