By Dr Ahmed Shaalan, Professor Finola Kerrigan and Professor Scott McCabe
Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham
AI is unquestionably transforming the landscape of marketing and corporate communications, but its downsides are also becoming increasingly evident.
Ethical and trust considerations emerged as key themes at the Corporate and Marketing Communications Conference 2025 (CMC 2025), which drew academics, practitioners and policymakers from more than 15 countries to the University of Birmingham in April 2025 to discuss trends, challenges and opportunities for AI in corporate and marketing communications.
Speakers highlighted AI’s positive contributions to our rapidly evolving digital world, including more tailored communications, better customer engagement and strong brand-building. Professor Margherita Pagani, celebrated its potential as an enabler of creativity, a catalyst for innovative storytelling and a route to hyper-personalised brand experiences and new forms of virtual engagement.
Fusing AI with human creativity opens doors to significant benefits like immersive storytelling, metaverse engagement and dynamic consumer journeys. Marketers who master these tools will set new standards for engagement and brand loyalty, as well as boosting competitive advantage and optimising workflows.
But the conference also heard evidence that ignoring the “dark side” of AI poses significant risks to firms, potentially alienating the very people they are trying to reach. As consumers become increasingly aware of AI’s role in content curation and personalisation, maintaining trust is a particularly significant challenge.
The conference heard striking evidence from China about the risks of consumer resistance and scepticism in digital markets. Other research has highlighted the particularly high chance of an erosion of trust among older consumers, raising interesting questions about the need for marketers to understand and address generational differences in consumer responses to the use of AI.
Dr Imran Farooq, offering a practitioner’s perspective on the competitive advantages offered by generative AI, also stressed the need to navigate AI’s ethical, privacy and transparency challenges.
Professor Sarah Montano, in her critical reflection on AI’s social impact in retail and community contexts, encouraged the community to think beyond efficiency and productivity, questioning the broader effects of AI adoption on customers, communities and ethical values in marketing. She urged new thinking to put people before profits, calling for an inclusive, ethical AI agenda that leaves no one behind.
As the conference heard, the ethical issues around AI take several forms. There are ongoing tensions between personalisation and privacy, alongside significant risks of bias, misinformation and ethical lapses as AI tools automate and optimise communication. Other concerns include manipulation and over-targeting, as well as consumer scepticism.
How to mitigate harm and use AI for good
Firms can, of course, already make their own choices about how to design and operate their AI systems, and what ethical and privacy safeguards to build in. Brands can and should communicate openly about their AI use and demonstrate a commitment to authenticity and consumer well-being.
However, the concerns highlighted at CMC 2025 also suggest an urgent need for action at country and international level in the form of robust regulatory frameworks, clear data governance and ethical guidelines.
Universities can play their part too, for example by ensuring they equip students for the ethical dilemmas posed by AI alongside focusing on technical skills and their practical application. Ethical literacy and empathy should be a core skill of future professionals, as central to their work as the technical, practical and creative considerations.
Going forward, ethical organisations can also go beyond purely managing privacy and transparency concerns and actively use AI for social good, not just commercial gain. This might include responsible AI usage in crisis communication and sustainability campaigns (e.g. pro-environmental integrated marketing communications frameworks and AI-driven nudges for fast fashion).
The possibility of proactively using AI for good rather than just mitigating its harms also opens the door to future research and practice.
AI is no longer just a tool: it is a strategic imperative that is reshaping the very nature of communication, creativity and corporate responsibility. As marketing and corporate communications move into this AI-augmented era, our greatest opportunities lie in fostering responsible innovation, protecting trust and working collaboratively to ensure that technology serves both organisations and society at large.
We look forward to seeing how the ideas and collaborations sparked at CMC 2025 will inspire the future of AI in corporate and marketing communications. Let’s continue to innovate responsibly, question deeply and work together to shape a more creative, ethical and inclusive future.
To all our contributors and attendees who provided such rich contributions on AI’s challenges, benefits and possibilities, thank you for your research, your passion and your vision. Sincere thanks also to our scientific committee, sponsors (Chartered Institute of Marketing and Worshipful Company of Marketers), editorial panels, session chairs and the event management team.
Let’s continue the conversation, see you at CMC 2026!
The CMC 2025 Abstract book can be viewed and/or downloaded by clicking here.
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- Read more about Professor Finola Kerrigan
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Birmingham.