There is a growing paradox in cybersecurity today. According to the Thales 2025 Consumer Digital Trust Index report, 32% of consumers trust brands more when they use AI. And yet AI-driven mechanisms like deepfakes and misinformation continue to fuel distrust in the public arena. 

While the ink has yet to dry on many AI regulations in progress, there is a way to capitalize on its perceived value as a “trust contributor” if it is used strategically.

Consumers Losing Trust in Digital Entities

Per the Thales report, nearly one in five (19%) consumers were notified of a breach of their personal information this past year. Trust in all sectors dropped across the board, apart from Government (which stayed stagnant), and 63% felt that too much responsibility was put on the end user for protecting their own information.

Consumers are beginning to feel their information is unsafe, that today’s organizations are increasingly unfit to handle it, and that these organizations should do more to ensure the security of their data instead of requiring users to own the initiative. According to the same research, investing in new and sophisticated technologies could do a lot to make users feel safer. 

The Rising Faith in AI as a Protection Mechanism

 When asked whether the use of Generative AI would make them trust a brand more with their data, over 32% said yes. The same question was asked of non-generative AI, with a similar response; 33% responded in the affirmative. In both cases, approximately 40% remained ambivalent.

Of the roughly one-third that aligned increased AI usage with greater digital trust, 12-13% indicated that its usage (whether GenAI or not) would make them trust that brand “much more” with their sensitive assets. In India, AI-based trust rates were as high as 67%, followed by the UAE (54%), Brazil (44%), and Mexico and Singapore (38% each).

As consumers become increasingly educated about the force-multiplying abilities of artificial intelligence, it stands to reason that they would anticipate that a similar AI offensive was needed to combat such threats at scale. Nearly two-thirds (64%) responded that an organization’s use of advanced and emerging technologies (like GenAI) would have a definite impact on their confidence in its ability to protect sensitive data.

Improving Trust with AI

When it comes to the strategic use of AI as an enabler of trust, there are several powerful ways in which digital brands can capitalize on its vast capabilities. 

• AI-powered Fraud Detection: Threat actors use real bits of stolen information to create Synthetic Identities used to commit lending fraud, and increasingly convincing deepfakes are being utilized in advanced phishing attacks. AI-powered fraud detection engines leverage machine learning techniques and a sophisticated combination of neural networks, noise detection, and spatial frequency analysis to detect AI-bots impersonating humans in biometric authentication checks.
•  AI-powered Authentication: When logging into a corporate network, each user displays their own behavioral norms. With an AI-based authentication tool, the details of that authentication request can be scrutinized to a level unattainable before, with data points like time of day, IP address, and geography being vetted to see if they match the users’ typical behavioral patterns.
• AI-powered Cybersecurity: Artificial intelligence is being used to power increased detection of threats (often AI-generated bot attacks) and to force-multiply the capabilities of overwhelmed SOCs. AI-augmented threat detection and pattern recognition contribute to not only earlier identification of threats but better, more comprehensive defensive strategies. 

Besides artificial intelligence and generative AI, other advanced solutions that garnered increased levels of consumer trust included passwordless authentication, passkeys, two-factor authentication, biometrics, and principles of digital sovereignty (or processing data in the country in which it was created). The implementation of MFA, in particular, was seen as “very important” by half of the survey respondents.

Users may not entirely understand AI in all its applications, but they understand that attackers are using it to breach sensitive data. Knowing that a brand uses artificial intelligence to counter today’s latest, most advanced threats gives consumers confidence that the personal information they share with an organization will be protected by the best of today’s security assets. AI in authentication, in particular, represents the next frontier in defending against AI-crafted identity attacks, at a time when 90% of all organizations have already suffered an identity-based attack in the past year. 

Showcasing AI Prowess to Consumers

Today’s consumers understand the prescient threat AI brings to nearly any online interaction. Understanding, at least in part, how powerful its capabilities can be, they feel uncertain when brands they trust are unable to wield AI in similarly powerful ways. Using artificial intelligence in authentication interactions, cybersecurity processes, and more shows consumers that in the digital race against today’s cybercriminals, your organization will not be left behind.