The Bentley University-Gallup 2026 Business in Society Survey asked American adults how they feel about businesses using AI to make advertising, and split the answer by age. The headline is that Gen Z, the generation marketers assume is most at ease with AI, is the most hostile to it in ads: 66 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds view businesses' use of AI in ad creation negatively, against 51 per cent of 30 to 44-year-olds, 38 per cent of 45 to 59-year-olds and 46 per cent of those 60 and over.
What Gen Z will and won't accept
Synthetic people are the line. 73 per cent of adult Gen Zers say it is unacceptable for a business to use AI to create people or voices in ads.
Finished creative is next. 60 per cent say it is unacceptable to produce an ad's final text, image or video with AI.
Ideation is tolerated. Only 31 per cent object to brands using AI to brainstorm or draft early versions, the one use a majority accepts, though Gen Z still disapproves of it more than any older group.
The mood behind the numbers is shifting too. Pew Research reported in August that, for the first time, a majority of US adults under 30 (55 per cent) are more concerned than excited about AI, and 73 per cent expect it to mean fewer jobs, up from 61 per cent in 2024. The industry's own read is no more comfortable: the IAB and Sonata Insights found 82 per cent of ad executives believe young consumers feel positive about AI-generated ads, while 45 per cent of those consumers actually do, a 37-point gap that widened from 32 points in 2024.
Our read
The generation that grew up on synthetic feeds is the one that can spot the seams, and it treats a synthetic person in an ad as a small lie. The practical line for a brand is the one Gen Z draws itself: AI behind the scenes, in research, planning, optimisation and first drafts, is fine; AI in the face and the voice of the ad is not, and if it is used it should be disclosed before someone else discloses it for you. For agencies selling AI-produced creative on cost, the number to put in the deck is 60 per cent, not the production saving.
Source
Bentley University-Gallup, 2026 Business in Society Survey: Americans aren't sold on businesses using AI in advertising. Reported by eMarketer, 19 August 2026. IAB and Sonata Insights, The AI Ad Gap Widens, 2026.
