The Great Flattening: The Dark Side of AI Writing & Communications
- Erin Ratliff
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed how we create content. In seconds, it can draft blog posts, write social media captions, summarize research, brainstorm headlines, and even generate entire marketing campaigns. Used thoughtfully, it's an incredible productivity tool.
But somewhere along the way, speed became the goal instead of quality.
As more businesses rely on the same large language models, their messaging begins to sound the same. Brand voices flatten. Original ideas disappear. Soon, the internet is flooded with content that is technically correct, grammatically polished, and...worst of all, completely forgettable.
Reminder: the more saturated the market with AI-content becomes, the more valuable authentic, human-made communications becomes.
In the Information (and Misinformation) Age, knowledge is cheap. Originality and uniqueness, human perspectives and insights, transformation and storytelling, and lived experience are a rare, expensive, and precious commodity.
The Problem Isn't AI—It's How We Use It
Writing isn't simply the act of arranging words on a page. It's how we clarify our thinking, develop ideas, solve problems, and communicate perspective.
When we outsource that entire process to AI, we also outsource the insight as well. AI excels at organizing information, but it cannot replace lived experience, judgment, curiosity, empathy, or a unique point of view
The truth is that AI isn't inherently good or bad. It's a tool. But it can be used when businesses accept the first draft, remove themselves from the creative process, and mistake content generation for communication.
"If you want your brand content to have a unique flavor, invest in the humans who can actually describe the taste of the lemon."
Laura Click
The Telltale Signs of AI-Generated Writing
You don't need an AI detector to recognize artificial content. Most readers instinctively notice when something feels generic, even if they can't explain why. Some common giveaways include:
Basic & Boring
AI often follows highly predictable structures which creates content that's easy to skim but difficult to remember.
Hook
Reframe
Generic insight
Generic takeaway
Repetitive Patterns
Many AI-generated pieces rely on the same rhythm and sentence construction throughout, making the writing feel mechanical (or over-dramatic) rather than natural and conversational.
For example, AI frequently breaks every sentence onto its own line to create artificial emphasis.
Like this.
And this.
When everyone is writing this way, it's no longer impactful. Instead it's distracting.
"Not This, But That" Writing
This has become one of AI's most recognizable habits:
"This isn't failure. It's feedback."
"This isn't marketing. It's storytelling."
"It's not about working harder. It's about working smarter."
Used occasionally, this structure is effective. Used repeatedly, it becomes formulaic and easy to notice.
Generic Motivational Language
Watch for overused phrases like:
"Here's the thing..."
"Let that sink in."
"In today's fast-paced world..."
"The answer might surprise you."
"Let's unpack this."
A Lack of Specificity & Originality
AI tends to produce statistically average language because that's exactly what it's designed to do. Meanwhile, real, authentic human writing contains:
Personal stories
Original observations
Industry expertise
Unexpected comparisons
Concrete examples
Nuance
Humor
Vulnerability
People don't build relationships with polished corporate language. They connect with PERSPECTIVE.
"The world is splitting in two. On one side, an ocean of slop. On the other, things that take time, care, and attention.Slop is cheap. But real is rare. And rare is what people will pay for."
Ryan Levesque
AI-writing: No quirks. No edge. No convinction. No differentiation. Stop outsourcing your brands voice to a computer model trained on the average of everyone elses.
Why Generic Content Is Risky
If every comms professional has access to the same writing tools, then eventually every brand begins sounding similar. No matter how visible you are, being similar means less differentiated, less engaging, and therefor less memorable and less trustworthy.
The reality is that as feeds become increasingly filled with AI-generated content, audiences are becoming more and more selective and discretionary about what deserves their attention or energy. Many readers can sense when content lacks genuine thought or effort—and they simply move on. They save their energy for the brands that show up authetically and "expensively."
When we use AI to flesh out ideas, we lose the most important part of the writing process: thinking.
"Editing AI text is like trying to operate on a body whose skin, muscles, veins, bones, and organs are all compromised. There’s nothing to leave intact, nowhere to begin."
Eve Fairbanks
When AI Actually Makes Sense
Despite the criticism, AI does have a place in modern marketing and communications.
It works adequately for any time the goal is transactional, clarity, or efficiency (not quality/consumption). Examples:
Brainstorming ideas
Research summaries
Outlines
Product descriptions
Basic SEO content
Meeting notes
Internal documentation
Content repurposing
First drafts
Templated ads
New addition for modern job descriptions: "Experience leveraging AI tools for ideation, seeding, enhancement, and editing while still bringing your human expertise to create the best possible content."
