AI Content Marketing: Why Human Oversight Still Matters

The Los Angeles Dodgers opened their playoff series against the Atlanta Braves this past weekend, and there was plenty for fans to talk about. Including the concession stand. A hot dog combo was listed at $59.99. And a nacho combo was $34.99.

Yes. Apparently postseason pricing applies to hot dogs too.

But the prices weren't the only thing getting attention. Fans quickly started commenting on the food images displayed on the ordering boards, images that appeared to be AI-generated.

That caught my attention.

The Dodgers are one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, valued at around $8 billion.

And my first thought was: An $8 billion organization can't afford a creative director? Of course they can. And that's exactly the point.

AI Isn't the Problem

I use AI. A lot.

I think every business should be looking at how AI can help people work faster, explore ideas, improve processes and do things that would have taken considerably more time just a few years ago.

But somewhere along the way, some businesses confused using AI with turning the work over to AI. Those aren't the same thing.

AI can be an incredible thought partner.

Give me 20 ideas.

Challenge this concept.

Show me another direction.

What am I missing?

Help me develop this campaign.

Give me five ways we could approach this.

Now we're using AI to make human thinking better.

But when the strategy becomes, "Make me an ad," followed by copy, paste, publish, we've skipped a pretty important part of the process. Human judgment.

Someone Still Has to Protect the Brand

AI doesn't sit in a meeting and understand 20 years of brand equity. It doesn't inherently know when something technically looks fine but somehow feels completely wrong for your company. It doesn't feel embarrassed when your customer immediately looks at an image and thinks: Uh, yeah. That's AI.

You do. Or at least someone in your organization should. That's why human approval becomes more important as AI becomes easier to use, not less.

Someone still needs to ask:

Does this look like us?

Does this sound like us?

Would our customer believe this came from us?

Is it good enough?

And one of my favorites: Would we have approved this before AI made it so easy to create?

Because "AI made it" shouldn't lower the standard.

Easy Content Is Becoming the Problem

This isn't just happening with images. I'm seeing it everywhere in content marketing. Businesses suddenly have the ability to produce more blogs, social posts, emails, graphics and videos than ever before. Which is great. Except a lot of it sounds exactly the same.

You know the posts.

"Here are five ways to transform your business..."

"In today's rapidly evolving landscape..."

"Are you ready to unlock..."

Please. Make it stop.

The technology that's supposed to help us communicate better is sometimes creating an internet filled with businesses that all sound like they hired the same robot.

Because, well...They kind of did.

More Content Isn't the Goal

AI has dramatically lowered the barrier to creating content. That doesn't mean the answer is simply to create more of it.

The goal should be to create better content.

Content with a point of view. Content that sounds like your company. Visuals that strengthen your brand rather than simply fill a space. Ideas that have been challenged, refined and improved by a human who understands the customer and the business.

AI should accelerate the process.

It should expand what's possible.

It should help you get past the blank page.

It should give you ideas you hadn't considered.

It should make your team more capable.

It shouldn't make your brand more generic.

Use AI as a Thought Partner, Not the Final Authority

The businesses that use AI well aren't going to be the ones that automate every possible piece of creative work.

They're going to be the ones that understand where AI makes them better and where human judgment makes the AI better.

Brainstorm with it.

Challenge your thinking with it.

Prototype with it.

Create variations with it.

Use it to move faster.

Then look at the result.

Think.

Edit.

Question it.

Put your experience back into it.

And sometimes say, "Nope. We're not putting that on a 60-foot ordering board."

That's not being anti-AI. That's called having standards. And as AI makes creating almost anything easier, I think standards are about to become one of the biggest competitive advantages a business can have.

AI can create the work.

Humans still have to decide whether the work is excellent.

Is AI Raising Your Standard or Lowering It?

I help businesses figure out where AI, automation and technology can make them better without losing the strategy, judgment and human thinking that built their brand in the first place.

Let's talk.

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EXCELLENCE PAYS: Keep raising the standard.