Episode 237 | The AI Stuff That's Giving Me the Ick

Speaker A: Foreign. You're listening to the course Creator show, the podcast all about building your online course business. We talk about marketing strategy, making money, and creating a business with impact that gives you freedom and lights you up. I'm Gemma Bonham Carter, a Canadian mom of two, a speaker, a real estate investor, a reality TV lover, and an online business strategist who has helped three thousands of entrepreneurs create, launch and scale their digital course businesses. Let's dive in to this episode. Hey. Hey. Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. This is your host, Gemma Bonham Carter here. So. All right. I titled this episode How I'm actually Feeling about AI right Now. And it's not all good news. Now listen, you know me, if you've been listening to this show or following me for any length of time, I kind of am known as the AI girl. I teach it, I use it, I've built entire systems around it. But lately there's some stuff in the AI space that is making me. It's giving me the ick, right? It is giving me the ick. And in some cases I'm like, oh, have we lost the plot? Uh, and I'm speaking specifically about AI in online business. There's a lot of cool use cases of AI and all kinds of other industries, but that's what we're talking about today. And there are just some things that are giving me the ick. And I wanted to come on here and talk about it, uh, uh, because look, I am still team AI. I love this tech. I think it is a, one of the most significant things, changes we've seen for entrepreneurs. It opens up so much opportunity. It has changed the face of what running a personal brand online business or solopreneur business can look like. It has saved me countless hours, helped me tighten up systems, make better content, run a better company. Right? All of those things. But, and this is a big, but not everything coming out of the kind of quote unquote, AI revolution is smart, right? Some, not all of it is like, stuff that we should be using, um, because not all of it is going to grow your business in the right way. So I just wanted to come on here and flip, you know, hit record, flip the mic on and just talk about a couple of things that, uh, just aren't sitting quite right with me. And maybe I'll change my tune about this. I'll come back in a year and be like, ah, uh, yeah, forget that episode. Um, but this is how I'm feeling about it right now. And I kind of think that maybe you might agree with me on these things. So I want to just talk about a couple things that are bugging me. Right. Uh, and what I think we maybe all need to be thinking about when, because I think you and I and you know, everybody listening to this is building a personal brand business in this kind of weird new world we're now in. And we just need to be smart about it. Okay? So number thing, number one, these AI twins that everybody is making, right? Have they come across your social feed? Like I am getting absolutely bombarded now with ads, either ads or actually just, I guess it, it must be ads, um, of people's content where they're using like their AI avatar. And so I've seen some where they're trying to sell me on a different product and I can tell that it's the AI avatar that's being used or they're trying to sell me on how to make an AI avatar, right? Which is basically just like there's a bunch of really cool tech now, really high level image graphic video tech that can essentially take, you know, a selfie you've snapped and turn it into a cool esthetic vibes photo shoot, right? Or, uh, can, can create your, the video version of you that you can use in content. And they're so much better than they used to be. Cool, right? Like, if you want to teach me the tech on that, if I wanted to learn the tech on that, great. But I don't love these in practice, like these digital clones, they're meant to look and talk like the person, right? But it is, it's fake. Although you may give it the words you want it to say, uh, it's not the actual person talking and looking on camera. Their face, their voice, it's just pretending to be them. And listen, like, if you want to make one of these for fun, cool, right? Have your little like black mirror moment. If you, I actually think like if you are in the AI space, if you are in the tech space, maybe maybe this is cool, right? Like maybe people will relate to this and this will work for content marketing. But I think if you're a personal brand creator for kind of 95% of us in the personal brand world, your whole business is literally on. It's built on people knowing, liking and trusting you, right? And I don't think it's a good move to, to outsource that to the robot version of you. Like, uh, you know, if your audience can't tell whether it's you or a simulation of you, like talking to them, I just don't feel like we should be doing that for efficiency. Right? Like, I feel like that is just not the move for creating that relationship with our audience. Like, people are following you because they connect with you. Because maybe you make them laugh or you make them think or you inspire them in some way. Those things. Like you can't. Or, or maybe you can. I, uh, mean, maybe you. I'm cautioning you to automate that. Right? So when I see someone showing off their AI clone on Instagram stories or in an Instagram ad or whatever, it just gives me some ick or, or it gives me pause because