I recently spoke at B2B Marketing Exchange (B2BMX) about AI’s role in content creation – how it can help marketers generate better content, faster and at scale. At one point, I asked the room: “Would you publish a draft straight out of a GenAI solution, without any human editing?” More than 80% of the room raised their hand. I was appalled, and here’s why.
AI alone isn’t good enough
Not now. Not ever. Not unless you’ve trained it into an AI agent. And even then, it still needs a creative director or copy supervisor to review it.
And if you’re not holding AI-generated content to the same high standards you’d hold human writers or creatives to, you’re not just cutting corners. You’re doing your brand or clients a disservice.
Look, I love AI. If you’ve been following this blog, you know that. At Park & Battery, we’re not just talking about AI – we’re actively building and training AI agents to do real marketing work. We believe AI isn’t optional. It’s mandatory.
But let’s be clear: AI on its own, at this point, is about as talented as a junior copywriter fresh out of college. Someone who:
- Knows the basics and can crank out a first draft
- Can write competently but not strategically
- Needs guidance, feedback and refinement to create something truly great
Would you take a junior writer’s first draft and publish it, unedited? I should hope not. See my snobbish state of appall above.
Then why are so many marketers willing to do exactly that with AI?
AI is a junior copywriter, not a senior strategist.
Why AI alone isn’t the answer
- AI doesn’t understand brand voice – it can approximate tone, but it doesn’t feel what makes a brand unique.
- AI lacks true originality – it remixes what already exists. It’s not good at thinking “new.”
- AI can be confidently wrong – it sounds convincing even when it’s making things up.
- AI-generated content is already flooding the market – if you’re using it straight out of the box, you’re just adding to the noise.
- AI is a tool, not a replacement – we believe the best marketing will always come from humans who know how to use AI to push creative boundaries.
How to use AI without making generic content
AI can supercharge content creation if you use it the right way.
- Use AI for speed, not substance – let it generate drafts, but hold those drafts to human-level standards.
- Train AI agents, but direct them like a creative team – AI gets better when it’s trained on your content, but even then, it needs human oversight.
- Hold AI content to the same bar as human content – if you wouldn’t accept it from a writer, don’t accept it from AI.
- Keep humans in the loop – the best content isn’t AI vs. human, it’s AI & human.
If AI can generate a passable first draft in seconds, imagine how much bad content is about to flood the market. The only way to stand out isn’t to produce more: it’s to produce better.
That means big, human ideas; brave, strategic storytelling; and creative risk-taking AI can’t do on its own. The brands that set the bar high will win. The ones that take AI shortcuts will disappear into the noise.
So yes: use AI. Adopt it. Train it. Push it. But don’t let it lower your standards.
(And make sure you watch out for big dashes and serial commas – people will see when your AI is showing).
