AI Is Here to Stay, But What Are We Losing in the Creative Process?

The Case for Critical Thinking in the Age of Efficiency

Despite my compact stature just shy of 5’2”, I remember the growing pains in my legs as a child. They kept me up at night and made me halt at random moments during gymnastics practice. It seems so strange to think back now, wondering why I had to go through the pain of growth.

Change is hard. We typically fight it, kicking and screaming, until we realize it might help us.

Laptops were a shiny new thing when I was in undergrad, but in 2005, many of my professors banned them from class, worried we would be distracted or find ways to cheat with them.

My poor left hand, covered in smeared ink from taking notes.

But look how far we’ve come: we carry tiny computers in our back pockets, complete with every app imaginable, including the newest innovation accessible to all:artificial intelligence.

We saw AI take over the world in horror films growing up, but now it’s just our work bestie, personal therapist, and 24/7 collaborator…right?

Isthis a strange dissonance or just the growing pains of change?

The Growth of AI in Marketing

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Technology is constantly advancing. Just like anything else, marketers are expected to stay ahead of the industry trends — as leaders, not mindless followers.

Similar to your CRM or email platform, AI is a tool. It can increase efficiency, productivity, and innovation. Anything can be negative when taken to an extreme — people are nervous about job loss or AI taking over, so we need to understand it and its uses as it continues to evolve, so that we don’t have a Terminator situation on our hands.

Artificial intelligence has been in development for decades, but large language models(LLMs) made AI accessible to the masses in the early 2020s, ushering in what we now know as generative AI (GenAI).

As AI advances, the number of tools and platforms is growing exponentially, with estimates reaching tens of thousands (Christopher Pappas, eLearning Industry, 2026). With so many options, where do we begin?

Many users claim AI helps them save time, automate processes, and even boost creativity.

And while efficiency is helpful for multiple marketing processes, content writers and other creatives across the world still scream.

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Here are a few reasons why:

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• Generative AI has been trained on copyrighted material without permission (Adam Buick, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, 2024).
• It consumes massive amounts of energy and resources (Mahmut Kandemir, Institute of Energy and the Environment, 2026).
• It’s a series of repetitive patterns, but it cannot fully understand or make ethical judgments (Ollie Burkett, SNHU, 2026).
• It makes stuff up, also known as AI hallucination (Joe McKendrick, Forbes, 2026).

And that’s not to mention the actual writing output, including how it unnecessarily adds adjectives, groups everything into lists of three, lacks empathy and human feeling, and honestly, just feels too perfect grammatically and stylistically.

Think about all the beautiful things we love about good writing. The way that stories pull us in and gut us out. The connections we form with words on a page. Those are missing from GenAI. For creatives, it’s painful to embrace.

Yes, we can “edit the AI out,” but it might take us just as long (if not longer).

And if we start with no soul, can we truly add it back in?

AI Has a Place, But Not Everywhere

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15years ago, I interviewed my grandmother about stories from our Irish heritagefor my folklore class in grad school. It was close to my heart, and Ioveranalyzed every word of how to get it right.

I recorded our initial interview over the phone.

I wrote that ugly rough draft, then printed it out.

Then, I did something absurd: I cut it into sentences, paragraphs and chunks and rearranged it on the floor — a literal copy and paste.

And it finally came together before my eyes.

It wasn’t until I touched it, immersed myself in it with all my senses, and made it work in my own way that it would make sense for others to read. Without the crutch of AI, I had to struggle through the process, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

Now, I see that what is labeled “efficiency” signifies the gradual loss of the thoughtful effort required to develop processes that lead to something beautiful.

The more we rely on AI to do our thinking for us, the more our minds atrophy.

For example, the 2025 MIT study “Your Brain on ChatGPT” explored the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing and found that students who relied heavily on AI for writing tasks experienced cognitive debt, or a decline in critical thinking due to over-reliance on AI rather than thinking independently (MIT Media Lab, 2025).

And there are more studies:

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• One states, “90% of [college] faculty say AI is weakening student learning” (Dr. Aviva Legatt, Forbes via Elon University, 2026).
• Another notes, “AI quietly undermines the joy and effort of learning” (MK Hasan, National Library of Medicine, 2025).  

I’ve seen the above happen firsthand.

Yes, the creative process is often slow and painful. But that’s how we create the most rewarding outcomes.

The next time you read a comment that adds nothing to the conversation or a LinkedIn post using the “It’s not X, it’s Y” pattern that feels jarring, pause. Yes, it’s ok to mourn the loss of the emotional connection we’ve allowed AI to seize.

AI tools can make things go faster. They can analyze datasets and automate processes.

But AI tools can’t make you feel. That’s the gap creatives ­(and all humans) should fill.

The problem is:

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• Creativity has come to be seen as a lesser skill.
• Writers (and other creative roles) are viewed as “replaceable.”
• It’s just a string of words that anyone, or thing, can put together. Right?

Thinking is a necessary skill. Writing is the art that results from it, honed by years of painstaking practice.

Staring at a blank page or screen. Feeling judged and judging yourself. Trying to separate yourself from your work. It’s an act of labor. Once you hit a stride, as with many activities, it feels easier, but the process is what makes the result so worth the journey.

Top AI Organizations See the Value of Good Writers and Thinkers

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The classic 90s Alanis Morissette song “Ironic” has been argued to contain nothing truly ironic. So, is it now ironic that AI companies are hiring humans to write about AI tools?

