A while back I was asked to test a copywriting AI tool. The results will show why I’m choosing not to name it.

All I knew prior to using it was its name. For my first test I just put the title in and hit autocreate. This is what it came up with for the provided title ‘Copywriting using AI’. It threw out 2 options.

option 1
“This is not much like what you normally use, though,” said Dr Lorna at the end of the screen session. “Have you ever considered using an actual editor for your scripts?” she asked me.

option 2
Hello there! This is an example of a text file, but you may not understand something about one or two instances on its surface. You will probably learn that if you type things into the “hello” field then some other application starts processing them as needed for your conversation (such applications are called “interfaces”). But do remember that nothing can get passed through unless specifically selected by the user when they entered their message here; however, we assume…

Hm, OK. So based on this I decided to come at it from another angle. I copied in the opening paragraph of an earlier blog post of mine.

My copy
Don’t pinkwash this Pride
This month (June) is global pride month – a worldwide celebration of LGBT+ people and communities. Events, hashtags, rainbow logos and merch – lots and lots of merch. Just slap a rainbow and/or some sparkles on your products, adorn your logo with a rainbow and you’re done right! Erm no. You might be just be pinkwashing.

Then I hit autocreate.

The AI autocreated copy
Pinkwashing or ‘pink washing’, sometimes referred to as pinkwashinging (typo theirs not mine) can refer loosely either the act itself but also its connotations within wider LGBT campaigns that use it for political ends; especially in regards to transgender rights where transphobia has been used by conservative groups such as Christian Identity movement who have sought to justify their own bigotry.

Call me a quitter but I gave up after this.

I was, and am, predisposed to be unimpressed by AI in copywriting. I don’t even like LinkedIn’s suggested replies to messages or Gmail’s, in fact I haven’t found any that I like. They aren’t my voice. I don’t use awesome or emojis or reach out. And I’m not alone.

It may be that one day there will be some excellent AI copywriters out there. But for now, only real-life human people produce realistic authentic copy readable by other humans.