Put Down the Robot: Why Real Writing Still Matters
Let’s be honest. AI-generated content is having a moment. Everyone from interns to CEOs has at some point typed, “Write me a blog about synergy in the logistics sector,” and watched in awe as a passable (if slightly soulless) essay appears in seconds. Handy? Absolutely. Harmless? Not quite.
The danger isn’t that AI writes badly. The danger is that it writes just well enough for people to stop noticing the difference.
But here’s the thing: readers do notice. They may not point at your brand’s latest article and cry, “This was clearly written by a silicon brain with no emotional intelligence,” but they’ll feel the flatness. The lack of nuance. The suspicious absence of joy, wit, or cultural relevance. AI can produce competent copy. What it can’t do—yet—is connect.
Brands thrive on tone, personality, and empathy. On knowing when to use a wink instead of a nudge. To pull on those heartstrings but avoid the saccarine rush and inevitable crash that follows. On understanding why something is funny, or poignant, or quietly powerful in a way that resonates with actual human beings. Machines don’t live in the real world. They don’t get irony. They don’t get cringe. They don’t understand why Coca Cola hits different at Christmas.
There’s also the small matter of accuracy. Generative AI can hallucinate faster than a rock star at Glastonbury. If you're not checking every line, you’re just publishing guesswork dressed as authority. That’s not brand-safe—it’s brand-sabotage.
Of course I’m not saying we all need to go full quill-and-ink. AI has its place. It’s great for ideation, outlines, and helping that blank page feel less, well, blank. But final content—the stuff that represents your brand—should still pass through human hands, and ideally the sort that know how to wield a metaphor without injuring anyone.
Real writing isn’t dead. It’s just been drowned out by the clickety-clack of the algorithm. But good writing? It still matters. Because real people are still reading.