Blog

AI is impacting every industry — sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.  Public relations is no different.

To give you some of my biases up front: I’ve always enjoyed the act of writing. I majored in writing in college, and in many ways I still consider myself a “writer” before I consider myself a “marketer,” a “publicist,” or even a “businesswoman.” And as someone who has made writing such a cornerstone of her identity — even building a large portion of my career off of it — of course I’ve been asked a lot of questions about Generative AI, which is the AI used to create written content.

Sometimes, it’s brought up curiously: “How do you feel about using AI?”

Sometimes, it’s brought up sheepishly: “I’m not a good writer; is it okay if I use AI?”

Sometimes, it’s brought up… in a different tone altogether. “Do you think AI is going to steal your job?”

My answers are, in order: Wary, cautiously, and no… well, I hope not.

It’s no secret that we’re seeing a rise of AI generated content in marketing. But while it absolutely has its place — some of my team even uses it for brainstorming ideas — I warn my clients and my colleagues against leaning on it too hard. When it comes to the actual “content” part of “content marketing,” there’s still no replacement for human writing.

Here are five reasons why.

Hallucinations

This reason is the most obvious, but it bears mentioning: sometimes, AI will be flat-out wrong.

According to the 2026 Stanford HAI AI Index, AI “hallucinations” range from anywhere between 22% and 94%, depending on the benchmark and use case. For those who don’t know, an “AI hallucination” is when a LLM (large language model, or the neural network that fuels most modern AI programs) will confidently state a fact that is incorrect, sometimes even creating fake citations for those facts.

AI hallucinations have had real-world consequences. Recently a law firm had to pay a sanction after an attorney submitted a brief with several AI hallucinations, and Google lost $100 billion in its market value after the demo of its AI produced factual errors.

(Fun fact: In an earlier version of this blog, I quoted a report on the cost of AI hallucinations in the financial trading sector. But during editing, I went to track down the original source of that statistic, and it seems like that may have actually been a hallucinated citation! A reminder on how convincing these articles can look, and a testament to the importance of fact-checking to the best of your ability before publishing.)

And, sure, it’s likely that your marketing copy won’t lead to quite so costly of a mistake. But the fact still remains that AI is not infallible: it should not be used for research, and nothing it says should be taken as fact unless you’re able to find a verified source to back it up.

Tone Matters

But the problem — at least, my problem — with AI goes beyond the facts.

LLMs are good at a certain type of writing. To a certain extent, it’s a tone that lends itself to marketing: it’s digestible, pleasant, and enthusiastic. But what it misses is nuance.

Let me give you a specific example: if you generate any amount of content with most of the major LLMs, you’ll come across a very specific phrase: “It’s not just X. It’s Y.” (Seriously. Once you start noticing this, you’ll see it everywhere.) Now, this sort of sentence construction is fine and common in writing. But it often falls apart in AI writing.

If I were to ask AI to talk about what I do for a living, it might say something like: “It’s not just content. It’s communication.” A phrase like that sounds profound on the surface, but what is it actually saying? Is it saying anything at all, or is it just making noise?

A final point: the goal of your marketing should be to stand out. If you’re writing just like everyone else, then what hope do you have to be heard above the noise?

Don’t Fumble the Follow-Up

I’ll fully admit that this is another personal observation, not backed by statistics. And it’s not even marketing specific. But it’s a growing trend that I’m concerned about, and I do think it speaks to an over-reliance on AI that bleeds into what I’m talking about here.

I’ve experienced this a few times. I will send an email with a simple question, and get a response that doesn’t answer that question in any meaningful capacity. When I then call that person for clarification, it quickly becomes apparent that they just threw my email into their LLM of choice and sent the answer to me without any sort of review.

I get it. We’re all busy. But on top of being just a little rude, this could also be costing you. Have you ever tried to call a support line, only to get fed through an increasingly convoluted electronic phone tree? I’m willing to bet that at some point, you got exasperated and just started saying, “Put me through to a real person!”

Your clients and your colleagues feel the same. Don’t do that to them.

Sincerity Sells

And now, we’re back to marketing.

Here’s an important idea. While many business owners love AI for the saved time and cost, much of the general public doesn’t feel the same. In fact, a recent report shared by Marketing Brew, with research conducted by the Harris Poll, 4As, and Infillion, 78% of consumers believe AI makes ads “feel less authentic.” The same amount said they find brands “cringey” when over-using AI.

If people are reading your content, they want to feel like they’re actually connecting with you. And the AI tone is an active barrier to that connection. People will pick up on it, and it comes across as insincere and vapid.

Or, as a friend of mine once put it, “Why should I bother to read something that no one could be bothered to write?”

AI Fatigue

The fact of the matter is, people are getting sick of AI.

According to that same report by Marketing Brew, “More than half (54%) agreed that they hear so much about AI that ‘it’s starting to annoy [them],’ while around two-thirds (65%) of consumers said they would ‘love if brands would never mention meaningless AI marketing again.’”

And it’s affecting your bottom-line, too. 63% said they would be “less likely to purchase from a brand that uses AI-generated ads.”

What this comes down to — what all of these points come down to, really — is a lack of effort. Content marketing is more than just one more thing to add to your already massive to-do list. Trust me, I know that it can be difficult to find the time. There’s a reason this blog only gets updated quarterly! It can be tempting to see AI-generated content as a “quick fix.”

But this approach can hurt more than it helps. Because it sends a message to your clients: a message that they aren’t worth your time. And they might decide you’re not worth their time, either. Not when you offer them content that they’re bored of, that feels insincere or tone-deaf, and that sometimes even contains blatant factual errors.

So when it comes to content marketing, I really do believe there’s no replacement for the human touch — either doing it yourself, or hiring a qualified firm like Logos Communications that can help write your story in the best version of your voice.

After all, it’s not just content. It’s your reputation.