One thing I’ve realized while working with AI is that it spends a lot of time learning me.
Some days, I spend more time correcting outputs, adjusting language, refining prompts, and providing context than I do generating the actual content.
Which raises an interesting question:
Is this always the most efficient use of my time?
The answer is not always obvious.
AI can dramatically accelerate certain tasks. It can help generate ideas, organize information, draft content, and provide a starting point. But getting from “acceptable” to “this is actually what I was looking for” often requires a level of context the technology does not naturally have.
Context has to be taught.
That is where the human side of the work becomes harder to ignore.
The more I use AI, the less I think about what it can create and the more I think about what it still needs from us.
It needs direction.
It needs judgment.
It needs someone to recognize when the output technically works, but still feels slightly wrong.
This is especially true in marketing, where the difference between good and almost right can be subtle. A headline can be clear but not compelling. A concept can be polished but not relevant. A message can sound professional but not feel human.
AI can generate variations quickly, but it does not always understand why one version feels more natural, more honest, or more aligned with the audience.
That still takes people.
It takes someone who understands the brand, the audience, the business goal, and the context around the work. It takes someone who can read between the lines and know when something needs to be sharpened, softened, simplified, or completely rethought.
That is also why I keep coming back to the value of conversation.
Some of the most useful creative direction does not come from a perfectly written brief. It comes from talking through the problem. It comes from asking the follow-up question that changes the direction of the work.
The most valuable conversations happen between people because understanding is built in real time.
AI has become one of the most useful tools I have worked with. But the more time I spend using it, the less I view it as a replacement for expertise and the more I view it as a reflection of it.
The quality of the output often depends on the quality of the guidance.
And guidance still comes from human experience.
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