AI has a trust problem, according to a new report from Comcast Advertising.
The company’s State of AI in Advertising report finds that just 30% of advertisers say they “trust AI to do advertising-related tasks for me.” Relatedly, 61% say they “haven’t seen meaningful results yet” from their use of AI.
(Note: the sample size is small, at just over 200 advertisers.)
Why This Matters:
Results and trust are inherently linked. If advertisers see “meaningful results” from AI-powered ad tools, trust should follow (theoretically!). Right now, Comcast’s data suggests there’s a disconnect.
The findings also pour some cold water on the surge of agentic adtech announcements we’ve been seeing. Innovation is moving quickly, which is great, but the industry is grappling with a learning curve and tools that aren’t very far along yet.
The good news here is that all of this feels relatively fixable with time and continued investment. Better tech, better results, and more trust. Or so we hope.
Experts React:
We shared the results with Sam Khoury, Chief Strategy Officer at Marketecture and here’s what he had to say:
“AI is fantastic for repetitive tasks and for work backed by deep, highly accurate historical data.
Forecasting can be useful too, but there’s still real value in experience and instinct that AI won’t fully replace.
That’s how I think about it: I trust self-driving cars, but I keep my hands near the wheel and my eyes on the road. If AI-powered media buying requires me to put on blindfolds and not see what’s actually being done, I’m not ready to trust it that blindly.”
Our Take:
None of this is bad news, per se. It’s more of a reality check.
Trust and AI are connected at the hip. For AI adoption to continue, advertisers need to see performance, and performance is what builds trust.
Trust will come from clear performance gains, transparency, and, ultimately, tools that make advertisers feel more in control, not less. Until then, a healthy amount of skepticism is probably a feature, not a bug.
