S2 Ep15 AI Can Write Effective Marketing, But It's Essential It Doesn't

In this episode, I share an unfiltered musing on AI, creativity, and what we risk losing when convenience replaces embodiment.

Sparked by a quiet, introspective morning and a deeper reflection on my own nature as a truth-teller, I explore why AI has become such an energetic drain in my business, despite its undeniable brilliance as a tool. I speak candidly about losing clients to AI, the eerily familiar feeling of reading content that no longer feels alive, and the growing erosion of raw human voice in marketing and creative work.

This conversation isn’t about shaming AI or rejecting innovation. Instead, it’s an invitation to look at how and why we’re using it. I unpack the difference between streamlining systems versus outsourcing our voice, our messiness, and the very processes that shape embodied expertise. From perfectionism and healing, to trial-and-error, discipline in art, and the energetic frequency carried through word, this episode is a call to return to trust in our own expression.

If you’ve felt disconnected from your content, uninspired by what you’re reading online, or quietly grieving the loss of depth and originality in the digital world, this episode offers both validation and a powerful reframe. It’s a reminder that marketing, like art, is meant to be felt, not just optimised.

I'd love to hear what you thought of this episode!

Head over to Instagram and let me know:

www.instagram.com/em___orlando

If you are interested in working together, you can head to my website here:

