4 Why Reasons AI Won’t Steal Your Job as a Copywriter
By Nick Usborne

In my last article I shared some fundamental reasons why AI does a poor job of writing sales copy.

Much of it boils down to the fact that large language models like ChatGPT deliver the “average” of everything they know.

And great copy doesn’t get written by being average.

In this article I want to focus less on what AI can and can’t do, and more on what only humans can do.

Only humans love to write

I love the craft of copywriting. I have since I got my first job as a trainee copywriter back in 1979.

After work I’d go through magazines and newspapers until I found an ad by a renowned copywriter. I’d then write out the full text on a pad of lined paper, word for word. I’d read it out loud. I’d look for the rhythm and flow of every sentence. I’d feel for the changes in pace as I read the ad, from start to finish.

As a copywriter, I’m not an artist or author. But I have a craft. And I feel strongly about doing it well.

And that devotion to craft comes through in the work you do for your clients.

Love of your craft shows. It has a life and an energy that fires up every ad, email, or sales page you write.

AI models don’t and can’t love the craft of copywriting.

Only humans can love their audience

Back in the UK, during my early years as a copywriter, I’d sometimes hear my colleagues describing the audience for our promotions as “punters.” In North America, people would use the word “suckers.”

Both are derogatory terms.

When you view your audience through that kind of cynical lens, everything changes. You write copy designed to manipulate your audience. You use tricks and devices to fool people into buying.

That approach can work in the short term. You can make more sales this quarter by fooling people into buying. But it doesn’t work out in the long term. Sooner or later your audience will realize they’re being manipulated.

When that happens, you lose their trust. And when you have a brand that is no longer trusted, it’s over.

The best copywriters love their audience. They set out to solve their problems with new products and services. They have respect for their audience and genuinely want to serve them.

With that more positive mindset, the emotional connection you feel with your reader changes. And your copy gets better.

AI can never achieve a true emotional connection with its readers.

Only humans can love a product or service

The best copy I have written has been for industries and products that I truly believed in.

The highest-converting direct-mail letter I ever wrote was for a friend who ran an aromatherapy company. I loved the products. I took some home and used them.

The highest-converting sales page I wrote was for a self-hypnosis product to help with procrastination and productivity. I used it myself with amazing results.

On the other hand, the worst-converting email campaign I ever wrote was for an accounting software package. I barely even understood it. I definitely didn’t love it.

When you choose clients and products that you love, it gives you a positive energy that almost always improves the quality of what you write.

An AI tool can’t try out that aromatherapy product. It can never tap into that positive experience and then leverage it to write better copy.

Only humans can write like a hyped-up poet

Poetry? Yup.

Poetry uses meter, rhythm, and pace to keep the reader reading, and to place emphasis where it belongs.

As copywriters we try to do the same.

Here’s a famous tagline copywriter Suzie Henry wrote for the Commercial Union insurance company:

We won’t make a drama out of a crisis.

Focus on the stressed syllables and you’ll find the underlying rhythm.

WE won’t MAKE a DRA‑ma OUT of a CRI‑sis.

The final emphasis is on the final word … a power word.

Read it out loud and you’ll see what I mean.

This is something AI models are horrible at. First, they don’t think about sales copy in terms of poetic discipline. Second, whenever I ask for a headline idea, it almost always fades away in the last few words. It doesn't punch like … “OUT of a CRI‑sis.”

Good poets and copywriters also use line breaks, line length, and paragraph length to vary the pace.

Use short lines for clarity and impact, longer ones to immerse, explain, or build tension, and alternate them to create momentum.

Using a poetic mindset brings us back to love of craft, and pride in writing powerful copy that has a strong beginning, middle, and end.

Can AI do this? Absolutely not. I keep experimenting, but all I get is weak, floppy headlines, and predictable, monotonous body copy.

The future of copywriting is human

AI can write decent content and average copy. But not good copy.

This is your opportunity, and your challenge.

The opportunity lies in the fact that AI can’t write great copy. The challenge lies in the fact that you need to get the training to write good copy, and fire up the love and passion to write truly great copy.

It’s a good challenge!