Companies find it hard to resist the math of using AI to write at least some of their copy and content.
There are huge productivity benefits and costs savings when you compare AI-generated work with the same tasks written by human writers.
And sometimes, when writing informational content, optimized for SEO, and published in bulk, with some light human editing AI can come close to being “good enough”.
But when it’s not just about sharing information, the math changes.
Back in 1995 I published my first website. Those were the early days of the web as a place for business.
That year there were just 16 million people online.
It wasn’t until 1998 that the number of people using the web hit 100 million.
From zero to 100 million in a little over 3 years.
That rapid rate of change was deeply disruptive to traditional, bricks-and-mortar businesses. Companies were struggling to keep up and adapt.
Now let’s fast-forward to November 2022, and the launch of ChatGPT.
There is something flat and unsatisfying about writing in a formulaic way.
Academic writing. Business writing. Marketing writing.
You do the work. You put the words together. You wait for pay day.
As a copywriter, the least satisfying type of writing for me is when I follow some kind of template or framework. That kind of structure may reflect a “winning and proven” approach to writing an ad, landing page or sales page.
But… I don’t get much pleasure from writing like that. I’m following the rules, but I don’t feel that I’m putting any of myself into the work.
Back as a child, you were probably an amazing writer.
All those wonderful stories swirling around in your head. Maybe you wrote some of them down.
All that imagination… the adventures… the excitement.
And who was the hero of these stories? You, of course!
Your energy, bravery and wisdom were at the center of everything you wrote. You were at the center of your universe!
And then you went to school…
Ouch.
There are various ways to insert emotion and emotional intelligence into your work.
But perhaps the easiest way to communicate emotion is to write from a perspective of personal experience.
On other words, weave yourself or someone else into the narrative.
Put human experience into the frame.
Authenticity is about being genuine, real, and true to one’s character or brand.
At its heart, it’s about radical honesty and transparency.
When a person or a company manages to share their true selves, that authenticity goes a long way to connecting with their audience in a way that builds trust and a deep sense of rapport.
Authenticity is a profoundly human and emotional quality.
It’s hard to achieve at the best of times.