I'm not against AI. I'm against the lazy, careless use of AI. It's a helpful tool when channeled properly and you have strong strategy and creative guiding the process. The issue becomes when we think AI can do it all for us without the thinking and intentionality behind it.
"At the top of the market, demand is surging. Brand voice architecture. Enterprise narrative strategy. The judgment to decide what a company should say, to whom, in what order, in what tone, and why. The question is which layer of the market you're building for. The middle is getting eaten and the top has never paid better."
Melissa Rosenthal
Where Human Writers Still Matter Most
Some content will simply not land if it's AI-generated. Certain forms of communication depend on personality, judgment, emotion, and lived experience—the very qualities that distinguish your brand.
So, think carefully before relying on AI for:
Brand messaging
Website copy
About pages
Founder stories
Thought leadership
Personal branding
Sales pages
Speeches
Creative storytelling
Opinion pieces
Good content should feel like recognition—not consumption. It should make readers feel seen, heard, understood, challenged, or inspired.
GenAI is basically autotune for writing. It’s always gonna be popular for the cheaters, the grifters, or those who are lazy, fraudulent, or both.
If You Absolutely Must Use AI
If you insist on using AI as part of your workflow to save time, the key is making sure it remains an assistant—not the author.
Pretend you're using a typewriter. In that age of comms, every single word had to come from your brain to your fingers to your page. No copy/paste, No ctrl+c. No shortcuts.
Here are a few more best practices:
Always Remember Your Audience/Reader
Every piece of content should begin with one question: Who is this for, and what do they need or want?
Start With Your Own Thinking
Write your ideas first before asking AI to edit or organize them. Don't let the machine determine your unique perspective.
Use AI to Refine, Not Replace
Think of AI as an editor rather than a ghostwriter.
Use it to:
Improve clarity
Tighten sentences
Generate variations
Check grammar
Brainstorm headlines
But again, always make sure keep the thoughts and words your own.
Add What AI Can't
Before publishing, ask yourself:
Does this sound like me?
Have I included personal experience?
Have I shared an original insight?
Would someone else write the same thing?
If the answer is yes, keep revising and fine-tuning. NOTE: Once you track how much time you're spending on "humanizing AI content", then you'll quickly see that AI was not a time-saver at all! AI writing is almost impossible to edit without starting over from scratch.
A copywriter is always your best bet, but if you want to edit AI writing yourself: read the whole thing out loud and cut anything you wouldn't say to a customer's face. Mix the sentence lengths, short to long. Kill the buzzwords, jargon, and add one real story or specific detail. Rewrite as if you're saying it over a glass of wine in a noisy bar. These tips alone will remove the majority of the AI "stench".
When the tone is bland, the facts are false, the word choices are awkward, and key pieces of the argument are missing, you'll wonder why you even used AI in the first place.
Prioritize Quality Over Quantity
Publishing more content isn't always better. One thoughtful, well-crafted article often provides more value than ten generic posts.
In the age of AI, information is abundant, but wisdom, judgement, trust, and originality are not.
Reminder: AI can make you an infographic and a LinkedIn post, but it can't make you a true communications professional.
The Future Belongs to Human Creativity
The brands that stand out in the age of AI won't necessarily be the ones publishing the most content. They'll be the ones saying something actually worth remembering.
Your brand deserves more than recycled phrases and generic messaging. It deserves a voice that reflects your expertise, values, and personality while building trust with the people you want to reach.
I create strategic, human-centered content and messaging designed to connect, convert, and stand the test of time.
website copy
sales pages
blogs
email campaigns
social media content,
SEO copywriting
Together we'll create memorable content that can't be replicated because it's so uniquely you.
Mantra: The higher-value the work, the more visible the work, then the more humanity required in the process.
"Why do you still write when GPT can do it for you? Why do you eat when you can guzzle a nutrient shake? Why walk or run when you can drive somewhere? Why sing or play an instrument when software can make it sound perfect? Why cook when you can order in? Why garden when you can just buy flowers and food? Why love someone when you can date a chatbot? Why play with your kids when you can give them an iPad? Why think at all? Why do anything? Because we are human and this is life. When you optimize every piece of joy or pain out of your life, you are creating an existence devoid of meaning and independent thought. And for what? Why do you exist when the world can go on without you?"
Mike Rosenberg
Erin Ratliff is a holistic marketing mentor and creative consultant specializing in organic growth + visibility for heart-led soul-preneurs who value personal and planetary health.
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