Everyone at Cannes is talking about AI — but CivicScience CEO and founder John Dick says the industry is missing its most important stakeholder: the consumer. Drawing on survey data, Dick argues AI may be among the most unpopular technologies ever introduced to the public, with the average person “somewhere between skeptical and terrified.” While ad tech insiders celebrate productivity gains, widespread fears about jobs, the economy, and energy costs drown out any positive narrative.
Dick joins AdExchanger Managing Editor Allison Schiff to explore what that consumer backlash means for marketers, why first-party data is now “a thousand times more important” than it was five years ago, and why he believes AI’s disruption of the performance funnel will push brand-to-performance spend ratios from 85/15 closer to 50/50.
