The internet has a new insult. “AI slop” — the term audiences now use for generic, formulaic content churned out by brands leaning too hard on AI — is rapidly becoming 2026’s defining marketing problem. Recent research shows 52% of consumers reduce their engagement when they suspect content is AI-generated.
Here’s what’s worth noting: the backlash isn’t anti-AI. It’s anti-anonymous. People don’t object to AI working quietly in the background. What they reject is content that could belong to any brand, anywhere — because it essentially does.
For businesses, this is a prompt (pun intended) to think harder about brand voice. When every competitor sounds the same, the organisations that invest in a distinctive, credible identity — one rooted in real expertise and a clear point of view — have something no AI tool can replicate at pace.
We’ve been helping businesses find and express that identity for over 40 years. The brief has never really changed: be clear about who you are, say something worth listening to, and say it in a way that’s unmistakably yours.
Curious — are you noticing AI fatigue in the content you’re reading? Or does your own brand still sound like you?
Find out how RHDC approaches brand identity and communications at rhdc.co.
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