The Hidden Cost of AI Content (And Why Your Brand Is Paying for It) | 518

Speaker A: What's the cost of AI sameness in storytelling? It's higher than you think, and most companies don't even realize they're paying for it. It's the no bullshit marketing show. I'm Dave Mastovich. Let's dig in. I've been talking about the AI sameness in storytelling for a while now because it's a pattern I've noticed and a problem that I've seen for clients, prospects, friends, colleagues, their companies, people in my network, and pretty much anyone that I'm reading consuming their content. And here's how it goes. The AI seamless of storytelling happens because of this. Many of us have become accustomed to using AI to solve problems. We've entered questions for AI and it's come back and given us answers and feedback and ideas. So now, either subconsciously or consciously, we know how AI writes. And so, either subconsciously or consciously, we're noticing that when we're consuming content that was generated by AI, and that's a problem, and there's a cost to it. Well, lately I just noticed an article from the CEO magazine titled, is your marketing team cheating you with AI? And this article from the CEO magazine talked about the cost. And it emphasized the cost of the very brand voice that you're trying to scale by thinking that you're able to get this story out there more quickly and produced more easily by using AI, but it's actually costing you that brand voice. I would go a step further than the article, and I would say the cost shows up not only in the very brand voice that you're trying to scale, but also I have four or five on this list. The first is you now sound like everyone else. You know what I mean? You can tell when people are using AI, they sound like each other. So you have no differentiation. And then people stop paying attention because you're not conveying your advantage. You're not making it unique to you. Then your growth slows down, and you have no idea why. I've seen it across enough companies to know that it's a pattern and a problem. So where does it show up? Website copy. One, um, of the first things you notice is website copy. If you go to look at someone's website, you can tell if it's in their voice created by them. Then if you go and click to a blog post, that's really where you can start to see this passive voice writing, this writing that sounds the same. It doesn't sound like we talk. Then on social posts, oh, my. I go to LinkedIn and every morning I start at LinkedIn and I do a little exercise just for fun. I click my stopwatch and I do 45 seconds and I go through. And during that 45 seconds, I do a screenshot of posts that are from different companies, different industries, different people, but are worded almost identically the same. And typically within 45 seconds, I can screenshot three to five posts that sound exactly the same. Where they say things like, here I'm reading from. Most professionals don't have this problem. They have that problem. When you see that same type of phrase, almost identical wording as you thumb through your feed, when you see it again and again, whether it's subconsciously or consciously, you know that that's not in that person's voice. So it comes in website copy, blog posts, social media, emails. I had a client say to me, we stopped using this other vendor because they could tell that they weren't even taking the time to write the emails to respond to questions from their client, which is also my client. So these people were taking that and popping it right into ChatGPT to get their response instead of just writing their own response. Another area, you see it in this sales messaging. Most of us get sold and pitched to all day long. You know what I mean? You can tell when there is the AI sameness in storytelling in a sales message, and what do you do? You tune it out. You ignore it. So the cost of AI sameness in storytelling is higher than most people think. And most companies don't even realize that they're paying that cost. Now here's the big key takeaway. Meaning is not what leaders intend, it's what others interpret. Meaning is not what we intend, it's what others interpret. So leaders have to own M meaning you cannot delegate. Meaning you can delegate some execution of your message. You can delegate some execution of your storytelling. I stress the word some because I think leaders need to still be actively involved in the creation of their message and even the execution of it. Leaders need to be doing video, leaders need to be posting on social genuinely themselves. Leaders need to write some blogs. Leaders need to write their own emails. Leaders can get help with the outline for their speech to the state of the organization or their speech to, uh, a group, but it still has to be them. So, um, meaning cannot be delegated. Meaning is what we as leaders have to build and convey. And it has to fit our personality, our vision, our story. It has to be real. And that is why it's so critical that we reduce or eliminate the cost of AI sameness in storytelling. If Your content belongs to everyone. It belongs to no one. That's why your story has to have your meaning, your voice, your personality. It has to be you and your story for both your personal brand and your company brand. So you have to work to reduce or eliminate the cost of AI sameness in storytelling. Thanks for listening to no Marketing show. If your growth is stalled, reach out. We'll accelerate it together.