The Paradox of 2025: Using AI to Be More Human

If you had told me three years ago that I would be using robots to make my marketing feel more personal, I would have laughed. But here we are in late 2025, and the marketing landscape has shifted in a way none of us fully predicted.

We are drowning in content. "Slop"—that endless stream of generic, ChatGPT-3.5 style articles—has clogged the internet. Consumers have developed a sixth sense for it. They can smell a "Delve into..." or "In the dynamic landscape of..." opening sentence from a mile away.

So, how do smart brands win? By leaning into the Authenticity Paradox.

The Authenticity Paradox

The paradox is simple: To be more human at scale, you need AI.

You cannot personally write a handwritten note to 10,000 customers. You cannot film a personalized video update for every single lead. But you can use AI to analyze what those customers actually care about, and then use your human creativity to craft a message that resonates deeply.

1. AI as the Researcher, Not the Writer

Stop using AI to write your final draft. It's bad at it. It lacks soul, lived experience, and that specific brand of chaos that makes human writing interesting.

Instead, use AI to:

• Analyze Sentiment: "What are people actually feeling about this topic on Reddit right now?"
• Find the Gap: "Read these top 10 articles and tell me what they all missed."
• Challenge Your Bias: "Here is my argument. Roast it. Tell me why I'm wrong."

When I write, I use AI as a sparring partner. It forces me to clarify my thoughts, which makes my final human-written piece sharper and more vulnerable.

The "Human-in-the-Loop" Workflow

The winning strategy for 2025 isn't "AI-Generated." It's "AI-Assisted, Human-Curated."

Imagine you're a chef. AI is your sous-chef. It chops the onions, preps the stock, and organizes the station. But you are the one tasting the sauce. You are the one deciding it needs a pinch more salt or a splash of wine.

If you let the sous-chef cook the whole meal, it will be edible, but it won't win any Michelin stars.

Practical Tips for Marketers

1. Kill the Generic Adjectives: If an LLM loves a word (looking at you, "transformative," "robust," and "seamless"), ban it from your vocabulary.
2. Share Personal Stories: AI cannot hallucinate your childhood memories or that specific failure you had last Tuesday. Lean into your lived experience.
3. Show Your Work: People trust process. Show the behind-the-scenes. If you used AI to help brainstorm, say so! Transparency is the new currency of trust.

The future of marketing isn't about who has the best prompt. It's about who has the best taste. And taste is something that, for now, is still strictly human.