Although it may seem paradoxical, it’s just a good business strategy.

In fact, a hot topic of articles and LinkedIn posts in 2025 and 2026 highlighted well-paying roles in content writing, communication, and editing at tech companies like OpenAI and Anthropic: “tech companies are increasingly seeing creating a narrative as a strategic weapon to win investor trust and public legitimacy” (Sherin Shibu, Entrepreneur, 2026).

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These companies are investing heavily in writers, paying for capabilities that GenAI can't automate or replicate, including emotional intelligence, critical thinking, strategic processes, and other creative pathways skilled writers bring.

Many believed AI would replace writers; instead, AI companies began hiring them.

Which begs the question: why are so many marketing teams devaluing their content with poor AI writing, full of circular ideation and repetitive phrasing?

Budgets. Lack of time and resources. Never-ending excuses. But at the end of the day, your content has to stand out or get lost in the shuffle.

“In a world flooded with derivative automated drivel, human writers will allow readers a breath of air, like a green park in a polluted city” (Susie Alegre, Wired, 2025).

Trained or not, your customers will feel the difference. AI will continue to spit out circular ideas and empty words without any real critical thinking involved.

Even if the tech companies know writers are necessary in the age of AI, we must keep saying: stay on your side, AI.

What Should Marketers and Creatives Do About AI?

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Let’s level-set. Obviously, like the typewriter, the internet, laptop computers and other big changes we all fought because change is scary, AI is here to stay.

The mass accessibility of AI might make some people think they’re automatically professional designers, copywriters, or marketers, but stay the course. True skill sets will be clear and easily identifiable.

Here are a few things to keep in mind (and keep your wits about you) as you move forward:

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1. Prioritize Helpful, Human-Centered Storytelling

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SEO remains the same at its core, as Google, the GOAT, explained it in a recent publication on optimizing for generative AI features: create content that is “helpful, reliable and people-first” (Google Search Central, 2026).

SEO best practices apply similarly to generative AI search because it pulls information humans want to see, feel, and relate to — not what bots want to see! That’s the content that will perform. Whether you’re writing for B2B or B2C, your customers are human at the end of the day.

We must prioritize empathy, emotion, creativity, and critical thinking in everything we do.  

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2. Increase Efficiency without Cutting Corners

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Some are relying on AI instead of their own critical thinking and internal thought process, and it’s becoming a huge problem, but that doesn’t have to be your story.

Let AI assist, not lead.

Ask yourself (and your team):

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• What tools are most effective?
• Where can it help enhance my daily tasks?
• How do I skill up and implement it?

You can be guarded about AI in certain areas while appreciating its worth in others.

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3. Prompt better.

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If you want to offset the environmental footprint of your personal AI use, practice mindful prompting and turn off unnecessary built-in AI features in your software tools.

Start with your ideas. Human intellect and creativity are key!

Your initial prompt matters, and should include as much information as possible — like setting the scene for a story. You won’t overload it; that’s what these models love! Plus, it wastes less energy, so we love that for the earth.

• Prompts should include:
  
  • Your purpose/goal
  • Specific context (the more, the better)
  • Target audience information and the channel you’re writing content for
  • Give examples (writing styles, similar content)
  • Prompt like a journalist: who, what, when, where, why
• Use a series of prompts to break down your task and get improved output
• With prompting, “trash in, trash out.” The better your prompt, the better your output!
• Even with paid accounts, never put confidential information into AI platforms.
• After: Edit, edit, edit.
  
  • Always fact-check (find original sources to cite if needed)
  • Edit all output; you have the final say on your company/personal voice and tone

Once you get the information back from your AI tool, that is not your final draft. Remember AI hallucination? Yeah, still true. It also sources things that are a quote-of-a-quote-of-a-quote-of-a-quote. That’s not a true source!

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4. Leverage SMEs

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A great way to differentiate your content is to utilize subject matter experts (SMEs) from your company or industry. Although it may seem tough to get them on board initially, it can become a mutually beneficial partnership that brings long-term value for your organization and improves engagement and content performance.  

This will help you:

• Bridge the gap between technical products and marketing
• Effectively translate value to stakeholders
• Build mutual respect across teams
• Become a thought leader in the industry
• Differentiate and build value

If you’re curious to learn how to do this, attend the session “How to Leverage SMEs for Content Production (Without Wasting their Time)”  at Content Marketing World 2026 to make it happen! 

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5. Focus on authenticity

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B2B or B2C becomes irrelevant when you realize it should be H2H: human-to-human content.

Do business in a genuine way, and your customers will want to keep coming back. Sure, efficiency is important for the bottom line, but if the first impression your prospects get is a soulless bot, maybe that’s not where to cut the budget. Authentic storytelling is key.

When AI makes you frustrated, and even “in the depths of despair,” as Anne Shirley so eloquently put it, just remember there will always be a new development, but nothing can replace the brilliant mind that’s inside of you.

In fact, I was about at my wits’ end reading too much mess about AI on LinkedIn. Then, I came up with the title of this article while out on a run.

Maybe when you’re stuck, step away from all the tech. Breathe in the air. The ideas will come back, just like hope, fresh and new.

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And when you need a human strategist and word nerd who thinks alongside you to make things happen when the world is full of byte-speak, I've got you.

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