From influencers to AI, here’s what Gen Alpha thinks about your brand

For creators, the useful part is how much weight these teens put on who fronts a brand. One panelist told the Shoptalk audience, Digiday reports, that if she doesn't trust a brand's representative, she won't trust the brand. AI-made ads were a "huge turnoff" across the panel.

That doesn't surprise me. People simply don't like AI content. It's inhuman; it's dead behind the eyes. Until AI gets so good we can't tell, it's always going to be on the back foot. So the approach has to be human first, creator first: AI tools that boost the creator, not ones that replace them. Then it becomes a symbiotic relationship, and humans get leveled up. I think that's what's showing here.

It was five teenagers on a conference stage, not a survey. Still, if your audience skews young, keep AI visuals out of sponsored work, pitch brands on how closely you match their buyers, and vet your partners: panelists said they look into labor practices and controversies, and a bad sponsor can rub off on you.