PRESS RELEASE: Why AI Makes Most Marketers Dumber
We’re watching an entire industry train itself to fail.
While marketers rush to adopt AI tools, something troubling is happening. Recent research shows that using AI significantly reduces brain activity during creative tasks. We’re literally atrophying our strategic thinking muscles.
The evidence is everywhere. Generic ads flood social media with meaningless claims like “Australia’s Top” or “We’re Number One.” These campaigns don’t differentiate brands or connect with customers.
They’re the product of lazy thinking.
HEADING: The Empathy Gap That’s Killing Businesses
Here’s what most marketers miss: customers don’t care about your features. They care about outcomes.
While AI makes it easier than ever to generate feature-focused content at scale, it can’t bridge this empathy gap. A family law firm we know switched to an agency that focused on generic credentials—”Best Lawyers Gold Coast” and service lists. When they returned and we made the switch back to empathy-driven messaging like “Navigating Separation is Scary, but You Don’t Have to Do it Alone,” conversions improved dramatically.
The difference? One approach acknowledged human fear. The other just automated the shouting.
HEADING: The Sea of Sameness
AI amplifies whatever you feed it. Give it shallow thinking, and you get shallow content at scale.
The problem isn’t the technology. It’s how we use it.
Bad marketers type “write ad copy for accounting services” and call it strategy. Good marketers at the bare minimum craft detailed prompts: “Write three ad variations using the AIDA framework, leading with hooks about tax season stress, targeting small business owners worried about compliance.”
The difference is strategic thinking.
We’re already seeing the consequences. Markets are saturated, and businesses that can’t build genuine relationships are dying. Consumer trust in AI-generated content is plummeting, with 62%* of people less likely to engage when they know AI created it.
Authenticity isn’t just a buzzword. It’s survival.
*Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 https://www.hootsuite.com/research/social-trends
HEADING: Where AI Gets Caught Out
Here’s the brutal truth: AI can’t maintain empathy across an entire customer journey.
You might fool someone with a single piece of content. But customers have multiple touchpoints with your brand. If your messaging feels manufactured at any point, they notice.
For businesses with longer sales cycles, customers drop off when they realise the initial empathy was fake. For impulse purchases, you won’t see return customers. Either way, customer lifetime value suffers.
The businesses thriving right now understand their customers’ pain points deeply enough to maintain authentic messaging everywhere. From ads to emails to sales conversations.
AI can help execute this strategy, but it can’t create it.
HEADING: The Coming Consolidation
The marketing industry is about to shrink dramatically.
Large agencies are already consolidating. Agency consolidation is accelerating, with only 11%** of marketers believing current agency models are fit for the future.
The reason is simple: AI can handle most grunt work. Why pay for junior account managers when AI can write basic keyword lists, create social media posts, and manage routine tasks?
The survivors will be hybrid thinkers who combine strategy, creativity, and technical skills. They’ll use AI as a tool, not a crutch.
Everyone else becomes redundant.
**Source: World Federation of Advertisers Report: https://wfanet.org/knowledge/item/2023/10/09/The-Future-of-Media-Agency-Models-Change-is-Coming#xd_co_f=NTYyZjdiNGQtYWY5Zi00N2QwLTg4ODctNTNhY2IxYjk1MzI3~
HEADING: What AI Can’t Replace
Empathy.
Not the shallow, surface-level empathy that AI can mimic in individual pieces of content. But sincere, consistent empathy that understands multiple pain points, different customer types, and then pairs that with your real-world constraints like budgets and features.
This is the irreplaceable human skill. The ability to genuinely understand and connect with people within the messy reality of business limitations.
AI can optimise campaigns and generate content variations. But it can’t sit across from a stressed business owner and truly understand what keeps them awake at night.
HEADING: The Face Time Test
Here’s how to evaluate whether your marketing approach will survive this transition: look at the ratio of what you pay versus face or hands-on time with senior strategic thinkers.
If you’re paying big dollars for junior execution that AI can now handle, you’re funding redundant overheads. If you’re getting direct access to experienced strategists who understand your business deeply, you’re investing in the future.
The same advice goes to my fellow marketers: put the crutch down. You are only doing yourself a disservice, especially if you are early in your career.
The marketing teams that survive will be smaller, more strategic, and more expensive per person. But they’ll deliver better results because they’ll focus on what humans do best: understanding people.
The Unprepared Reality
Most business owners love the idea of consolidation and efficiency. They’re ready to cut costs and streamline operations.
But they’re not ready for the strategic thinking this requires.
Many business owners are prompt followers themselves when it comes to marketing. They chase tactics without understanding strategy. They miss the critical connection piece that still requires experienced, strategic thinking.
The businesses that thrive will be those that invest in genuine customer understanding before they invest in AI tools. They’ll use technology to amplify human insight, not replace it.
The rest will drown in the sea of sameness, competing on price while their customers search for brands that actually understand them.
The choice is simple: become more human, or become irrelevant.
We’re betting on the humans who use AI as a tool to amplify their empathy, not replace their thinking. Because in a world full of generic content, genuine connection becomes the ultimate competitive advantage.
