When you’re busy and under pressure, it’s a chore to create the marketing materials, outreach emails, proposals, RFPs and other documents you need to keep your boss and clients happy and new opportunities coming in the door.
Can AI come to the rescue?
AI’s speed and efficiency make it a tempting alternative to writing from scratch. You can use it to refine your thinking, analyze meeting notes and do research. If the result sounds dull, you even can run the words through a humanizing tool. With a few well-considered prompts, it can do everything you ask faster than you can gulp down a cup of coffee.
Does this mean you can put your feet up and take the rest of the day off?
AI has significant limitations as a thinker and writer
Let’s face it, AI and all those humanizing tools are algorithms that follow rules. Engineers designed AI writing models to predict how words are put together based on training data. As a result, the words they deliver often sound mechanical, formulaic, generic and are frequently littered with hallucinations built on outdated or even false information.
In one infamous case, an AI-generated article on Microsoft’s MSN travel site recommended an Ottawa Food Bank as a cannot-miss tourist spot. The content was deleted, but you can read a news story about the incident here.
People have very different motivations for putting words on paper. In marketing and sales, we usually want our writing to be creative, persuasive and accurate.
So, no matter how effective and efficient AI appears, we can’t forget that it is still a machine. Everything it produces needs to be read by a person.
As the ultimate author, it is our responsibility to apply common-sense, careful fact-checking as well as an eye for robotic text patterns to everything AI delivers. This is particularly important in the creative fields of marketing, sales, and business development, where successful content needs to connect on a human, emotional, and personal level to inform, persuade and sell.
AI content review services from Proofing Experts
At Proofing Experts, we offer alternate wording to humanize robotic language patterns and enliven flat content, along with basic fact-checking as part of our proofreading and editing work. Find out more on the Proofing Experts Services page.
What are the top signs you need to humanize sterile and robotic AI writing
- You wouldn’t say it out loud
If you’d cringe hearing the sentence in conversation, that’s your cue. Real people proof with their ears. If it doesn’t sound natural, it won’t read naturally. - You can’t tell to whom it’s speaking
AI frequently switches between voices and perspectives. Is it addressing customers, investors or employees? That’s a big problem if your sales and marketing materials need to connect with your audience or prospects. - The tone is inconsistent
It goes from sounding stiff and formal to chatty and casual. AI often forgets what tone it started with. Proofreaders catch those mood swings. - Every paragraph has the same structure
Variety keeps people’s eyes on the page, but AI loves patterns. When every section begins with “Additionally,” “In conclusion,” or “Furthermore,” it feels like you’re trapped in a loop. - Phrases are repeated for no reason
If the exact text or idea shows up every few paragraphs, that’s the algorithm talking. It’s padding for length, not clarity and it sounds monotonous and unengaging. - It sounds polite but oddly lifeless
AI tries to be safe. The result is content that’s courteous yet bland, sounding like something written by a committee fearful of offending the reader. - You notice invented facts, misquoted data and missed cultural nuances
When AI doesn’t know something, it makes up facts, reports and references to fill the gaps. It also misses important cultural nuances, references or social cues which can make the writing feel unnatural or inappropriate for a specific region or group. As proofreaders, we check numbers, names and sources because no one wants to be caught referencing imaginary facts and reports or to offend anyone. - The content is wordy and over-explains
Instead of saying “We ship worldwide,” the text says, “Our global shipping operations ensure our products are sent to customers in multiple regions around the world.” Enough said. - The argument is weak and transitions feel forced
The logical flow of the writing is choppy or seems artificial. AI usually tries to fix these disconnects with phrases like “On the other hand” or “In conclusion” mid-argument. - Key terms or numbers don’t match
It promises five benefits but lists four or it alternates between terms or spellings such as program and programme. Proofreaders take the time to check lists and correct inconsistent style and spelling usage. - The English is formal and bland
The stiffness of AI writing makes it immediately recognizable as a machine creation. For example, it won’t use contractions like we’re or it’s and everything it creates is based on material it has found around the internet. Without a unique angle, AI content comes across as dull and pedestrian. - There’s no emotional pull and it says nothing new
The writing checks every box, but it still doesn’t move you. In my days as a journalist, we called this all filler and no killer. AI can’t feel; it can only imitate empathy. It takes a person with life experiences to add warmth, rhythm and energy through stories and passion. - It ignores your brand voice
Just like people, companies are differentiated by their voice and personality. AI struggles to replicate and apply a brand’s standards consistently. This is a significant shortcoming for marketers and sales departments using AI to generate content and communications. - It’s technically correct, but forgettable
Even though AI correctly follows the rules of good writing, the result still ends up sounding mechanical and vapid. It takes more than accurate English to connect with people. Reaching readers on an emotional and personal level is one of the most critical requirements in sales and marketing content, as well as in selling the plans and ideas in your proposal and RFP.
Before you hit publish, make sure your words pass the human test. Start your project with Proofing Experts.