---
type: source
title: "Exclusive: Enthusiasm for AI-generated creator content is plummeting"
author: "eMarketer"
url: https://www.emarketer.com/content/exclusive--ai-slop-threat-creator-economy
date: 2026-02-01
domain: entertainment
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: processed
processed_by: clay
processed_date: 2026-04-09
priority: high
tags: [ai-content, consumer-trust, authenticity, creator-economy, post-ai, transparency, disclosure]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

eMarketer exclusive data on consumer attitudes toward AI-generated creator content:

**Core finding:** Consumer enthusiasm for AI-generated creator content dropped from **60% in 2023** to **26% in 2025** — a 34-point decline in two years.

**The "AI slop" terminology:** Feeds are now described by consumers as overflowing with "uninspired, repetitive, and unlabeled" AI content. The "AI slop" term has entered mainstream consumer vocabulary.

**Demographic nuance:** Younger consumers remain more open — 40% of 25-34 year olds prefer AI-enhanced content. But overall trust and excitement are cooling across all demographics.

**Disclosure concern:** 52% of consumers concerned about brands posting AI-generated content without disclosure. The disclosure issue is not just ethical — it's becoming a trust and brand-safety concern for brands.

**"Post-AI economy" framing (from Billion Dollar Boy):** "The end of AI's honeymoon phase in creator marketing and the start of a 'post-AI' economy, where success depends on transparency, intent, and creative quality."

**Brand implication:** "The takeaway isn't to spend less on AI — it's to use it better. Creators and brands that use AI to augment originality rather than replace it will retain audience trust."

**Context:** eMarketer is the leading digital advertising research firm. This is proprietary data, not public survey. High credibility.

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** Hard quantitative data on the consumer enthusiasm collapse for AI content. This moves the "authenticity premium" thesis from structural prediction to measured consumer behavior. 60% → 26% is a massive swing in consumer preference in two years, and it maps precisely to the timeline of AI content floods beginning (2023-2024).
**What surprised me:** The "post-AI economy" framing is forward-looking and implies that AI tools themselves will survive but that the NOVELTY premium has fully eroded. This is a maturation dynamic: AI content is no longer exciting, just expected. The differentiation now has to come from HOW you use AI, not WHETHER you use it.
**What I expected but didn't find:** Data comparing community-backed AI content vs. non-community AI content. The eMarketer data lumps all AI content together, but the more important question is: does community-backed creator + AI assistance retain trust, while pure AI-only content loses trust?
**KB connections:** [[community ownership accelerates growth through aligned evangelism not passive holding]], [[the media attractor state is community-filtered IP with AI-collapsed production costs where content becomes a loss leader for the scarce complements of fandom community and ownership]]
**Extraction hints:** Claim candidate: "Consumer enthusiasm for AI-generated creator content collapsed from 60% in 2023 to 26% in 2025, establishing a 'post-AI honeymoon' economy where transparency and creative quality determine trust, not AI use itself." This is a precise, dateable, quantified claim.
**Context:** eMarketer is the go-to source for digital advertising data. This is their exclusive proprietary data, which means it's behind their paywall and not widely quoted. The 60% → 26% figure is citation-worthy.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[community ownership accelerates growth through aligned evangelism not passive holding]]
WHY ARCHIVED: Hard quantitative evidence that the AI content novelty premium has fully collapsed (60% → 26% enthusiasm in two years). This is the consumer-side evidence for why community trust is becoming the scarce economic resource: audiences have already filtered out AI novelty and now specifically seek authenticity/transparency.
EXTRACTION HINT: The core claim is the 60%→26% decline + the "post-AI economy" thesis. Extract: "Consumer enthusiasm for AI-generated content collapsed 34 points in two years, ending AI's novelty premium and establishing authenticity/transparency as the primary creator trust signal." This is a dateable, quantified claim with a clear mechanism.