for me, the goal here is building that trust, that authenticity and that connection with my audience. And like, the AI twin is not the move for that. It feels cold, it feels hollow, and it feels like it's going to do the exact opposite of what a personal brand is supposed to do. And like, I'll tell you, I clicked over on those people, I went and looked at their profiles, I went to check it out a hundred percent. Would I ever buy from that person? Absolutely not. Did I click follow on their account? No, I did not. You know, and so I just feel like the whole AI twins thing, like, it's cool tech. It is. And like, who doesn't want to see themselves? Like, how cool, right? To be able to submit like a selfie of yourself and then suddenly you're seeing this like, AI version and it looks so legit like that. That's cool, right? That's cool. But I don't think that, that it should be your replacement for showing up as a real human being in your content and in your business. And I. And my feeling like, honestly, seeing these AI twins and the perfect backgrounds and the perfect outfits and all the things I will tell you, it makes me want to go the whole other direction. It makes me want to post the most relatable slash real life slash ugly content because everybody is going to look the same, everybody is going to sound the same. Like, there's even whole worlds now of like, AI. Oh my gosh. I was just listening to a podcast on this the other day. What was. I think it's so Sora. They've. They've released the Sora app or software, whatever, and it's like just AI versions of people. I, uh, mean, it's like Instagram, but only the AI versions is what I'm understanding. It is. I haven't actually seen or been on it yet, but I listen to a podcast about it and if you're someone I don't Know, if you like to, like, do video games or, or again, like I said, if you're like, in the tech space or in the AI space, that's what you teach. That's maybe that's what you're creating. I don't know, software around, like, cool. Like, I, I, I could see where maybe that would be the right use case. But if you are a, a personal brand entrepreneur, that's gen. Genuinely trying to connect with your audience, I just don't think it's the move, you know? Do you agree with me? Like, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Send me a dm. Um, hit me up in the email inbox. Uh, I, I would love to know. Cause it's tempting, right? It's like, oh, okay, I don't have to have a real photo shoot. I don't need to record that video. I can just use the AI version of myself. Tempting, tempting. But I feel like it is gonna do you a bigger disservice than benefit. And that brings me to icky thing number two, which is kind of along the same vein, but it's the AI generated podcasts, right? That's the other thing I'm seeing a lot of people start talking about is how good the voice software now is, where you can speak for 10 minutes or whatever into these pieces of software. I know 11 Labs is like the big one for AI voice, and you can speak for 10, 15 minutes into it, and it will understand your voice and all the nuances of that. And then it can basically record your podcast episodes for you and you never need to open your mouth. Right. And look, I get the appeal of that. Right. Who doesn't want to skip? Like, if you do video podcasts, like, great, like, skip the hair and makeup and all the setup. Right? Perfect. I just always do audio, so it's not that big of a deal. I'm literally recording this right now, still sitting in my workout clothes, messy bun, like the whole nine. I've got an empty smoothie right next to me. Like, this is not a pretty setup. Uh, but, uh, the thing about the AI generated podcast thing just feels to me like even if they get the, the voice sounding good, I don't know, I still think it's gonna sound like a robot audiobook, you know, pretending to have opinions. Like, I just, I love the nuance of listening to a podcast and hearing someone, you know, it up. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't say that because now I'm gonna get, I don't know. Do you, uh, should I can, I swear on here, you guys, sorry if you've got kids listening, but you know, when they like mess it up or they laugh or something happens, you know, like, I love that. I love the, the real real of listening to podcasts. I don't want it to be perfect. And in fact I can always, I feels like anyway, I can always tell when you're reading off of a script versus I think it's cool to have notes. Like I have notes. I have notes right now. I'm looking at them as I'm talking to you. But I, they're notes. And then I, I ad lib, right? And certainly anytime I'm doing any kind of like interview or having a guest on my show, that's almost that, uh, that's all ad libbed, right? And I like that. I like that. I like feeling like the podcast I'm listening to is a genuine conversation and not a rehearsed commercial. And I just feel like the AI generated ones are going to sound flat, right? There's not that same spark or emotion or humor or screw ups or warmth. And that's what makes podcasting good. Like that's what makes me keep listening. I don't know about you, but certainly that's what makes me go back to a show. So when you remove that human element, like uh, even the little stumbles, right, it becomes boring. And the second it feels robotic, I feel like the audience will check out. You will not have people listening to your show