Human-Centric Messaging in the AI Adoption Era
Corporate Reputation25 Mar, 2026
Against a backdrop of mixed public sentiment on AI, a number of companies are beginning to reframe their core product experiences around innately human elements. Just this year, we have seen a series of campaigns rolled out across financial services, media, apparel and consumer services.
And, given the way these companies span various market sectors, it is likely we will see more companies follow suit.
Though companies have their own motivations, it appears clear from RepTrak data why this is happening. What might be more important, though, is how to diagnose whether these efforts begin changing reputation, both at the company-level and more globally, and when, based on that data, you may want to act on this trend, as well.
A tension in the data: AI is both accepted and questioned
As we’ve previously covered here, RepTrak’s latest Current Events data shows that public sentiment toward AI is no longer neutral: It is becoming defined, and in two directions at once.
On one hand, perceived benefits are increasing. Agreement that AI “makes life easier” rose by +5%, alongside gains in perceptions that it improves customer service and business efficiency .
On the other hand, concern remains both high and persistent: Approximately 60% of respondents agree AI needs more regulation, while around 45% express concerns about job loss and privacy. Notably, agreement that AI has a negative impact on society also increased (+3%), driven not by rising fear alone, but by fewer people sitting on the fence.
This combination, growing benefit recognition alongside sustained concern, creates a clear tension. AI is increasingly experienced and valued, but it is not yet fully trusted.
How, then, are comms leaders working to swing sentiment to the positives?
How brands are responding to this tension
A number of companies are beginning to address this question by emphasizing the human elements of their products and services while simultaneously talking about AI/digital investments in improving other aspects of the business.
Across categories, this is taking different forms:
In media, iHeartRadio launched “Guaranteed Human” at CES, a new market position that highlights human voices and trusted personalities as a counterbalance to algorithm-driven content, emphasizing familiarity and credibility. It is a B2B play, working to persuade advertisers that their properties are a premium because of the human element.
In apparel and lifestyle, Deckers Brand-owned UGGs relaunched a viral product (the “Fluff Yeah” slides) that leaned into an “anti-AI” narrative around how its campaign assets were created.
In consumer services, Target-owned Shipt launched an ad campaign called “No Order is Ordinary.” The first ad spot emphasizes human connection and the personal stories behind everyday grocery items..
In financial services, TD Bank launched its “More Human” platform with a Super Bowl commercial, positioning itself as a "people-centered, digital-first" bank.
While these approaches differ, they share a common objective: reinforcing elements such as trust, authenticity, and human relevance at a time when AI is expanding rapidly.
These strategies align closely with what stakeholders are signaling in the data. And attitudes about AI aren’t the only place to look for clues of shifting opinions.
How this tension shows up in reputation drivers
Looking at RepTrak driver weights over time provides additional context for how stakeholders are processing this shift.
Since October 2022, just before the release of ChatGPT:
Conduct has declined from 16.3% to 15.9%, the largest sustained drop
Citizenship has increased from 14.3% to ~15.2%, before stabilizing. It has been weighted at an elevated level since the month after ChatGPT launched
Innovation has peaked at 13.5%, but returned to ~13.0%
Products & Services has remained consistently dominant at ~19–20%
These movements are incremental rather than structural. No driver has dramatically reordered the model. However, they do point to subtle shifts in emphasis.
The decline in Conduct suggests a reduced relative importance compared to other drivers, even as expectations around ethics, transparency, and fairness remain high. This is reinforced by Current Events data, where stakeholders consistently rank listening (45%), openness about actions (44%), and clear communication (39%) as the most important corporate communication qualities.
At the same time, the continued dominance of Products & Services reflects the fact that AI is primarily experienced through products. But the rise in Citizenship aligns with growing attention to the broader societal impact of technology, particularly around regulation, jobs, and privacy.
Companies are beginning to respond to these changes with the types of campaigns mentioned above.
While this may seem like a return to what some referred to as “woke” marketing, this is different. Earlier approaches emphasized what companies stood for, often through external messaging and social positioning. Today, companies are embedding human relevance directly into product and service experiences.
This creates a form of ‘driver convergence,’ where Products & Services and Citizenship are experienced together. In RepTrak data, this may not result in a significant increase in Citizenship weight, but rather a strengthening of Products & Services and emotional connection metrics, reflecting that stakeholders are evaluating impact through experience rather than as a standalone attribute.
Where to look for change in the data
At this point, it seems as though companies leaning into human experience are out ahead of a potential shift in driver weights. But you likely won’t see a meaningful shift there first.
Instead, RepTrak customers can find answers sooner by looking at the following in Compass:
1. Emotional connection and behavior
The first place this trend is likely to appear is in emotional connection and behavioral intent. Because reputation is built through a think–feel–do framework , changes in perception often show up first in how people feel about a company and what they are willing to do as a result.
In Compass, these signals sit within:
Reputation Score components (trust, admiration, esteem, good feeling)
Business Outcomes (recommend, say positive, buy, etc.)
When reviewing, look at trends over time and compare your emotional metrics to driver scores. Look for early movement in feel and behavioral intent, even if drivers are remaining stable.
2. Driver scores and factor-level perceptions
A second layer of insight comes from looking within the drivers themselves. Even when overall driver scores appear stable, the underlying factors can shift in meaningful ways.
In Compass, this requires going beyond the headline driver scores and examining the factor-level detail. For example, within Conduct, perceptions of transparency or ethical behavior may improve without materially changing the overall Conduct score. Similarly, within Products & Services, perceptions of “meeting needs” or “standing behind products” may move in ways that reflect a more human or experience-led interpretation of quality.
In Compass, this sits within:
Driver scores (0–100)
Factor-level detail within each driver
When reviewing, look for selective movement within drivers, not uniform shifts. (For example, Conduct may be flat overall, but “Is open and transparent” may increase.) You’re looking to see if factors related to “human-centic” strategies are moving.
3. Structural shifts in weights
Only over longer periods would changes be expected to appear in driver weights themselves. The data since 2022 shows that even in the context of rapid AI adoption, shifts at this level remain modest and incremental.
That said, those shifts are real and fairly persistent. Citizenship has been weighted at an elevated level since the month after ChatGPT launched.
Stakeholders, it appears, are signaling expectations for more human-centered behaviors, including listening, transparency, and clarity, in how companies communicate and operate.
That does not mean they want to see a rejection of AI, however. And that complicates matters for comms leaders.
RepTrak data shows that while this tension has not yet fundamentally reshaped the structure of reputation drivers, it is clearly visible in stakeholder expectations and perceptions. The question is not whether AI will matter. It already does. The question is how companies balance technological capability with human relevance in the eyes of stakeholders. Some have already started.
