Why AI copy feels cold, and what that could cost your brand
A few nights ago, I watched 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Donald Sutherland spends most of the movie looking wonderfully underwhelmed. Brooke Adams is amazing as the woman who notices something is wrong with her boyfriend and does the detective work to expose the invasion. Jeff Goldblum does a brilliant job at being Jeff, whose girlfriend works in a weird New York City bathhouse. The special effects are super outdated but still creepy. There’s a smattering of head-crunchingly good gore. As expected, the acting occasionally tips into melodrama.
It’s pretty good. And a bit unsettling in the modern context.
Unlike Mars Attacks, the plant-like parasitic aliens don't arrive in spaceships with their lasers a-blazing. They quietly replace us while we sleep. The replacements look identical, dress the same, head off to work and even talk. They’re actually very organised.
Until our heroine notices there’s something unusually cold about her boyfriend, does a little covert detective work, and her feeling of unease begins to spread.
It got me thinking.
Imagine a brand you've followed for years. You like the ‘cut of their jib’. They make you smile; make you think, and you feel as though you know them. You use, wear or invest in their products because they are like you. Then one day they announce that their voice is not human.
Would it change how you felt?
We've happily accepted ghostwriters and copywriters for decades. CEOs don't always write their own speeches. Founders don't agonise over their monthly newsletters. Good copywriters have always helped businesses express what they think more clearly than they could themselves. So, is there a difference between a human copywriter presenting the brand or an application?
A 2025 study published in the Journal of Business Research explored something surprisingly similar. Researchers presented people with identical marketing messages. The only difference was who participants believed had written them. When they thought the author was AI rather than a human, perceptions of authenticity dropped, along with loyalty and willingness to recommend the brand.
I think that is huge.
Perhaps that's because we don't simply buy products from brands. We build relationships with them. We recognise their voice. We learn their personality. We decide whether we trust them.
If one day you discovered that a brand you'd admired for years hadn't written a single word you'd ever read, would it change how you felt about them?
And if you’re currently using AI to save time and money, what will happen if the people who support you catch wind of something…inhuman?