anymore. And people, uh, that's the other thing. It's like people aren't listening to podcasts just for information, right? Sometimes, yes, they hit plagues and you know, know they're trying to learn something about something, right? But they keep listening because you've created some kind of connection with them. And they keep listening because they like you. Like when I think of the, I have like four or five podcasts that I listen to pretty regularly. I like those people, I like those hosts. You know, I vibe with them, I think they're smart. I listen to them for different reasons. They're all pretty different types of shows, but it, uh, it's them, right? I'm not, I will not keep listening to a podcast with a host that I don't like. And, and I just worry that the robotic thing is going to, it's going to, I don't know, make that die away. So, you know, use AI to help you with your outline or, or you know, prepping your show or you're editing or producing your podcast or creating all the assets for it, like, 100%. Obviously, I do that too. And I'm so, like, I'm a huge cheerleader for you doing that. But don't hand over the mic to a clone, right? That's just where it feels like We're. I don't know, we're getting into, like, weird simulation vibes, and I just don't think it's good for business. So those are the two big things that I wanted to kind of just. I just needed to get it off my chest. And like I said, like, let me be clear. I use AI every single day. I have. Literally, I've built an entire program around it. I am teaching on it. I. I am not sitting here pretending like, uh, I don't know, I'm above it or something, or that I'm not using AI. But the diff. I think the difference is, the way I see it is that I am not using AI to replace me. I am using AI and all of the, you know, you know, the custom AI assistants and, like, everything that I've built that has helped me use AI in my business, like backend operations, I'm not using that to replace me. I'm using it to amplify me. It is still my own stuff at the core. You know, my custom AI assistants, they're not creating random content out of thin air. I'm not even saying, like, hey, I need an email idea, like, come up with one for me. I don't do that. I start from my own thoughts, my own feelings about stuff, my own strategies, my own frameworks, my own learnings, right? I start from all of that, my own stories. And I use AI to help me make those things go further, faster. That's essentially what AI is helping me do. It is helping me move faster. It helps me get what is in my head, out of my head and into the world. But I am still the brain, right? I am still the core thought leader of the business. And I'm still ultimately the voice that hits publish, too. Like, I'm the last set of eyes on things as well. And so I think that's what a lot of people are missing when they start outsourcing their entire business to AI, Right? Like, yes, AI can make things easier and more efficient, and we can be more productive and all of those things, but it can't make your content meaningful. Only you can do that. And if you lose, like, that human layer, that messy, that imperfect, that opinionated layer of yourself that your audience connects with. And I have been challenging myself to say to myself, Like, Gemma, peel it back further. You know, show, show more of that. The more you show of that, the more connection. The more you show of that, the more the content lands, the more you show of that, the deeper your relationship becomes with your audience. Right? And I would challenge you to do that too, because if you lose that, honestly, your brand is toast. Your brand is toast. Like, imagine your favorite couple, people that you follow on social that you love, like clicking on their stories, right, or listening to their videos or whatever, and suddenly it's an AI twin. Like, no, you're gonna, you're, you are going to tune out fast. It's the same idea of like, when content starts sounding really robotic, people's like email newsletters or captions or whatever it is written content, if it starts to sound ultra robotic, you're tuning out, you're unsubscribing. That's the same thing that's going to happen. So, and, and the other thing to really think about too is like, if AI can do that, then what is going to be special about your version of it? You know, if you're going to create an AI twin just like everybody else has an AI twin or what's going to make your AI twin stand out? Well, I, you know, it's going to be hard. There's going to be a million, right? So I would, I would encourage you to go the whole other direction, which is, how can you zig when everybody else zags? I mean, I think we, I think we've gotta, we gotta zag into the, into the ugly content, right? We've gotta zag into the imperfect stuff because that's going to become more and more a. Fewer and fewer and further between, you know, and then last thing I want to, you know, kind of talk about is also this, like, AI overwhelm. I don't know if you have felt this. I know that a lot of people in my world like, they're trying to stay on top of AI and what's happening in AI. And you know, I'm even subscribed to some AI newsletters and it's like every week there are new announcements, there are new pieces of software, there's a new feature, right? There's a new something that's going to like, change everything. And it's a lot. And yes, this world is moving fast, right? Like, the speed