As a copywriter, this is a question I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. AI feels incessant and unavoidable, both in how we discuss marketing and how we do it. AI has, for better or worse, already changed how we work. On a personal level, I can research, write and revise faster than ever. The work I produce now needs to be well-received by people, search engines and AI agents. In an industry hell-bent on doing the most with the least, AI fits right in.
I suppose the real question on my mind is this: If we’re getting things done faster, is it possible to be doing them better?
Sort of, but also not really. It’s complicated.
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AI is like a constant partner I can always collaborate with. I still apply the strategy, tone and overall creative work a project needs. AI just helps me get there faster.
On one hand, I don’t flex my creative muscles in the same way I did before generative AI. I imagine many marketers agree. I lean on AI to help me get started, work through ideas and polish paragraphs. That help is real and useful, but it also means I do less of the heavy mental lift required to overcome writer’s block, find a breakthrough in a brainstorm session or figure out the right turn of phrase.
Still, I certainly don’t hand over the reins to AI. Instead, AI is like a constant partner I can always collaborate with. I still apply the strategy, tone and overall creative work a project needs. AI just helps me get there faster.
AI Only Works Well If You Do
I often see people equate AI to using a calculator to solve a math problem. Honestly, I think that’s an accurate comparison—just maybe for a different reason than most people.
Think back to elementary school, when you first started learning math. You didn’t start with a calculator; you had to work on problems by hand, step by step, showing your work. Teachers didn’t let students use calculators until they had the basics down.
A calculator helps you get an answer a lot faster…when you understand the problem. If you don’t know what you’re doing, especially with a complex problem, a calculator won’t save you. If your inputs are wrong, your answer will be too.
The same is true for AI and writing, in a sense. If you haven’t done the work to figure out your message, tone or perspective, no amount of AI is going to make up for that. We still need the struggle that comes with creative and critical thinking to deliver writing worth reading.
Processes Change, But Purpose Remains
I was a copywriter before ChatGPT and other AI tools became part of the process. Before AI, starting down a blank page was just part of the job. I’d jot down ideas, delete them and try again until something finally took shape, one word at a time.
That’s still technically the job, but how I get there looks a little different. And to be honest, I’m not sure copywriters and other marketers have much of a choice in the matter.
AI is already integrated into the tools we use every day. While it certainly makes things happen faster, it doesn’t automatically mean the work is better. Anyone can open up an AI writing tool and ask for a blog post, web page or social caption. But will AI-generated content sound like you or resonate with your audience on its own? Almost certainly not.
Think With It, Not Instead of It
For me, AI is like a personal sounding board. I feed it key information about a project’s scope, intended message and voice. I also weave in thoughts that need sorting out or even pop in a paragraph that needs editing with instructions on how to do so. Sometimes what AI returns is totally wrong (despite receiving detailed directions). Other times, it’s pretty good. Either way, it keeps a project moving along.
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Using AI isn’t about avoiding the work or cutting corners, but rather directing your energy toward the parts of the process that require your best.
What I think is most important is refraining from treating what AI “writes” like a first and final draft. If you take what AI gives you at face value and run with it, especially when you put little effort into a prompt, chances are high you’ll end up with something flat, generic or even factually incorrect.
When you do the thinking, using everything you know about a client and their challenges, and treat AI as a way to jumpstart a concept or work out kinks rather than provide a finished product, it helps you work faster without sacrificing quality. Using AI isn’t about avoiding the work or cutting corners, but rather directing your energy toward the parts of the process that require your best.
You can’t expect AI to do all the hard work for you. But using it as a tool to sharpen ideas, spark inspiration and refine a final product is just pragmatic in today’s marketing landscape.
