Recently, my wife sent me a visual of a Facebook ad featuring an attractive female promoting western wear. The only problem was that her upper torso faced one way and her legs the other. Who’s to blame? The lazy person who generated and published the ad via AI (or maybe it was some Meta interface that auto-generates ads via AI)?
AI is the greatest tool invented in my lifetime. It has its place in marketing, but overreliance on it for clear, legitimate communication is a fool’s bargain. Full disclosure: this article was written by me, a human, but it is being grammar-checked by AI as I write. The distinction is clear: AI used as a research tool, for creative ideation, for grammatical accuracy, or for strategic planning makes sense. Complete dependence on it to create marketing content or graphics is a losing proposition. Why? In this age of normalized lying in politics, fake news, and AI-generated news and videos, authenticity is King!
Those who believe AI will replace their marketing department or outsourced marketing team will see campaign effectiveness decline and ultimately fail. Prospects can detect inauthenticity, especially among technically oriented buying teams in the industrial space. As AI is adopted broadly, lofty graphics and content standards will be lowered worldwide. Everyone’s messaging will sound the same, which severely undermines an important marketing tenet: differentiation. Companies will adopt the attitude that close is good enough to save the almighty dollar. The truth is, AI can’t be 100% trusted to accurately represent your company.
AI won’t organize, implement, measure results, or make agile adjustments to your campaign. If you want to win in this sea of “AI slop,” seek professional marketing help to help your company stand out from the clutter with tight messaging and branding. A human touch and compelling storytelling will never be replaced.
Woody Stoudemire, Owner
Gotham Industrial Marketing
