AI didn't kill copywriting. It made brand strategy stand out.
"You're a copywriter, so AI must be your worst enemy, right?"
I hear something like this every few weeks—at parties, at networking breakfasts, from the stranger sitting next to me on a plane. I always give the same answer: "No. I love it. I use it every day to write copy and craft stories."
The expression changes. A slight frown. The script they had prepared no longer fits. So they fall back on the one thing everyone agrees on. "Yeah, but it makes so many mistakes, doesn't it?"
It does. And the mistakes feel strangely familiar, because AI learned them from us. We wanted AI to sound and feel human, and to be human is to be flawed. But that’s another conversation.
20/60/20
Last December, I attended a talk on “Storytelling for Founders” at Wintercircus in Ghent. James Vincent spent over a decade shaping Apple’s narrative alongside Steve Jobs and shared his perspective on how to use AI to achieve optimal results: let AI do 80% of the work, but let a human handle the remaining 20%. He was talking about AI automation in general, and he’s probably right.
But in my experience, when it comes to writing, it doesn't follow an 80/20 split. It follows a 20/60/20 split.
The first 20% is mine. The thinking. The angle. The foundation for everything that follows. Then AI starts generating its 60%, quickly and effectively. The last 20% is where I step back in. That involves fact-checking, refining the tone of voice, and determining what holds up. Because AI is only ever as good as the input you provide.
People watch this happen and see the writing industry shrinking. I see the opposite. AI has made words cheap. Yes. But it has made the thinking that comes before the words more valuable than it has ever been.
Copywriting matters less now. Brand strategy has never mattered more.
AI is a mirror
The game has come down to that first 20% created by humans. Get it tight, sharp, and accurate, and the machine has something solid to build on. Get it wrong, and… well, we all know what happens.
AI reflects what is already in front of it. A mirror, basically. In a way, it’s like the market: everything everyone has already said, averaged out, and handed back to you. The first 20% is the one thing it cannot generate, because that part isn’t out there yet. It comes from within the person who built the company—the one who took a risk to show the world how things can and should be different.
When I sit down with a founder, I’m not there to simply repeat back what they’ve already said about themselves. I’m not a mirror. I’m there to uncover what they can’t see—not the story they tell the market, but the human story that sets them apart. You won’t find that in the reflection; you’ll find it behind the mirror.
So no, AI isn’t my enemy. It took on the tasks that anyone can now do and made them affordable. It shook up the creative writing industry, but staying sad and angry is what kills a career—not AI. It showed me where my real strength and talent lie: in helping people see parts of themselves they’re unaware of—parts that drive their every move—and then putting that into words they can carry with them, and that others can relate to.
Anyone can come up with the words these days, so what sets you apart is your voice.
You can’t find it on the market. You find it within the founder.
