Several nights ago, I was driving down I-77 at dusk when I looked up into this beautiful, cotton-candy, summer sky and saw three of the brightest stars ever nestled in the clouds and glowing brilliantly - even before the sun had set. Convinced for a half of a second that I was witnessing the next Christmas Eve from the front seat of a car while listening to a podcast, I drove closer and closer to those three stars that, oddly, kept getting closer and closer to me. Until I was right underneath each of them. Drones. They weren’t brilliant stars - they were three drones buzzing and hovering above me.
That’s life and work today, right?
The line between the natural - in this case, the stars - and the artificial - in this case, the drones - is blurring. And it takes each of us a second to figure out what’s real - and what’s not as real.
That’s artificial intelligence for you.
To me, artificial intelligence feels like the biggest, multi-story science center. The kind of science center with exhibits and displays, floors, halls, and “sections” that go on and on. Like, you think you’ve seen the entire museum by closing time only to discover you’ve been only to a fourth of it.
When it comes to AI, there’s too much information, too many angles, too many capabilities for me to completely understand - before it all changes, improves, gets better, gets faster.
That’s all to say this: There are AI capabilities I can’t even scratch the surface of - nor, do I want to. AI is just so big.
Here’s what I do understand though: the second I read something, feel a twinge, and think to myself: “An AI platform wrote this.” The tell-tale twinge signs? It reads like the classic five-paragraph essay you mastered in 8th grade. It feels broad and cold. It uses words like ‘therefore’ or ‘hence’.
That’s AI-powered messaging and communication. That’s what I feel comfortable commenting on - and helping you think through, as well
Last summer, a client called me in a panic. “We cheated on you,” he said, almost out of breath. “We have this thing due to a business awards competition, and we put it into ChatGPT, and it doesn’t sound like us, and we don’t want to submit this. Can you fix it?”
The twinge he felt was different - but the same. He recognized quickly that the AI output wasn’t their brand’s voice, tone, or personality; and it wasn’t messaging he wanted to put his company out into the world for his brand.
We’ve all read something like that.
His thoughts and feelings are very common. He wanted to be able to put his brainstorms into ChatGPT and then take AI’s output and copy-paste it directly into the awards competition form. What happened is that it spit back a solid B- rough draft that still needed a human to refine it.
AI-powered platforms are not designed for the quality you’re craving. In this case, before you do anything with any copy and an AI platform, I want you to think about three things:
What’s my timing - am I in a time crunch, and I’m doing this to save time?
What’s my expectation - as to quality, voice, tone - for whatever it spits out to me?
Am I - or another human being - ready/willing/able/excited to edit/refine/polish whatever it kicks back out to us?
Those three questions are our larger answer to the question of AI.
Whether you know it or not, every organization, brand, or business has a writer’s room. If you’re unfamiliar with a writer’s room, it’s a space where writers, usually writing a television show like SNL, gather to write and refine scripts. I encourage you to think about your writer’s room table. Who are the humans at the table - and who is the AI at the table. Everyone has a seat of equal weight. Invite AI to your table - don’t replace the humans at your table. And don’t ever put AI at the head of the table.
what to use AI platforms for when it comes to communications & messaging
when you need a different word
This is a shout-out to every time you were writing something, and thought: I need a different word. Much like you would with a thesaurus, I absolutely think you should turn to ChatGPT when you need other word options. I’d rather you have different word options to choose from then settling for a mediocre word you’re not excited about or you already used two sentences before.
BUT ALSO - this isn’t an invitation to use a word you’d never use. ChatGPT will mine the Internet for words that aren’t always appropriate for your context. 99% of the time it will give you fluffy words. Mine the fluff - choose words YOU would use or choose words that are right for the piece. The overall point here is to give yourself options to think about.
Get to the first draft faster
As a lifelong procrastinator, I wish I had ChatGPT in high school. Not to do the work for me (I see you every second semester, high school senior), but to help me get over the worst part - the first draft. As much and as often as I write, the blank page and a blinking cursor is - and has always been - panic-inducing for me.
In this case, I recommend you use AI-powered messaging platforms to get started - or to get you over a creative impasse, to power through the blank page, to get the messy first draft done faster.
