The Future of AI in Email: Are AI-Generated Emails More Likely to Go to Spam?

Recently, I had the chance to visit the Statue of Liberty during a trip to NYC. Our guide, Jay—or Jacinto, as he introduced himself to the Spanish-speaking members of the group—shared some fascinating details about the monument.  

More than just a national symbol, the Statue of Liberty represents ideals like freedom and friendship. It’s also a testament to an era defined by progress: the Industrial Revolution. During this time, new technologies emerged that reshaped every aspect of life, accelerating human advancement and transforming how we lived, worked, and interacted with the world around us. 

Reflecting on this moment in history, I can’t help but see a parallel with our current era of artificial intelligence. Just as the Industrial Revolution ushered in rapid, unprecedented changes, AI is poised to redefine the boundaries of what we can achieve, expanding our knowledge, transforming industries, and creating entirely new possibilities. 

AI in email marketing 

Just as the power loom revolutionized textile production, AI is transforming the way we create and send emails. AI has become a game-changer in email marketing, offering marketers tools that go beyond basic automation. 

Here are a few examples of how AI is changing email:

AI-powered content creation 

Marketers can’t get enough of AI. Recent Forbes Advisor research stated, “Nearly half (47 percent) of email marketers are integrating AI into their campaigns.” AI can now generate compelling subject lines, craft personalized content, and even build HTML for emails, making the entire process smoother and faster.  

In a recent blog post, 5 Ways AI Can Take Your Emails to the Next Level, I explored several creative ways that AI is enhancing email marketing, from improving audience engagement to optimizing email send times. 

Interconnected AI agents 

I shared some insights on these advancements during an ESPC (Email Sender and Provider Coalition) meeting, where my panel colleague, Roman Gun, VP of Product at Zeta, introduced the concept of interconnected AI agents. Imagine a network of specialized AI models, each trained to excel at a specific but highly specialized task, working together seamlessly—this approach could allow marketers to chain together different AI “experts” to handle everything from generating creative copy to analyzing engagement data with precision. By leveraging each AI’s unique strengths, marketers can achieve far more tailored and efficient workflows. 

Hyper-personalization 

But beyond efficiency, AI is also opening doors to a level of hyper-personalization we’ve never seen before. Mailmodo even called out that “marketers using AI for email personalization reported a 41 percent increase in revenue and a higher click-through rate of 13.44 percent.” 

Many email platforms embed advanced AI to help marketers analyze user behavior and engagement signals, allowing for dynamic audience segmentation and real-time content adaptation. Instead of the one-size-fits-all approach, marketers can tailor every aspect of the email based on an individual’s unique preferences and actions, which has become a valuable strategy for increasing engagement. 

These advancements bring new challenges as well. With the rise of AI-generated content, marketers worry that anti-spam filters might start targeting these messages specifically. Could well-crafted, AI-driven emails be flagged as spam simply because of their origin? It’s a question worth considering as we move further into this new era. 

Concerns about deliverability and filtering 

Just as industrial cities had to develop sanitation systems to manage waste, email marketers need to adopt strategies to ensure their AI-powered messages don’t end up as digital pollution in the spam folder. 

The deliverability challenge 

Providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo employ sophisticated spam filters to analyze content patterns, language style, and sender behavior. Their filters use machine learning to find patterns and repetitive structures, which means AI-generated emails could accidentally be flagged as spam if they aren’t carefully crafted. 

However, it’s important to note that these filters aren’t designed to target AI-generated emails specifically. They’re looking for signs of spam, regardless of how the email was created. If an AI used to create the email content uses a model that was trained on data that includes spam-like characteristics, it might unintentionally produce emails that trigger these filters more often. It’s similar to the lessons learned from the Twitter bot, Tay, which quickly adopted inappropriate behavior from its interactions—the output reflects the quality of the input. 

Just as the builders of the Statue of Liberty faced the challenge of shipping its parts in pieces and assembling them perfectly, marketers today are concerned that the efficiency of AI could come at the cost of deliverability. One wrong move in the process, and more messages might end up in spam.

So, you might be asking yourself: Could email providers actually be more likely to mark AI-generated content as spam? 

Evidence and best practices 

Recent studies and industry insights suggest that AI-generated emails can successfully reach inboxes and help improve engagement rates when they follow best practices. A study conducted with 450 participants found that AI-generated emails—designed with plain text, clear subject lines, and minimal formatting—consistently reached primary inboxes across Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.com, with zero percent flagged as spam.

Similarly, other research highlighted that well-crafted AI emails can drive higher engagement, achieving increased click-through and click-to-open rates than human generated ones. This suggests that AI can enhance user engagement when used strategically in email marketing.

There’s no evidence to suggest that AI-generated content is more likely to be marked as spam by filters or by recipients. Things like a bad sender reputation or not having your authentication in check are way more likely to land your emails in the spam folder.  

Ultimately, email deliverability is about much more than just the content, or whether it was AI-generated or not. Deliverability is the result of a well-managed, strategically executed email program that considers every factor, from sender reputation to engagement metrics and proper authentication protocols.

To ensure emails reach their intended audiences, marketers need visibility into all aspects of deliverability and the tools to make data-driven adjustments. 

Ensuring deliverability with Validity Everest 

While AI brings new tools and opportunities, ensuring emails consistently reach the inbox has always been—and continues to be—a top priority for marketers. 

This is where Validity Everest becomes a valuable resource.

As a tool, Everest offers insights and control over key aspects of deliverability, offering real-time insights on sender reputation, inbox placement, and engagement. With tools to monitor deliverability, optimize campaigns, and address issues early, Everest helps marketers keep their email programs strong, ensuring messages—AI-driven or not—reach inboxes and engage audiences effectively. 

For companies looking for extra guidance without starting from scratch, Everest’s Professional Services provides support to help identify areas for improvement, analyze relevant data, and offer recommendations.  

To wrap things up 

As we enter a new era shaped by AI, it’s clear to me that this technology is here to stay, transforming email marketing by driving efficiency and expanding the possibilities for knowledge. Just as the steam engine powered factories and enabled mass production during the Industrial Revolution, AI now powers our marketing efforts, allowing us to create and personalize content at an unprecedented scale.

For even more expert insights on the use of AI in email marketing, watch our on-demand webinar: Putting the “Art” in Artificial Intelligence: How to Leverage AI in Email Marketing.

Disclaimer: Some of the insights in this post were drafted with a dash of AI assistance. Proof that AI isn’t just for sending emails—it’s here to help write about them too!