We’ve seen the rapid rise in artificial intelligence (AI) over the last several months, and it’s quickly changed – and, in many ways, improved – how we approach tasks in our personal lives and at work. Now, though, we’ve started to see a shift in sentiment as people become defensive of their livelihoods, fearing that AI’s growing success may cut jobs in several industries.

Most recently, we’ve seen this come to life in Hollywood, with writers on strike and demanding protection from what is perceived as the “impending takeover” of generative AI. In fact, many people in the broader creative industry – including marketing, advertising, and communications professionals – have become anxious about the possibility of being replaced by machines, which can seemingly produce full and diverse content, visuals, and audio, with only a short descriptive prompt and the touch of a button.

This “Tinderisation” of content creation – or the idea that we can (and have) mechanized and simplified the development of content to the point of removing any emotion or thought – is complicated and not without flaws. We recently saw an example of this when content creators used AI to “give voices” to children who were victims of high-profile, serious criminal cases. While AI offers the opportunity for content creators to flex their creativity, it can also be dangerous – especially when creators churn out content without considering its impact.

Now, more than ever before, human touch is irreplaceable. As we learn and grow to better understand how to use AI responsibly, I believe we’ll find that the tech cannot and should not stand alone – and that humans and AI must work together to create a symbiotic relationship. Here’s how.

Fact check – always 

Artificially generated content is compelling – but it’s often prone to mistakes, in both tone and substance. After all, it was only a few weeks ago that a New York lawyer was called out after submitting a brief created by ChatGPT that was riddled with bogus legal citations.

The threat of disinformation and misinformation looms large if we dumb down human oversight, rigour, and contribution requirements. In fact, Sheila Mulligan, Weber Shandwick, stressed the importance of trust at the 2023 Meltwater Summit, explaining that the erosion of trust can threaten organizational survival and be a “material headwind for the brands in which we operate and…lead.” In this regard, content creation is a morally significant act that we should not, and arguably cannot, outsource entirely to machines – not, at least, without the key element of fact checking.

Google’s Genesis product, a new AI tool that can help journalists produce news stories, has the potential to be great example of human/AI partnership. Using AI technology, the product brings with it the promise of aggregating information about current affairs, creating initial first drafts of news stories, and producing related social media posts. At the same time, there is no suggestion that these tools are meant to replace the role of the journalist, who is ultimately responsible for fact-checking articles and ensuring that the news is reported with integrity. The focus here is on creating efficiency rather than attempting to automate veracity.

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Infuse empathy and emotion 

The use of emotions has long been studied as an effective way to persuade. The very best content – articles, TV commercials, advertisements – often employ emotional persuasion for this very reason. In fact, research shows that creating an emotional connection with a customer is 52% more valuable than a highly satisfied customer.

To date, AI has not been able to replicate these human emotions – at least not to the level of a human being. While the latest chatbot technology, like Microsoft’s Xiaoice in China, for example, has become far more sophisticated, reading and learning from something as simple as a chatter’s tone, AI is no match for the countless nuances of human emotion. At best, it attempts only to imitate it – and at worst, it “hallucinates” to fill in gaps it doesn’t understand. In a world where low-cost, artificial content is common, it has never been more important for human beings to dedicate more time to use their lived experiences, intuition and emotional intelligence to create impact with customers.

Miri Rodriguez, Microsoft, helped put this in to practice with some advice. She encourages the use of AI to synthesize data, then recommends employing empathy to make the ultimate message resonate with the intended audience. This bionic relationship focuses on using generative AI to put together initial drafts of a piece of content – at which point the author would focus more time and attention on using language and imagery that stimulates an authentic emotional connection, thus making the overall piece more impactful.

The Tinderisation of content is real – but it only emphasizes the need for humans to play an active and important role in content creation. While the threshold to produce content has gotten lower and often requires minimal intellectual exertion, the “human touch” has never been more important than it is today. It’s no longer about producing more content; it’s about crafting content that exudes deep connection and genuine insight, with “thoughtfulness” still firmly rooted in human ingenuity, wisdom, and empathy.

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