What do we owe our customers, our staff and our audiences when machines do more of the work?
The technology debate in marketing is moving quickly from “can it” to “should it”. Consumers have already started answering.
A September 2026 industry survey found more than half of consumers, 54%, say they trust a brand less when they can tell its marketing was produced by AI. Gartner research cited by Klaviyo found about half of US consumers would prefer to deal with brands that avoid generative AI in customer-facing content. The IAB found only 45% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers feel positive about AI-generated ads, while 89% of advertisers using generative AI for ads say they disclose at least sometimes. The pattern is consistent: people accept the tool but resent being kept in the dark, and they punish perceived deception. Product.ai found that undisclosed paid placement in AI assistants lowered trust for 50.4% of shoppers, against 39.8% when it was labelled as sponsored. A Clutch survey found 75% of regular AI assistant users would trust answers less if they contained ads.
The workforce question. The Financial Times figure of a nearly 15% fall in creative agency headcount is a global number. Jamaica has no equivalent measure, and the local picture is visible only in company filings: administrative expenses down 7.7% at The Lab, and separation and restructuring costs inside Radio Jamaica’s one-off charges. These are not AI-attributed figures, but they are the human side of a market under pressure. An industry that wants to adopt AI responsibly has to decide what it will do for the juniors who used to learn the craft by doing the work the machines now do.
The data question. Jamaica’s Data Protection Act applies to anyone who processes personal data about people in Jamaica, and it restricts transfers of data abroad unless adequate protection exists. That matters when a campaign team pastes customer lists into a foreign AI tool. A Gleaner commentary this September pointed practitioners towards data protection impact assessments before deploying AI systems. Government has been equally clear on principle: its AI task force has been told that human oversight cannot be handed to a machine.
The credibility opportunity. There is a business case inside the ethical one. If an AI answer is trusted far more when it cites a trusted publisher, then credible local journalism and honest creator content become raw material for the machines. In April, Mr Matalon argued that a country awash in misinformation needs strong, trusted media more than ever. The commercial question is whether trusted Jamaican publishers can be paid for that trust, through licensing, partnerships or premium placement, rather than simply being mined for it.
At Caribbean Peer Awards AI Day: Question 4, the human question, is a conversation about disclosure, jobs and responsibility. Delegates will leave with a clearer view of what their own organisation should promise its customers and its staff.
Part 4 | The Human Question
Sidebar: Caribbean Peer Awards AI Day, Question 4. Consumers accept AI but punish brands that hide it. What should your organisation disclose, automate or refuse to automate? Join the conversation at AI Day on 17 February. Early rates end 29 January
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