What We Risk by Letting AI Speak for Us
“Help my daughter write a fan letter to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.” It seemed like a great way to tie in a promotion of Google’s Gemini AI capabilities with the Olympics. The seasoned marketing pros at Google tested it with focus groups. It had to be a brilliant campaign, right? Wrong.
The backlash was fierce. The idea of a little girl writing a fan letter with AI is disturbing rather than an inspiring illustration of AI’s value. It elicited visions of a dystopian future where a machines express the awe and admiration that a little girl feels for her favorite Olympic athlete. No one wants to envision that future.
Artificial is Far From Human
AI is generating the biggest hype wave since the dot-com era. There’s good reason to be excited and amazed. There’s also good reason to be skeptical and cautious about what we might lose as AI affects more aspects of our lives. Using AI we risk losing what what we find most meaningful — a human-to-human connection expressed in a way that conveys our personality and imperfections.
An article in The Verge expressed it well:
Generally speaking, humans crave authentic connection. What makes a fan letter precious is the knowledge that someone took time out of their busy life to express what you or your work means to them. It’s hard to imagine that McLaughlin-Levrone wouldn’t be moved by a rambling letter from a child with the occasional typo or awkward grammar.
What seems obvious to a national audience was lost on the tech-enamored geeks of Silicon Valley. Sure, AI can help generate ideas and help people overcome “blank slate syndrome” but that’s much different than writing a heartfelt letter on our behalf.
Don’t Squander Trust
The same is true for AI video. There is a significant risk of undermining trust in your brand if you produce videos with avatars or narrated stock footage. We will soon be swimming in a sea of AI-generated content and the one thing that will continue to stand out is real people, expressing real opinions, helpful advice, love, humor, sadness, excitment and the full range of emotions that make us human.
Alex B Sheridan expressed it well in a recent comment on LinkedIn in a post promoting the use of avatars: “My friends, keep showing up as YOU in your videos.”
What you risk by turning to AI to speak on your behalf is a loss of authenticity and trust. And trust once lost, is very hard to regain.
Write a letter yourself. Record a video message yourself. Keep showing up as YOU.
