The Real Reason AI Copy Is Killing Your Marketing
Yes, this is another article warning you of the dangers of using AI in your marketing but, let me be clear from the start, I’m not anti-AI.
In fact, AI copy is usually fine.
And that’s the problem.
‘Fine’ doesn't build brands or generate significant revenue.
AI predicts the next most likely word and defaults to the statistical average of the entire internet, which means standard, corporate-beige (boring) words. When your copy blends in, ‘fine’ becomes invisible.
We’re not stopping our scroll to read content that’s just ‘fine’, and we’re certainly not parting with our money to buy something if the marketing message is forgettable.
What is your free, done-in-seconds, AI marketing copy lacking? The most powerful ingredient in high-converting copy: emotion.
Anyone that watched the BBC’s hit show Ann Droid will recall how AI without human emotion can backfire! When Michael buys his widowed mum a care robot called Linda, it executes every instruction to the letter. Mechanically, Linda is faultless. But, because she lacks genuine human emotion, her attempts to help often hinder - whether that’s telling children a terrifying apocalyptic story during a camping trip or helping Michael write an ‘original’ open mic song that turns out to be Daniel Powter's Bad Day.
Linda does exactly what she was programmed to do but, without emotional intelligence, the result is completely off the mark.
AI-generated copy works the same way. It can list features and summarise benefits, but this is just informational – our buying decisions are usually driven by emotion and justified with logic later.
When a potential customer reads your website, opens your email, or sees your social media post, they aren't looking for a corporate summary of your services. They’re looking for connection, validation, and a sense that you truly understand their reality.
Putting AI to the test
Brands like Oatly and Aldi have absolutely nailed their corner of the market by being funny, tongue-in-cheek, and recognisably human. AI can’t mimic that, can it?
Well, as ironic as this may be, I tested it out with ChatGPT!
How the humans in Aldi’s social media team wrote it:
Which one would you instantly recognise as an Aldi post? And do you think ChatGPT’s version would have generated 5.3K positive reactions and 516 comments??
Not a chance! Because ChatGPT doesn’t understand what Aldi’s audience cares about.
You might be thinking, ‘but it’s all in the prompts – you didn’t brief it on the tone of voice!’.
Ok, so I gave it a second chance:
And a third chance:
Still beige. Still just… not as good!
How to better use AI
There’s no need to banish AI as a marketing tool. It’s brilliant at doing the leg work if you need to pull data (although, do fact check anything you use!) and I’m not afraid to tell you that I use it for brainstorming sometimes – it’s great if you’re staring at a blank page and need some inspiration on where to start.
But, it should only be the start – YOU (or a professional copywriter 😉 👋) need to put the meat on the bones if you want it to connect with your audience.
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