08/31/2026
After 30 years in the marketing business, I’ve seen a lot of things come along that were supposed to change everything. LOL! I’ve been pretty quiet about AI, but I think it’s time I said how I feel about using it in marketing.
I use it myself and sometimes we use it in our business. It saves time with coding, helps with ideas, research, planning and a hundred other things.
But people are starting to confuse “AI can do this” with “AI should do this completely on its own.”
-> Take logos for example.
A logo generated entirely by AI, with no meaningful human creative contribution, generally is not copyrightable.
You can ask AI to make you a logo and 20 seconds later you may have something that looks great. But do you know if it looks like somebody else’s logo? Can you trademark it? Is it really original? Will it work on a shirt, a truck, a sign or a billboard? Do you even have the right type of files to use it everywhere you are going to need it?
Those are things most people don’t think about when they see a cool logo pop up on the screen.
-> Copy (text) is another one.
AI is good at writing some copy. It can give you something that sounds very professional, BUT when you really read it, it may not say much of anything.
It can sound like every other company in your industry. It can repeat itself. It can misunderstand your business. And yes, it can occasionally just make something up. This is called hallucinating.
That’s not a knock on AI. You just need somebody reading it who actually knows the business and can say, “Nope!”
-> Then there are websites.
This is probably the one I have the biggest issue with.
AI can build a good-looking website. But I’ve been doing this long enough to know that making a website LOOK good is only part of the job.
What happens behind the scenes?
->Is Google going to understand the site?
->Are you targeting things people are actually searching for?
->Does everything work properly on a phone?
->Is it accessible?
->Is it fast?
->Is the navigation easy to understand?
->Are you giving people a reason to call you?
->Can the site grow later?
->Can you move it somewhere else?
->Do you own your content and have full control of the website?
Those things aren’t nearly as exciting as watching AI create a website in five minutes, but they matter.
So I’m definitely not in the “AI is going to ruin everything” camp. Not even close.
I think AI is one of the best tools we’ve gotten in a very long time and I think businesses that learn how to use it are going to have a huge advantage.
I just don’t think you throw experience out the window because the tool got better.
A hammer is a great tool too. I still wouldn’t let it build my house by itself.
So use AI, BUT use it with someone who knows what they are looking at.
We use AI, but we don’t simply push a button and hand the result to a client.
We review the copy. We check the facts. We look at the SEO. We make sure the website works on mobile. We look at accessibility, navigation, calls to action and whether the site is actually built to generate business.
That’s really where I think this is all going.
Not AI versus people.
AI WITH experienced people.
If you’re thinking about a new website, redesigning an existing one, or wondering how AI could fit into your marketing, give us a call 732-818-0080.