www.consciouscreatorco.com

Transcript

(0:00) Hi and welcome to The Mirror, the podcast where conscious business owners learn how to practise (0:06) marketing that is conscious, enjoyable and a true mirror of the brilliance of their service. (0:13) This isn't another generic marketing podcast, this is where you learn the deep psychological (0:18) principles that create effective marketing, where you can quiet the noise of the business world and (0:24) tune in to how to do things that are a true reflection of you, where you can learn how to (0:29) finally have the impact you know you are capable and worthy of having. I'm your host Emma, a (0:36) marketing expert of over a decade.I truly love what I do and I'm bursting with knowledge to (0:41) share with you all, so sit back, relax and let's dive in. Hi and welcome back to another episode. (0:50) It has been one of those mornings this morning where it's really dark, really rainy and I (0:55) actually crawled back into bed and have pretty much just been writing all morning.I've got (1:00) my lamps on, my candles lit and it feels very cosy over here and my inspiration to write actually (1:08) came from me researching a part of my astrology and I have no idea where this came from but (1:14) I think I've been listening to a lot of content recently where people have been speaking about (1:19) their stellium, like having a stellium within their chart and I had no idea what this meant. (1:25) When I researched it, it said about having three or more planets in one zodiac sign and I was like (1:32) I must have that because I know I have a lot of Scorpio in my chart and so I was researching it and (1:39) I do have a Scorpio stellium and when I was looking into the themes on that, something that kept (1:45) coming up was about diving deep into things which I already know is so within my nature (1:53) but also saying the things that others won't say and kind of being bold in doing that and every (2:00) time I read something around this sentiment, the same thing kept coming up for me and it was me (2:07) sitting there thinking I know I want to speak more boldly about AI and I know that it is something (2:14) that is kind of like on the tip of my tongue whilst also so deeply buried that I'm not even sure how to (2:21) access it and when I sat with that, I realised it's because I feel like some of the things I want (2:27) to say might seem a little bit controversial, potentially a little bit on the call-out vibe (2:33) and I feel uncomfortable doing that because I am also very compassionate and empathetic and (2:40) as you all know because I say it all the time, I'm a Libra and I'm very much rooted in finding (2:45) balance and seeing all perspectives and seeing all sides but I think a part of that can also (2:50) mean that I don't fully say what I really really believe and want to say and of course like so many (2:58) of us there's that fear of rejection and the fear of being called out myself and having people (3:05) disagree with me but also the more that I really root into my power and actually into this Scorpio (3:11) as I've been reading on it, the more I realise that it doesn't have to land for everybody (3:16) but it is a truth that is mine that I want to express and perhaps actually for others it can (3:22) be really activating and it can actually be of great service and I speak about this a lot but I (3:28) think when you are someone who is visionary, you're rooted in creating change, not everyone is going (3:34) to get it, agree with it, like it, praise it and I think that actually really being able to step (3:40) into your power and your truth means that you have to start to be okay with that and of course (3:47) it's a slow process and I'm very much like recording this episode today, holding myself (3:53) through it because yeah I know it is a big one and I think that's also part of it as well, I've (3:57) kind of felt overwhelmed by how much I could talk about within this but essentially something I have (4:04) been really sitting with is where my energy thrives in my business and a while ago I worked (4:11) with a mentor and actually I think that was one of the questions on the pre-worksheet was something (4:17) around like what feels more like an energy drain in your business at the moment and the first thing (4:23) that came through for me was AI and as I have mentioned before I actually lost quite a few (4:29) clients to AI over the last few years, these were like brands that I worked with on a retainer basis (4:35) and they basically just replaced me with AI. I now see all the stuff I used to do come up on my news (4:43) feed, land in my mailing with very obvious AI literature, it's very obvious that it's been (4:53) written by that and in some cases I actually think that they have inputted some of the stuff that I (4:58) have written and then it's kind of rewritten that so it's this very weird feeling to have that land (5:05) in my inbox and yeah it feels very dystopian in a weird way and so when I think about this and (5:13) I was like okay why am I finding AI so draining and I think that there's an element that is just (5:21) actually rooted in frustration.I'm feeling this deep rooted frustration that so many incredible (5:27) brands, business owners, creators are you know putting their work through the AI filter (5:34) or at worst just having AI write it entirely and the thing is is AI is writing good stuff, (5:42) really good stuff, it's incredibly clever, it can you know take past work as I was saying and (5:48) match your tone and write clearly and write strategically and it can be trained for SEO (5:54) and algorithms and all the things so it's such an intelligent tool and I actually find that (5:59) really exciting. I think that that in a way is revolutionary and I remember one of my friends (6:06) a while back who is very like ahead of the curve with everything like she had invested in cryptocurrency (6:11) before most people even knew what cryptocurrency was. She's very much got this vision of living off (6:17) land, like living in community, living naturally, like I'm so inspired by her vision and when I (6:24) spoke to her about AI when it kind of first started to hit the scene what she said really (6:29) stuck with me and she said hey why would we not want the robots to do this stuff like certain (6:36) stuff that is time consuming for us, isn't overly fulfilling, isn't necessarily the work we really (6:44) want to be doing so then we can spend more time in nature and on the land and in our purpose and (6:51) in connection with each other and I loved that viewpoint so much, it really helped me reframe (6:57) my perception around AI and I have since heard so many people talk about how they use it to (7:02) streamline their systems and it's created so much space in their business and I love that, I'm so (7:07) here for it all but I think the flip side of it is is that I have seen it be so detrimental (7:14) and mostly to individual business owners who have been on their own journey with really reclaiming (7:22) their voice and really rooting into the power of what they have to say and creating space for (7:29) their messiness, you know the messiness of being a human and healing the parts of them that perhaps (7:35) haven't felt enough or have been rooted in perfectionism or comparison or scared you know (7:42) like scared to put the true self out into the world and I think AI has met a lot of people there and (7:49) created this almost like relief, I spoke about in another episode how I had listened to another (7:54) episode where people were talking about how it's easier to use somebody else's strategy because (8:02) there's this perceived illusion of safety behind it, if it's not fully yours, if it doesn't go well, (8:08) if people don't like it, if it doesn't you know do what you wanted it to do, whatever that may be (8:14) and there's this kind of safety behind it because it wasn't yours anyway, you know it kind of gives (8:19) this cushioning and I think AI has started to do that for us as well, it feels easier to put out (8:26) something that AI has either written or edited than to put out our very raw messy words and I (8:34) was thinking on this the other day because when I was an intern I was such a huge perfectionist, (8:39) I was at the start of my career and I was so deep in that place of like I must prove myself, (8:45) I must go above and beyond, everything must be perfect and when I look back now I actually had (8:51) such an insane amount of responsibility for an intern who was like brand new in that world, (8:57) in PR it's very common to hugely overload interns and to give them responsibility that is way beyond (9:04) their pay cheque and so I was feeling really intense pressure, I was very anxious and like (9:12) I have OCD and so like I feel like my OCD was huge at that time, it felt so all-consuming (9:21) and every time I would write an email I would be staring at that screen reading over and over and (9:28) over like fully analysing it all and I was kind of like this with all work that I did, (9:35) I remember when I wrote my dissertation and I completely just moved into the library basically, (9:40) I was there day in day out over editing, over analysing, like completely consumed by the grips (9:47) of perfectionism and I imagine telling myself now, oh like you don't have to do that, I actually (9:55) met someone the other day who wrote her entire dissertation using AI, she trained it to write (10:01) a first class dissertation in her topic, it did all of the references, everything for her and I (10:06) was like holy shit, like imagine telling myself who was so burnt out from the library, from being (10:13) an intern, you know from the workload and not just the actual workload but the pressure of it (10:18) all and wanting it perfect and over editing it, imagine telling her like oh no stress, (10:24) robots can do that for you and at first it sounds like a relief right, to be able to just take off (10:31) that pressure, to know that I could copy and paste the email or even not even have to like get AI, (10:37) I can't even say it, I've said it so many times, to write the email for me, (10:43) like kind of feels like a relief but then I think about the bigger picture of my journey (10:49) and how much I have spent healing these parts of me and when I started to understand gene keys and (10:58) Richard Rudd's teaching on the gene keys about there being the shadow that we first really need (11:04) to go into, to alchemise that into the gift and then eventually that soul ascension of that, (11:11) I just loved the teaching on this because it felt like you know all the things that I have (11:16) experienced in the past that have perhaps been difficult or uncomfortable or I wish I hadn't (11:21) experienced them or I wish I did things differently or whatever you know that mental (11:24) chatter, knowing that that was necessary to unlock the gift within it suddenly makes everything make (11:32) sense right and it's like oh okay I have this trust and it's all part of a bigger process (11:36) and it needed to happen, it happened for a reason and it happened in divine timing you know all those (11:42) kind of like spiritual ways of viewing the world and then I think okay but what if I bypass that, (11:48) you know would I be where I am today if I didn't go through all of those experiences, if I didn't (11:54) heal them and alchemise them, like that has very much been my journey that has led me here and (12:00) how different would my life look if I hadn't been through that and actually most of what I write (12:06) about now is kind of in hindsight, it's having alchemised all those experiences and now being (12:12) able to write about them.I'm a sixth line in human design so I actually resonate as a third line (12:17) for the first 30 years-ish of my life where it's all about the trial and error and then telling (12:24) the stories of that trial and error, imagine if I didn't have that and that's not to say AI would (12:30) ever erase that entirely but I can start to see how it would in many ways and I'm really starting (12:36) to see how it is erasing people's voices, the messy raw humanness that we connect to and we (12:44) find resonance with is being erased and I also think it's kind of giving us this false pretence (12:54) of expertise. I was reading something the other day that was saying about how AI has unlocked the (13:00) ability for us to be able to do anything and I was actually watching a video on YouTube the other day (13:06) and an ad popped up and it was saying about how you can have this idea and it can be turned into (13:12) a concept and a website like within 30 seconds or something ridiculous with this AI tool all of a (13:18) sudden like you've got this idea and then it's alive and it's out of the world in the world (13:22) without any of that kind of like hard graft and learning and mastering and perhaps hiring others (13:28) or you know going through that trial and error period and of course there still is an element (13:33) to that even if AI builds it like whenever I do use AI I find myself like back and forth with it and (13:38) I end up actually just getting so pissed off at it that I just close the tab altogether but I kind (13:44) of saw that ad and felt it really jarring because I was like okay I can do that because there's this (13:50) technology that enables me to be able to but should I do that and there was this article I read years (13:58) ago about two creators they were online creators who'd both written books and they were kind of (14:02) having this online war with each other of like you've copied me no you've copied me