Using AI for Acceleration — Not as a Substitute for Expertise

AI has swept into marketing and communications faster than any technology I’ve seen in my career. It didn’t tiptoe in. It arrived forcefully – – accessible, powerful, and instantly part of our daily workflow. Anyone with a phone can generate content in seconds, draft a release, or outline a strategy.

But as someone who has spent a career shaping narratives, building strategies, and writing with intention, I know this:

“Efficiency isn’t the same as excellence.”

AI can create quickly, but it doesn’t create meaningfully unless we guide it. Great marketing still starts with something AI doesn’t have: an understanding of people.

• Their needs, motivations, frustrations, aspirations.
• The nuance of why they choose one product over another.
• The emotional thread that turns information into relevance.

That is where expertise and craft, rooted in strategy, empathy, and lived experience, matter.

I use AI frequently, but with purpose. I research targets, test ideas, explore angles, and let it challenge my early thinking. And then I do what the tool cannot: I refine, interpret, and sense what the message is supposed to do emotionally. That’s craft. That’s judgment. That’s the part AI can’t replicate.

In PR, we used to spend hours honing media lists, tracking coverage and delivering analytics. Today, I’m grateful for all the AI tools that are smarter, much faster and pretty darn accurate. But speed doesn’t understand timing, sentiment, or narrative tension. Only humans do. Technology can gather data; it can’t gauge when a story is ready to land.

And content? That’s where the biggest misunderstanding sits. Yes, AI can create endless content. But the sheer volume now means that value has shifted back to originality, clarity, and emotional resonance.

While not a coffee drinker, I imagine coffee is a good analogy to AI.

AI can generate content the way an office coffee machine brews a quick pot: readily available, perfectly acceptable, and everywhere. But expertly crafted content, the kind that draws someone in, the kind that feels intentional, is more like the cup you choose on purpose. The one made by someone who understands the balance, not just the process.

Merriam-webster’s recently announced 2025 word of the year is quite apropos –  SLOP – demonstrably fake content created by the world’s proliferation of online content from the widespread availability of generative AI.

My take –  AI, hands-down, always helps brew. But the choices and blending that shape the experience still come from human expertise. Craft still wins.

(AI if course, aided this content.)