Use it to help you push the rock up the hill a bit.
But know that the work isn’t done. Your work begins with that first draft it kicks out to you. Because whatever it kicks out to you will need your voice, tone, style, personality, and logic. You will need to think about it.
opportunities to save your brain energy & your talent
I also want you to use AI to save your brain energy and your talent.
Here’s a great example: Do you really need to summarize the transcript of that two-hour webinar? No. Use AI power. There’s no degree, no certification, no professional experience that trained you how to summarize a conversation that’s already recorded somewhere. Use AI to summarize a two hour conversation into five paragraphs that you will review before sharing. You will need to think about: if the summary is in the logical order, if it captures the conversation accurately, and if it tells the right story.
THEN, go forth and use your God-given talent to think, create, contribute, do other things.
what NOT TO use ai platforms for when it comes to communications & messaging
Pop quiz: What’s the phrase I used several times - bolded and italicized it - in the section above? You will need to think about it. (Literally, that was the phrase.) I want you to keep that top of mind through the rest of this piece…
100 years ago in pre-pandemic 2018, I wrote an essay for the Drucker Challenge on the topic of AI. I started the essay with a story of going on a date with a guy who thought he cracked cold fusion because he was using AI to replace his customer service, saving him lots of time and money. That felt weird to me then - and it still feels weird to me. If a paying customer, a loyal human, needs your help or has questions, talk to them.
On that note, I receive a good amount of LinkedIn messages from people who I think are humans, asking if I’m tired of cold calling or if I need advice on maximizing tax benefits on my investment accounts. I. Know. You’re. A. Robot. No. Human. Talks. Like. That. And I will never give you my business development strategy or access to my investment accounts.
If people need to talk to you, if people need to hear from you, don’t cut corners to avoid that.
There’s a big difference between saving time and money - and using your brain and your ability to connect wisely.
what to be weary of
Back in the day, I remember a rumor going around school that in every Cliffs Notes there were a couple of mistakes that Cliffs Notes made on purpose, ya know, to help teachers catch kids who didn’t read the book. (I have no idea if that’s true.) The fear the rumor instilled was this - was all the information in what we thought was a reliable source, really true and accurate?
You have to consider the same with AI-powered messaging. You have to confirm it’s true and accurate; and you have to confirm it’s yours to share. As a published author, there’s a part of me that wonders if someone, somewhere has stolen and used something I wrote because AI found it on the internet for them. That’s. Not. Right.
I tell a story about a client who put something into ChatGPT and it spit back information from their competitors website - with no credit to the competitor. They only recognized the messaging because they’d been on the website. Commit to fierce quality control.
the toth shop stance
People ask us often about toth shop’s approach to AI, and it’s this: We recommend using it to get started, to rip off the bandaid, to get miles on the road. Give it one seat at your writer’s room table. Invite it to the conversation and consider what it contributes and suggests. Use it to save time, energy, and God-given brain power and talent.
We don’t recommend you use it to replace any talent you know you have within yourself or on your team. Cutting corners always, always catches up with you. toth shop doesn’t deliver any copy or messaging to clients that’s been generated in AI. We are clear with you if and when we use it for brainstorming or drafting.
We want writing, messaging, and communications to sound human. Sounding human is very easy when humans write it, create it, polish it, edit it.
My biggest fear in the AI debate is that we forget what it’s like to use our brains. You always and forever still have to think about it. You have to question if it’s right, if it’s accurate, if it’s logical, if it tells the story the right way.
Someone told me recently she wanted to rewrite her website, so she put a prompt into the AI platform asking for a website structure. I asked her why she didn’t just look at a couple of her competitors' websites, or think about her sales process and how a website structure would get them to her services faster. “I hadn’t really thought about thinking about it,” she replied. That scares the shit out of me. Thinking it is the hottest skill you will ever have in your entire life.
As well, you know toth shop loves voices. We will talk to people all day, every day, sharing gold nuggets, aha moments, lessons, good quotes. There’s a unique and special voice to every person, every organization, every brand, every team.
Don’t let something that’s not real - that doesn’t breathe or doesn’t have a beating heart - replace something very human, and very real.
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