Why strategic imperfection is your essential strategy to beating the bots

This recent quote from tech analyst Shelly Palmer cuts to the heart of marketing’s existential crisis when it comes to our human role in the emerging AI World:

The debate over AI and its role in creative industries often centers on one question: Can AI ever be as creative as humans? While it’s tempting to philosophize about inspiration and ingenuity, this line of inquiry misses a crucial point for anyone tasked with making practical decisions about content creation: If the audience can’t tell the difference between AI-generated and human-generated content -or if they don’t care- then, for all practical purposes, there is no difference.

The solution to this is obvious — MAKE. THEM. CARE.

There are many ways to do that (outlined in my book Audacious). And last week, I wrote that our marketing content needs to approach the level of art, displaying our unique story and interpretation of the human experience.

But in a discussion last week with the brilliant and ever-so-human Joseph Jaffe, another key principle of this new business reality struck. me: Strategic Imperfection. Sometimes, the most humble human content outshines AI’s polished results. Let’s look at this extremely important lesson.

The Jaffe surprise

Joseph hosts a YouTube show called Joseph Jaffe is Not Famous. He was inspired to create something uplifting and fun in the dark Covid days and…