Observed Signal · May 15, 2026 · Study Release · Source: https://martechseries.com/feed/ · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Canva Report: Marketers Embrace AI, Consumers Worry
Canva released the third edition of “The State of Marketing and AI,” a study conducted with The Harris Poll that surveyed 1,415 marketing leaders and 3,547 consumers across seven countries. The report finds near-universal marketer adoption of AI for creative work (97% use AI daily) and almost all plan to raise AI budgets in 2026 (99%). At the same time, consumers express mistrust and discomfort with AI-generated ads — 70% say such ads are “missing their soul,” 87% say the best advertising still needs a human touch, and 74% would feel more comfortable if formal policies governed AI use. The study highlights time savings and organizational impact from AI (89% save ≥4 hours/week) while warning of risks like generic, emotionally flat “AI slop.” Canva emphasizes governance, creative judgment, and intentional integration as priorities as AI scales in marketing.
The report documents near-universal AI adoption in marketing and quantifies a consumer trust gap; this has practical implications for creative workflows, governance, brand differentiation, and MarTech investment decisions across the industry.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Canva published the third iteration of “The State of Marketing and AI” report.
- The study surveyed 1,415 marketing leaders and 3,547 consumers across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and India.
- 97% of marketing leaders use AI in everyday creative work and 99% plan to increase AI budgets in 2026.
- 70% of consumers say AI-generated ads are “missing their soul” and 87% say the best advertising still requires a human touch.
- 41% of marketing leaders view AI as a “director” and 39% view it as a “collaborator”; 89% report saving at least 4 hours per week using AI.
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Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Canva report: Consumers want useful AI ads, value humans
Canva's 2026 State of Marketing and AI report, conducted with The Harris Poll, finds consumers accept AI in advertising when it increases relevance or usefulness but still prefer human-made ads. The survey of 1,415 marketing leaders and 3,547 consumers across seven countries shows 68% of consumers do not mind AI in ads if it improves helpfulness, while 78% would rather see ads made by people and 87% believe advertising still needs a human touch. Marketing leaders report near-universal AI use in creative work (97%) and nearly all plan to increase AI investment in 2026 (99%). The study highlights a trust gap—consumers describe low-quality generative output as “AI slop”—and signals demand for disclosure and formal organisational policies on AI-generated advertising.
Consumers Want AI Ads with a Human Touch
A Canva report, highlighted by MarTech, finds consumers are ambivalent about AI-generated marketing: they value relevance and helpful personalization but react negatively to content that feels robotic, emotionally empty, or invasive. Major findings include that 70% of respondents can spot AI-generated ads, 74% are more likely to buy from ads they believe were created entirely by humans, and 87% say the best advertising still needs a human touch. Consumers accept AI when it improves usefulness (68%), but demand data protection (53%), disclosure of AI use (52%), and an opt-out option (37%). Younger cohorts are more tolerant of AI polish if humans remain involved.
Marketers Trust AI to Buy Media, Not Build Brands
Marketing leaders are increasingly using AI to automate programmatic media buying, bidding and creative iteration, but remain cautious about letting AI define brand meaning, voice or core creative strategy. Executives from agencies and brands — including Motto, Ally Bank, Duluth and Mondelez — say AI is valuable for efficiency and scale (bidding, brainstorming, asset scaling) but that human oversight is required for brand insight and messaging. Consumer research cited (Canva’s 2026 report) shows mixed sentiment: many shoppers accept AI-driven relevance but a larger share prefer human-made ads. Platform vendors such as Google and Canva have released AI marketing tools, yet adoption for full creative ownership remains limited across marketers.
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