Augmenting Intelligence: AI Should Support, Not Supplant, Your Creativity

When you delegate your social media, blogs and website content entirely to AI, what are you communicating? That your voice isn't worth your time? That connecting with customers is just another box to tick? That authenticity is negotiable? I've been pondering these and other questions. The result is this blog...

I was indulging in a little doom scrolling recently when a Canva AI advert popped up. The promise was simple and seductive: let AI write all your social media posts for you. No need to think about what to say, 5 minutes and done. No need to inject your personality or expertise. Just click a button and watch the content appear.

My immediate reaction was unease. Not because I'm a Luddite who fears technology, but because I, and many business friends and acquaintances have spent years helping businesses build genuine connections with their customers. Authentic communication matters and the moment you outsource your voice entirely to AI; you've stopped being you.

The Critical Distinction

This concern was expressed perfectly by Heather Stewart's recent Guardian article arguing that "AI must augment rather than replace us or human workers are doomed." She's right. The distinction between augmentation and replacement isn't just semantic quibbling. It's the difference between using technology to amplify what makes us valuable and allowing it to erase us entirely.

The problem with the "AI will do it all for you" narrative is that it fundamentally misunderstands what makes business communication work. When a hotel owner writes about their property, they're not just conveying information about room rates and amenities. They're sharing their passion for hospitality, their understanding of what guests need, their unique perspective on the local area. That can't be replicated by an algorithm, no matter how sophisticated.

Why Authenticity Cannot Be Automated

This matters especially in relationship-based industries. In hospitality, consulting, professional services, and plenty of other sectors, people do really buy from people. They want to know who you are, what you stand for, and why you're different. A generic AI-generated post might tick boxes for posting frequency, but it does nothing to build the trust that converts browsers into customers.

The irony is that AI can be genuinely useful when positioned correctly. I use AI tools regularly in my work, but always as a collaborator rather than a replacement. When I'm facing a blank page, AI can help me generate initial ideas or outline structures. When I've written something that feels muddled, it can help me identify where my thinking needs clarification. When I'm short on time, it can handle routine tasks so I can focus on the work that requires my specific expertise and perspective.

What Augmentation Looks Like

This is augmentation. It's about using technology to handle the mechanical aspects of work whilst preserving and even enhancing the human elements that create real value. It's using AI to draft that first version so you can spend your energy on refining, personalising, and injecting authenticity. It's letting algorithms handle data analysis whilst you focus on interpreting what that data means for your specific business context.

The businesses that thrive in the coming years won't be those that hand everything over to AI, nor will they be those that reject it entirely. They'll be the ones that find the sweet spot: using AI to become more efficient, more productive, and more focused on the high-value work that only humans can do.

A Better Path Forward

Heather Stewart's warning about economic doom isn't hyperbole. If we accept the premise that AI should replace human input rather than support it, we're accepting our own obsolescence. But if we position AI as augmenting intelligence, we're claiming a different future: one where technology makes us more capable, more creative, and more human, not less.

The goal should be elevating human capability, not eliminating human involvement. Use AI to free yourself from drudgery, but invest that saved time in deeper thinking, stronger relationships, and more authentic communication.

Your customers can tell the difference between content that comes from someone who cares and content that comes from an algorithm. They might not be able to articulate exactly what feels off, but they'll sense it.

The businesses that thrive won't be those that hand everything over to AI. They'll be those that harness AI's capabilities whilst maintaining their essentially human core: the ability to connect, to care, and to communicate with genuine understanding.

If you would like some human help with the words that explain you, your business and the strategy that goes with them, drop me a message.