Luminate published survey findings on 24 July 2026 examining how audiences in the United States respond to generative AI in the content they consume. The argument behind it is simple: business decisions about AI are not insulated from public opinion, so producers and executives need a read on what viewers and listeners will accept.
The work draws on Luminate's US Entertainment 365 survey and covers both people's own use of generative AI tools and their reaction to specific uses of it in making songs, films and television shows.
The overall picture is wary rather than hostile. Consumers came out more cautious than willing when asked about engaging with AI-assisted content, and a meaningful share were simply ambivalent about whether AI had been used at all.
Views held roughly steady across media types, with two edges. People were most opposed to reading news written with generative AI. They were least opposed to playing a video game containing AI assets, where 40 percent said AI-made characters, environments or dialogue left them neither more nor less interested, against about a third who were ambivalent about other media.
Age is where the survey gets interesting. Net interest, meaning those more interested minus those less interested, is deeply negative among people 55 and over across films, television, music, social media and video games. The 13 to 17 cohort is net positive across all of them.
The sharpest divide is inside the young end. Luminate found 58-point gaps between the 13 to 17 and 18 to 24 groups on AI-scripted films and television and on AI-generated social media content, with older Gen Z, millennials and Gen X hovering near breakeven. The company's conclusion is that treating Gen Z as a single bloc on AI is a mistake.
That sits alongside the finding in Luminate's 2026 midyear report that musicians are considerably warmer on the tools than their audiences are. The company has separately found that most people want AI use disclosed and proposed a framework for tracking AI-generated music.
The facts
- Luminate published the findings on 24 July 2026
- The data comes from its US Entertainment 365 survey
- Consumers were more wary than willing about AI-assisted content
- People were most opposed to news written with generative AI
- 40 percent were ambivalent about AI assets in video games
- Audiences aged 55 and over were the most negative across every medium
- The 13 to 17 cohort was net positive across all media types
- A 58-point gap separated 13 to 17 from 18 to 24 on AI-scripted film and TV
How this checks out
Confirmed
Reported by a single outlet
An official or primary source backs this, and other outlets have carried it.
Cited sources 1
Every outlet that reported this, linked to what it published. Equal credits, in alphabetical order.