and it was (14:07) just this yeah fight over who had the idea first who was the original piece who copied who and this (14:14) article was brilliant because it was saying actually let's zoom out here is the better (14:20) question not should we all just be writing books you know should a creator be suddenly given a book (14:27) deal because they've got a certain number of followers when they have not expressed you know (14:32) desire to write a book or perhaps they haven't deeply embodied the topic that they are writing (14:36) on and I'm going to do a whole other episode on embodied expertise because I think it's really (14:42) really relevant here but this really changed my way of thinking about things because we do live (14:47) in a world now where we can pretty much do anything we want there is a tool for everything (14:52) if we don't know we can learn it or we can just get AI to do it for us and I think what it's (14:59) erasing is that point in the middle where when things get really tough you know you kind of have (15:04) this idea and you start to action it and things get tough to the point where you're actually (15:07) starting to question is this something I want to do is this right am I doing it because I think I (15:13) should do I actually want to go through the process that is needed to bring this to life (15:19) and when it is really aligned for you and it's part of the purpose and there's the passion there (15:24) I think you do go through that but I also think when perhaps it's not you kind of realise that (15:31) in the process and then you can be like right this actually isn't aligned but we're kind of (15:36) erasing that with AI where we can put anything out into the world like we can churn out content (15:43) as an example like never before if we have an idea of a concept that we haven't truly embodied and (15:48) mastered within ourselves we can still get it out into the world using technology and I think that is (15:55) contributing to the loss of art in a lot of ways you know like everyone can now write really long (16:03) articles that are coherent and adhered to SEO and all of these kind of technical elements to it (16:09) and often they make brilliant sense and yeah they can capture like I said a person's tone (16:17) but is there not something in the process of writing that that is actually really important (16:23) and shouldn't be lost be that for ourselves as the creator you know the resilience that comes from (16:30) writing a piece that is hard to write that we're stuck on that we have creative blocks about like (16:34) there is an element to that resilience that is really important for the piece sometimes articles (16:41) actually take me months to write and they tend to be my best work because I've stopped and I've (16:45) started and I've realised more and I've alchemised it or I've embodied it more deeply and then it (16:50) comes to be this really well-rounded well thought out honest piece but if I just say oh you know I'm (16:57) stuck I finish this what's being lost in the process of doing that and then also on that deeper (17:05) level what is that telling me about myself you know that I don't trust myself to be stuck you (17:12) know to struggle with something to have discipline in my art that my voice in its messiness (17:20) is perfect as it is it doesn't need to be overly edited or clearer or whatever it is we're asking (17:27) AI to do for it to be of value to the world and for it to be good enough and as I said at the (17:35) start of this episode this has been a huge theme for me you know of being able to accept that (17:39) things you know don't need to be completely perfect there can be a messiness to our musings (17:44) and this is very much what this podcast is about that's why musings is within the title because I (17:50) don't want it to be these polished pieces where I figured it all out I want it to be that journey (17:54) that unravelling where I never know what I'm going to say when I come down to sit at the mic but all (17:59) of these musings come to life and I'm actually really grateful that AI kind of can't hijack (18:04) this process I've never planned any of my podcasts so I wouldn't even be able to do that with AI (18:09) it feels very raw and authentic and that's what I'm really reconnecting back to in my writing (18:14) you know I'm questioning this urge because of course the urge is there to get AI to either (18:19) write it or edit it I'm sitting with myself and saying you know what am I telling myself (18:25) to get to that point well it's that it's not good enough it's that the robots can do it better it's (18:30) that it needs to be clearer more concise more strategic and this doesn't help our creativity (18:36) it completely squanders it it help makes us forget that we are all writers by nature we're (18:43) all storytellers we all have the ability to create and the more that we lean into robots doing that (18:51) for us the more we are rooting actually into my voice doesn't have power it's not enough (18:58) it's not clear enough it's not this enough and that is what so many of the people who sit in (19:03) front of me have been doing decades worth of work to really really heal and alchemise and I think my (19:11) fear is that AI undoes that I think it's that it erases that embodied expertise where actually (19:18) we really need to have mastered something within ourselves perhaps before we share it and that's (19:25) not to say that it has to be the final product sometimes the mastering as I say with this podcast (19:31) is the musings along the way it's the process of it and that's okay but I think that this is where (19:39) I feel this drain within my work because I just want to connect to humans I want to feel this (19:45) deep resonance I want to read people's true expression if we are completely overcome by AI (19:53) the world starts to sound the same you know the reason that people can pick out AI so easily is (19:59) not because there's an em dash used or you know whatever people are now using to identify the (20:04) presence of it for me it's that my energy drains when I'm reading something it's that I can't (20:09) fully see the creator behind it and so therefore I'm not fully in that place of resonance it's (20:16) that it starts to have this familiarity like I've read it somewhere before there's this tone and (20:21) this energy to the words that doesn't fully connect with me and this is really important because words (20:28) do hold frequency be that written word or spoken word there is an energetic signature behind what (20:34) we are putting out into the world and I believe that AI is largely erasing that I think it's why (20:40) a lot of people are saying that they're bored of social media it's because it's all starting to (20:44) feel repetitive people are losing their sense of