Is AI Helping or Hurting Your Brand? How to Know Where to Draw the Line

AI is more than just a buzzword, it’s everywhere. From our smartphones to our cars and even refrigerators, AI is being used in more ways than ever before. But as AI becomes further integrated into our lives, more people have expressed their concerns about artificial intelligence, asking, “How much AI is too much?”  

I don’t have a cut-and-dry answer for anyone today, but I do have some suggestions.  

According to the Pew Research Center, 64% of Americans believe that AI will cause fewer jobs in the United States, and 43% believe that AI will harm them personally. These are staggering numbers, especially considering how prevalent AI already is. To further illustrate this point, I’ve found some recent examples of AI stealing the spotlight for somewhat unsavory reasons.  

The Decline of Duolingo  

The company praised for its masterful social media strategy earlier this year has seen significant backlash after Duolingo’s CEO announced that they were going “AI-First.” Their TikTok, which was once flooded with comments from brands and consumers celebrating Duo’s zany sense of humor, suddenly filled with comments scorning Duolingo for replacing their contract workers with technology.  

After deleting every TikTok they posted in the last few years and going radio silent for multiple days, Duolingo updated their profile picture and bio, and uploaded a video vowing to expose “the truth.” A few weeks later, the team posted an interview with Duolingo’s CEO explaining the decision. Neither of these posts have been well received, and it’s safe to say that the Duolingo social media team is going to need to do some serious damage control after shattering their consumers’ trust.  

Conning Celebrities 

It’s safe to say that Jamie Lee Curtis joined the 43% of Americans who think AI will hurt them after her likeness was used in an AI ad for a dental product that she’d never used before. The ad wasn’t taken down until after Curtis posted on Instagram, calling out Mark Zuckerberg and prompting him to take down the advertisement. The AI ad is down now, but it is concerning (while unsurprising) that it took publicly shaming Meta’s CEO to get a misleading and possibly illegal advertisement off the app. 

Jamie Lee Curtis isn’t even the first victim of AI deepfakes, as celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, and Taylor Swift have also had their likenesses stolen for personal and monetary gain.  

Farming for AI Slop  

Another example of unfavorable AI usage comes from Jesse Cunningham, an “AI Slop Farmer” who makes a lot of money from uploading AI generated content (about 80 posts per day) to Facebook and Pinterest. Cunningham admits to targeting older women, who generally have a harder time telling the difference between AI and real photos, because they’re “likely to share everything.” All his social posts link back to a blog, which is entirely AI-generated from the posts to the “person” running it.  

This is a tricky situation, because what he’s doing isn’t illegal, nor is it necessarily harming the consumers of his AI posts. These posts are competing with small businesses and blogs that rely on social media visibility to survive, however, and many of these creators can’t keep up with Cunningham’s 80-posts-a-day quota. These businesses are struggling because of AI, contributing to the 64% of Americans who believe that AI is going to eliminate jobs.  

So What?  

It’s clear that alienating your customers, stealing other people’s images, and trying to trick old people on the internet are not good for business (unless you’re okay being labeled an AI slop farmer), and don’t exactly make you an upstanding citizen.   

These examples all contribute to the larger point of being intentional and mindful about AI use. Using ChatGPT to make goofy images to send to friends or coworkers is different from running a fully AI-generated blog, but it’s a slippery slope. You might just be making memes for now, but when does that turn into Chat authoring all your content? Before you know it, you could lose the authenticity of your content—and your audience will notice.  

With consumers so unsure about AI, it’s critical to pay attention to those sentiments, and to the advancement of technology overall. Just because there aren’t many official AI laws or regulations yet doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be. It only means that, for the time being, you are responsible for drawing that line for your brand. AI won’t always feel like the Wild West, and it’s important to set boundaries for yourself and your company now, before getting into hot water later.  

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About the Author

Cady Wolf is an Analyst at BSM Partners. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in English from Brigham Young University-Idaho, and she currently lives in Rexburg, Idaho with her husband, their two cats, and pet tortoise. She loves animals and learning about how to help pet brands and pet parents alike.