AI-made products are multiplying on marketplaces, but buyers still prefer the human touch

Consumers have started to tire of the "AI slop" — low-quality, mass-generated artificial content — on online marketplaces, and companies are already feeling it. About a year ago the 3D-model marketplace CGTrader let designers sell AI-generated products alongside models drawn by hand. The site lists more than two million 3D models, the basic building blocks used by architects, video producers, game designers and other creatives.

But CGTrader's experience shows that more AI products in the catalogue does not guarantee the technology will catch on — and it vividly illustrates why buyers still prefer the human-made option. According to the company's latest report, although one in every six models uploaded to the platform is AI-generated, those products accounted for just $1 of every $90 in total revenue — a mere 2.6% of sales.

"AI is filling the catalogue fast, but buyers are in no rush to pay for it," the report says. Based on sales data from June 2025 to May 2026, it also found that only 5% of CGTrader customers tried an AI model and were satisfied, while 20% tried one and judged the product not good enough.

CGTrader chief executive Dalia Lasaite is blunt about why the company's customers are turning away from AI offerings: they do not dislike AI — they simply value what a human has offered more, because a human, put plainly, creates a higher-quality product. "When they shop on a marketplace, buyers are genuinely looking for high quality. And in the end, at least for now, they tend to favour human-made 3D models," Lasaite told Fortune.

As AI adoption grows, consumer attitudes toward the technology — especially its use in creative fields — are becoming increasingly conflicted. In a 2025 Stanford University study, participants given access to an online marketplace stocked with both AI- and human-made products systematically favoured the human work, a result that lines up directly with CGTrader's real-world market data.