An advertising company is challenging consumers to pick their AI-generated ad out of a lineup, and so far, participants aren’t up to the task.

The COOL Company is an advertising platform that offers customers fully AI-powered ad campaigns, from creation to activation and insights. To prove that their ads hold up against human-made work, the company launched an online challenge pitting their own AI-generated ads against real ad photography, testing participants on if they could tell real from fake.

In its study of more than 500 consumers, only 17% of participants could correctly identify the AI-generated imagery, meaning 83% were fooled by COOL’s ads.

At first, that stat looks damning, but it doesn’t tell the full story. Participants weren’t deciding between just two or three ads, but between 10, meaning there were nine incorrect options and only one correct answer.

Take the challenge

Want to see if you’re able to spot the AI-generated ad out of a lineup? The COOL AI Challenge is live on the company’s website.

If you’re feeling confident, you’re not alone. Half of participants in COOL’s study reported feeling confident they could identify AI-generated advertising, though their confidence fell after completing the challenge.

Shifting tides around AI ads

For its study, COOL also surveyed participants on their attitudes toward AI usage in advertising. Those responses showed that consumers cared more about an ad’s content than how it was made, with 73% of respondents saying an ad’s relevance is more important than if it was made by a human or by AI.

Consumers also sounded off on how a brand’s AI usage in advertising would impact their trust in that company. Nearly half of respondents (40%) still said that knowing an ad was created by AI would lower their trust in a brand, while another 40% said it would have no impact on their trust. The remaining 20% said a brand using AI in its advertising would actually increase their trust in that company. 

Additionally, nearly three out of four respondents (73%) believe that AI-generated advertising is already indistinguishable from human-made creative, or that it will be within a year.

Zack Dugow, the founder and CEO of The COOL Company, said in a press release that the challenge’s results reflect a cultural shift around AI use in marketing.

“As AI becomes more mainstream, the question is no longer what AI can create—it’s what value it can deliver,” Dugow said. “The opportunity is to use intelligence across creative, media, and measurement to make advertising work better for consumers and drive the ultimate performance for marketers.”