at which development is happening in the AI space is like lightning. But you don't need to keep up with it all. You don't, you don't have to have there, like there is no pressure on you to keep up with all of these developments. You don't need to be using every single new AI thing that's out there. And in fact, if you're trying to, you're probably falling behind. You know, you need to just find the places or tools in which AI can help you go further faster in your business, but only use those. Do you know what I mean? Like, you just, you don't need to be an AI expert if that is, you know, if that's gonna alleviate some stress for you, like I hope it does. You don't need to use every tool that launches. You don't need to automate every element of your business. I was talking about this with my husband the other day of like, yeah, there are some additional workflows I could build in make or zapier. But like, the return of time on that workflow is so minimal that it's not even worth it. You know, like, if I'm gonna build out this big workflow, because I can, but it's actually just saving me two minutes. Like, I, I don't know that it's worth the two minutes. You know, maybe if I'm doing that two minute thing like ten times a day, but if I'm doing it once a week, eh, uh, I don't think it's a big deal, you know? So you need to run your business. You need to serve your audience, your people, like, your customers, right? You need to focus on the things that are actually gonna move the needle in your business. I also want you to focus on the things that bring you joy and make you feel alive and creative when you work on them, right? Like the stuff that you find fun in your business. You should do more of that. So, yes, use AI to make things easier for yourself within the scope of your business. Use it to handle boring things, use it to handle repetitive things, Use it to help you amplify, right? But don't get caught up thinking you need to chase every update or chase every, like, AI experiment, because you don't. And at the end of the day, like, nobody is buying from you because you're using the latest AI tool, right? They're buying from you because you built a great product or you have a great service and you've done a really good job of communicating that via your personal brand, right? And they trust you. Focus on that. So m. That's where I've landed. Those are some of the things I just needed to get off my chest. AI is cool, it's powerful, it's Gonna keep evolving super fast, probably faster than we can wrap our heads around. But the goal is not to become robotic in your business, right? I actually think you want to lean into how can you become more human in your business? And if you're building a personal brand business like I am, your edge isn't in how many automations you have, right? Your edge is you. And it's how you show up. Your stories from your real life, your opinions, your energy. That is what can't be replicated even by a really good AI twin, you know, so AI can help you do things faster, but your personality is what makes your business stick. And that's what I want you to focus on. So if you've been feeling, I don't know, maybe you've been feeling like disconnected from your content lately, maybe it feels like your brand has lost a bit of its spark. I would encourage you to think about some of the things that we talked about. I also have a new freebie if you want to check it out. It's called the Personality Manifesto. It's basically your guide to bring back or bring to the forefront things about your actual personality that you can. It'll then spit out kind of like a document that you can use to help when you're using AI. Cause I still want you to use AI 100%, but I want it to align, ah, better with you and your personal brand. And the Personality Manifesto will help you put those things about your personality onto paper that then the AI can use, right? So that it can help create content that actually sounds like you, the real person. So you can head on over to Gemma bottomcutter.com personality I'll pop the link in the show notes. It is free. You can grab it. Um, um, that's enough on that. This is the end of my rant for today. I love AI. I'll keep using it, but I'll also keep calling out the, the, the cringe stuff, the, the pointless stuff, right? The things that I think you should avoid. I, I will definitely 100% talk about those things too. Because, you know, I really think the, I think the opportunity for personal brand online business is huge right now, but it belongs to the people who know how to use AI without necessarily becoming AI. All right, that's a wrap on this one. I will see you next time back here on the podcast. That's a wrap on this episode. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you're ready to launch your first course, sign up for our our free class in the show notes to learn my method on how to do it successfully and unlock. Um, an invite into our Signature Program Course Creator School or if you've already launched a course and you're ready to scale and go, Evergreen, it is time to join us inside of the Passive Project, my membership community. For experienced course creators, head to Gemma bonhamcarter.com apply to submit an application if you enjoyed this episode, leave me a rating or review or or tag me over on Instagram at Gemma Bonham Carter. I would love to hear from you. I'll see you next time on the Course Creator Show.