Marketers urged to take lead on AI trust as youth focus intensifies

A new white paper has called for Australia to develop a coordinated national AI strategy, arguing marketers are on the frontline of shaping how young people experience artificial intelligence.

The report, AI and the Next Generation: A National Wake-Up Call, was released by the Australian Centre for AI in Marketing (ACAM) and the Abel Foundation following a youth AI think tank hosted at Thinkerbell in Sydney. It draws on research by McCrindle showing only one in three Australians trust AI, while nine in ten believe the country should take a lead on international AI governance.

With marketers among the first to deploy AI in consumer-facing experiences, from personalised campaigns to AI-generated content, the paper said the industry plays a critical role in establishing trust.

“AI has the power to unleash great opportunity, but only if we ensure the right guardrails are in place,” Louise Cummins, ACAM co-founder and co-author of the paper, said. “As an industry that brings AI into people’s lives daily, marketing has a responsibility to design for good.”

The paper argues that mishandling AI risks reputational damage and long-term erosion of consumer trust, but also presents an opportunity for marketers to model ethical leadership by demonstrating how technology can be used responsibly. It recommends stronger transparency laws, more support for parents and families, AI ethics and literacy embedded into school curricula, youth employment pathways in the AI economy, and a national institute to test and assess high-risk systems.

Thinkerbell’s head of art and AI, Marcus Byrne, said the creative industry had a unique role to play. “AI is already part of how stories are told, how brands are built and how culture is shaped,” he said. “That gives the marketing and creative sector a responsibility to show what good looks like.”

The Future Generations Youth AI Think Tank included participants from academia, not-for-profit, education and the creative sector, including YouTube educator Eddie Woo and UNSW’s Professor Joel Pearson.