Artificial intelligence is driving a profound transformation, with its impact already felt across many industries. For professionals in the business world, especially marketers who dedicate themselves to producing original content that fosters genuine human connection, AI can feel both disruptive and uncertain. However, this relationship doesn’t have to be adversarial.
The Collaborator
Although AI still falls short in its ability to fully grasp context, it has evolved beyond being a purely mechanical or experimental tool. Today, it can serve as a valuable aid in content creation—provided its limitations are understood.
In marketing, the objective is to craft content that is clever, informative and, at times, deeply emotional—content that conveys transparency and empathy. These qualities remain uniquely human and cannot be replicated by algorithms, which is why the human element will always be essential in marketing.
AI’s role is best viewed as that of a supportive partner: it can analyze patterns, identify trends, and suggest possible directions. However, it cannot create the kind of narrative that fosters the critical human connection between a brand and its audience.
A Good Mix
Many experts ruminate about the “future of marketing,” and the discourse is quite varied, but a common theme among them is that the future is less about choosing a side than it is choosing how you’ll find a mix between the human and AI elements involved in building the brand image, promoting products and services and simply building content meant to engage with the target audience and strengthen relationships.
It might look something like this: AI is used to unlock new possibilities and humans will use their judgment to shape the messages into engaging content.
Avoiding the McMansion Syndrome
Will all content begin to look the same across brands? That’s the likely result of overreliance on AI, and you’re probably already seeing it in everything from website designs to ads to blog posts. Branding becomes generic. Ideas are too similar from one brand to the next and the messages they relay are embarrassingly forgettable.
Perhaps Google is ultimately doing brands a favor by lowering the rankings of AI-generated content. By prioritizing the human element and focusing on originality rather than flooding the internet with automated material, brands are rewarded with stronger visibility and higher search rankings.
At SJC, Marketing, we understand the power of AI, but our focus has always been on content created by humans for humans. With a staff of highly creative individuals who know how to help brands connect consumers, let us help you engage more effectively with your valued audience– contact us today!