TL;DRCanva’s State of Marketing and AI Report 2026 finds that 97% of marketing leaders use AI daily and 99% plan to increase spending, but 78% of consumers still prefer human-made adverts and 87% say the best advertising requires a human touch. Mentions of “AI slop” have risen ninefold, and consumers want disclosure (52%), data protection (53%), and the ability to opt out (37%). The report was published alongside Canva’s expanded partnership with Anthropic, integrating its design engine into Claude for Small Business.
Nearly every marketer in the world is now using AI to make creative work. Nearly every consumer would still rather that a person had made it. That tension, between the industry’s enthusiasm and the public’s unease, is the central finding of Canva’s State of Marketing and AI report for 2026, and it suggests that the harder problem in AI-assisted marketing is not production. It is permission.
The numbers are stark on both sides. Ninety-seven per cent of marketing leaders surveyed say they use AI in their daily creative work. Ninety-nine per cent plan to increase their AI investment this year. But 78% of consumers say they would rather see adverts made by people, even if AI could produce better ones, and 87% believe the best advertising still requires a human touch. The report, based on surveys of 1,415 marketing leaders at organisations with 500 or more employees and 3,547 consumers across seven countries, captures an industry that has adopted a technology faster than its audience has learned to trust it.
