Why efficiency is the enemy of authenticity, and how to use AI without losing your brand’s human voice.
Artificial intelligence can be an incredible tool for content creators, and its potential is gradually being realized as news operations, publishers and businesses of all types pare back on staffing and look for ways to do more with less. But no matter how human we want AI to be, or train it to be, it simply isn’t – and discerning readers can tell.
No one wants to see an industry contract as newspapers have, with The Washington Post being just the latest to lay off a large portion of its staff. Others, no doubt, will follow as the entire business model is under siege.
Survival often requires efficiency.
Efficiency vs. Authenticity
For publishers operating with smaller crews, AI can help bridge the gap in content volume. It allows writers to identify topics, research complex information, and do cursory fact-checking with a speed that was previously impossible. Of course, it can also write for you. Companies realize this, and in the right hands, these tools work.
But with this technology comes an underestimated, or understated, risk: AI can easily strip all personality from the work. And this isn’t just a problem for journalists; it is a critical warning for brands and businesses, too. The more AI is used to produce written content, the more likely the final product will be devoid of a human voice.
The AP Style Trap
In news, we’ve seen this before. I’m talking about Associated Press (AP) style.
AP style was designed for efficiency and neutrality. It standardizes language, stripping away Oxford commas, regulating capitalizations, and removing “unnecessary” adjectives, so that a story written in Washington, DC could be dropped into a newspaper in Modesto without anyone needing to edit it. It prioritized the delivery of facts over the author’s voice, which has typically been secondary (at best). While useful, AP Style was likely the beginning of the homogenization of news.
Now, AI runs the risk of taking this to a whole other level of boring.
The Danger of Being Forgettable
This is arguably even more dangerous for brands. Marketing teams and corporate leaders are rushing to use AI to churn out blogs, newsletters, and LinkedIn updates. But if every brand relies on the same algorithms and large language models to write their copy, every brand will eventually sound the same: polished, safe, and utterly forgettable.
I believe that in order to survive and thrive, creators, whether they are journalists, bloggers or business leaders, need to evolve from simply the delivery of facts to the delivery of feelings and facts.
This is not to be confused with political opinions or hot takes. It is simply to say that the organizations that bring a perspective and a unique, unmistakably human voice are the ones that will win.
So, what is the solution?
A New Playbook for Human Connection
If we are going to use these tools without losing our souls, we have to change how we write. Perhaps even take a page out of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) playbook, which emphasizes visual storytelling and finding “moments” to generate feeling. This isn’t easy with purely written work. Strong images can help, but that’s not available for all subject matters.
1. Don’t aim for “perfect.” The rhythm of writing might call for a fragment of a sentence instead of a fully polished one. That’s okay. Readers don’t need complete AP Style sentences. They don’t know or care what AP style is. Never have. They care about flow and feeling.
2. The “Beer Test.” Read your work out loud and think of the cadence that communicates your message best. Think of how you would explain your message to someone over a beer or informally to a group. Channel that. If it sounds too stiff for a bar conversation, it’s too stiff for your blog. Make sure that conversational energy ends up in the copy.
3. Resist the sterilization. When using AI tools to copyedit your work, understand that the modeling will try to sterilize it. It is trained to regress to the mean. Don’t let that happen. Be selective with how you let AI alter your work, maybe only run specific sections through it to check for clarity, not tone. Or, go a step further: develop a custom AI agent that understands your specific voice and works with you, not against you.
Now is the time to stand out, because the alternative is not just boring. It’s also bleak.
Contact Sternfield Digital to discuss your specific needs and how we can help: 323-896-8799 or marcsternfield@gmail.com