originality their messiness their rawness (20:51) because what AI does is polish right it constructs what is naturally created (20:59) and that's a huge problem and I yeah have felt resistant to talk about it because I never want (21:05) it to come across like I'm shaming the use of AI like I've said I use it I think it is a brilliant (21:10) tool and I think it is going to revolutionise so many of the ways that we work I am someone who is (21:15) deeply creative so things like systems and stuff like that just irritates the hell out of me like (21:21) if I can get an AI tool to simplify that fine as I said that I did think is that also not part of the (21:28) process that I was talking about where we need to go through the difficult and that kind of building (21:34) of the resilience and the deep part of the process perhaps you know perhaps that is true but I think (21:40) there is something about using it to transmute our words and our musings and our stories that are (21:48) naturally alive within us that is hugely problematic and like I said I've lost many (21:54) clients to this and I actually was speaking to someone the other day that said to me I was telling (21:59) them about this and they were like you know they'll be back they will be back saying okay this does (22:04) not work right our audience have stopped engaging our sales are down like we've come so far away (22:09) from you know the core mission and our story and all of these things and I've had brands come to (22:15) me saying that already you know they've gone viral and they use these AI strategies but like there's (22:20) no longevity in it customers aren't loyal it comes in such peaks and troughs and they actually (22:24) want a stable consistency and of course right because AI roots into that shiny it's like (22:31) what's going to get the most attention what's going to be the easiest to understand and I don't always (22:37) think that's a good thing even though it feels like it sometimes I put into AI and then it sends (22:41) back and I'm like oh that's so much better right you've written what I said but better this sounds (22:46) better and then I'll copy and paste it and then I'll go to read the website or whatever I've used (22:50) it on a month or so later and then I'll be like oh there's just like something in this where I (22:55) don't fully feel ignited by it it doesn't have this sense of aliveness it doesn't feel like a (23:00) true reflection of me and most of the time that people come to me for their marketing that's (23:05) very much what they're saying like it doesn't capture their depth and their power and it doesn't (23:09) feel like them and when they sit in front of people and have conversations people get their (23:13) work and they want it yet within their marketing that sensation isn't fully there and I truly (23:19) believe that AI is exasperating this problem hugely and so it's a challenge right it's a (23:25) challenge to root into okay you're not the best writer that's okay people don't want to read (23:32) like novel worthy pieces when they're going into their mailing list they want to read real stories (23:41) they want to feel a connection to human expression they want to see a truth that the robots are never (23:47) going to be able to capture and I think it is really important for us as creators to come back (23:54) to this place of trusting in our voice to not overly simplifying every process I know the (24:00) internet has become obsessed with simplification it's all about how much money you can earn for (24:05) the least amount of input possible and art doesn't work like that you know art is a real process like (24:12) I say sometimes it takes me so long to write a single piece sometimes I will back and forth (24:18) I'll handwrite I'll scribble I'll go off on a walk I'll come back to it weeks later I'll honestly (24:23) start and stop like so many times erase it press the backspace button furiously and this is the (24:29) point of creation right this is what creation is supposed to be like this process is so important (24:35) not just for ourselves as creators but for the readers of this work because these are the spaces (24:41) that they find that deep resonance within and I know it is difficult I know it's difficult to (24:46) make time for this creation like a lot of us are running businesses and we need money and we need (24:51) things in but I truly believe that this is the route to that being reality and this is the entire (24:57) reason that I have created the marketing muse because I want to bring back this creative (25:01) aliveness I want us to gather in circles where we are creative together where we're dedicated to our (25:07) art and to the process and we create space for that and honour it as a really important process (25:13) I think we're so caught up in the results of marketing that we almost lose the art of the (25:19) process of creating it and it is so instrumental as I say not just for the reader but for ourselves (25:25) as creators and so much is linked to the energy behind what we're putting out into the world (25:31) this is why overly strategic ways of writing don't necessarily work they feel really clear to read but (25:38) they're not necessarily felt and it's in this process where we root back into that feeling (25:43) within ourselves and infuse it within the words that others read and then consequently feel (25:48) themselves oh that there's just so much possibility and potential oh this feels like a big episode I (25:55) feel like I need to go make myself a coffee now and just kind of like but I would love to know (26:01) how this lands for you I'd love to know if it feels uncomfortable or if it feels liberating (26:06) or if it's inspired something or created more confusion even I'd love to hear how it has landed (26:11) for you and if there's anything you want to share on it and all the details of the marketing muse (26:16) are below I am so excited to be gathering in just a space that feels so creatively alive and I would (26:21) love to see you there thank you so much for listening thank you so much for listening to (26:27) this episode I really hope that it was helpful for you and if it has made you want to find out (26:33) more of the ways you can work with me all of the information about one-to-one my resources (26:39) my programmes are all listed below in the show notes if you found this helpful I would really (26:47) appreciate if you could take a moment just to write a review this helps other creators just (26:54) like yourselves find this podcast and have an even greater impact from their services (27:01) I would really really love to hear from you please feel free to get in touch with me over (27:07) on Instagram or via email both of which again you can find below thank you so much for being here (27:14) and until next time