Evangelicals, nondenominational Christians, and people who identify as nonreligious are the main religious groups with the majority of Americans opposed to the proliferation of artificial intelligence-generated videos on social media, according to a new study that surprised researchers.
The study, “Americans' Views on AI-Generated Video on Social Media,” was released Wednesday by independent production and distribution company Story Radius. This is based on a survey of 512 US adults using SurveyMonkey's proprietary audience panel. This audience panel is drawn from a large and diverse population of respondents who double-opted to participate in the research study in exchange for incentives. The survey was conducted from November 24th to December 9th.
Many respondents said the rise of AI-generated videos on social media is actively undermining trust, emotional engagement, and the desire to stay on major platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
“These findings suggest we face not just a technology gap, but a trust gap,” Story Radius founder and CEO Brad Cooper said in a news release. “AI video may be technologically advanced, but emotionally and experientially, most viewers say we’re not there yet and are often actively turning it off.”
More than 8 in 10 survey respondents said that AI-generated videos take them out of the story at least sometimes, including nearly half of respondents who said this happens very often or almost always. Nearly 50% also warned that they would reduce their use of social media or stop using it altogether if they found out that most videos in their feed were generated by AI.
“Companies such as Meta, Alphabet, ByteDance, and xAI should take note. Respondents noted that a significant increase in AI-generated videos could negatively impact their use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube,” the researchers warned in the report.
The researchers found that 58% of evangelical and nondenominational Christians surveyed reported that AI videos were derogatory, followed by 57% of Protestants and 52% of respondents who said they were not religious.
“It was somewhat surprising that these diverse groups, who are usually at odds on social issues, appeared to be aligned in opposing a future of AI-generated video content,” the report said.
“In open-ended responses, respondents most often expressed concerns about loss of authenticity, emotional manipulation, and human creativity. Rather than focusing on technical quality, many described what it feels like to watch an AI-generated video and how that affects authenticity and immersion,” it added.
“Even when a video is visually striking, respondents often describe a creepy quality that takes them out of the story. Many say this reaction is immediate and emotional, rather than analytical, making continued engagement difficult.”
By comparison, 15% of respondents from other religions, 35% of Orthodox Christians, and 40% of Catholics said they criticized AI videos.
The report states that there is strong support for using AI as an assistive tool, but not as a replacement for human creativity.
“Respondents generally distinguish between AI as an assistive tool and AI as a substitute for human creativity. While limited uses such as background visuals and technical assistance are sometimes considered acceptable, AI-generated acting, scripting, and emotional storytelling are widely rejected,” the report states.
“What's surprising is that this isn't just resistance from older viewers or technophobes,” Cooper added. “Skepticism crosses generations, including Gen Z, with even many of the most receptive viewers saying AI video still disconnects them from the story.”
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