My manager sent the email on a Thursday afternoon.

“We need a marketing campaign by the end of the month. You’re leading it.”

No agency. No budget. No marketer on the team.

Only me. I stared at his message for a long time.

Then I did what every IT person does when they don’t know something — I started Googling. One tab turned into twenty. And that’s how I stumbled into the world of artificial intelligence in digital marketing.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

Here’s what actually happened.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵?

This was one of the questions for today’s Founder Coffee: AI x Growth.

Let’s start here:

AI doesn't sound robotic because it is AI.
It sounds robotic because it lacks human direction.

AI-generated content can be spotted quickly.
Most often, it comes down to two key reasons: not having a strong sense of what good writing sounds like and not being clear on your own voice.

Three things you can do today:

𝟭. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁
If you want AI to sound human, start with your own tone of voice.
How do you actually sound with clients, partners, or your community?
Clear? Warm? Direct? Strategic? Thoughtful?
AI can't reflect a voice you haven't defined.

𝟮. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
In addition to sharing strong examples, explain exactly what you want, step by step.
You’d be surprised how often AI misses the mark not because it's incapable, but because the direction wasn't specific enough.
Just like with people, the quality of the result depends on how well you communicate.

𝟯. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽
AI can produce a strong draft.
But you are the one who decides what should go out and what's missing.
That's one of the reasons why, in AIMAR, we keep a human layer for approval and process management.

So maybe the better question is not how to use AI without losing the human touch, but how to lead AI to amplify it.