The growing use of artificial intelligence in workplace communications is making sender identity increasingly important as recipients become less certain whether professional-looking emails are genuine, according to new research from Exclaimer.
A nationally representative OnePoll survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found that 65% use AI in some aspect of their communications.
Meanwhile, 36% of respondents said they have questioned whether a message they received was genuine, and 14% said they do not trust emails sent by external companies at all.
The findings suggest AI-generated writing is changing the signals people use to determine whether business communications are authentic.
AI Moves Into Everyday Communication
AI tools are already being used for more than generating complete messages.
Twenty percent of respondents said they use AI to improve grammar and spelling, while 19% use the technology to make their writing appear more professional.
Sixteen percent said they use AI to sound more confident. Another 12% use it to soften difficult messages, 10% to avoid awkward conversations and 9% to conceal uncertainty.
As AI becomes capable of producing consistently professional language, writing quality alone may become a less reliable indicator of the person behind a message.
Recipients Look for Sender Information
The survey found recipients are relying on several identity signals when judging email credibility.
Forty percent identified full contact details as an important trust signal, while 35% pointed to a professional email address using a company domain. Thirty percent cited a clear sender name.
Professional branded email signatures were considered a trust signal by 23% of respondents, ahead of legal disclaimers at 17% and consistent formatting at 16%.
Exclaimer argues that these elements can help establish a consistent connection between digital communications and an identifiable person or organization.
Email Remains Important for Formal Communication
Despite the growth of workplace messaging and collaboration platforms, email remains a preferred channel for several types of important communication.
Thirty-five percent of respondents prefer email for employer updates, while 33% prefer it for formal complaints and 27% for healthcare information.
Email’s ability to provide a lasting record also remains important.
Forty-three percent said they choose email when they need information they can retain or reference later, while 33% have intentionally used email instead of another channel because they wanted a permanent record.
AI Raises New Governance Questions
The findings highlight another challenge organizations face as generative AI becomes embedded in everyday workflows.
Companies have traditionally focused email security on areas including domain protection, phishing prevention and authentication.
AI-generated communication adds another consideration: maintaining a consistent and verifiable sender identity even when machines increasingly help produce the content itself.
“The findings show that AI isn’t reducing the importance of trust in business communications but how people establish it,” said Laura Wilkinson, vice president of global marketing at Exclaimer.
As AI-assisted communication expands, centralized management of sender names, company information, contact details and branded signatures could become a more important part of enterprise communication governance.