Will AI have us eating our words?

Whether you’re creating copy to persuade, or content to entertain, inform or spark debate, all forms of writing are a conversation. Our innate ability to converse has evolved to such a level that it sets us apart as a species. And it’s that very same intellectual evolution that has led to the birth of an altogether different kind of intelligence: AI.

This (r)evolution has sparked one of the great debates of our times: humans vs AI and who, or what, the winner will be. We used to cook on an open fire, before the stove was invented. We rode horses before the advent of internal combustion. So will the move from writing with the human brain to pure AI output prove to be as linear? And will it be the anti-AI movement or the AI-evangelists in the writing community that end up eating their words?

Everybody has an opinion and our online parallel universe is rife with opposing views, from ‘These jobs won’t exist in the future’ to ‘AI won’t take your job, but it might change it’. Wherever you stand in the Great AI Debate, one thing’s for sure, we’re all still in the foothills. And when you’re navigating an ever-evolving landscape like this one, the best map is probably to keep an eye on the stats, your own standards, and an open mind.

Welcome to the new, new age

AI in communication tools is nothing new, it’s been low-key prodding at writers for decades. Remember Clippy? But in the last three years it’s transformed from the writer’s assistant into the writer. It can research topics in an instant, and often has a better handle on language and grammar than standard schooling sometimes bothered to provide. In which case, where are all the human writers?

They’re still in the room. And that means something’s still missing.

The patchwork progression

When it comes to speed and volume, AI can’t be beat. It generates researched, low-cost drafts, fast. But rather than a straight progression from human writers to AI, current research* presents a more patchwork picture of results…

One particularly eye-catching stat is that human-written Google ads gained 45.41% more impressions and 60% more clicks. Homo sapiens for the win. However, a large-scale survey found AI outperformed humans in short-form content like captions and ad snippets 61% of the time, likely due to its ability to create keyword-rich text at speed.

Added to that success, more than half of marketers reported higher open rates from subject lines written by AI. Yet move beyond the subject line and human-authored emails tended to convert better. That tracks with the result of perception studies that show human-written content achieved 79% ratings in trust and brand resonance, compared to 12% for AI.

The emerging picture is that AI achieves impressive results at the things a machine can achieve – speed, filtering and sorting information, spotting patterns and trends, adjusting for audiences – while humans excel at those things that are inherently human, such as emotional resonance, cultural nuance and building trust and connection. Understanding why we choose our words, phrasing and tone is the uniquely human instinct that drives good writing. Sometimes we just know it’s right. How it will land. How to subtly tap into how a reader might be feeling.

There’s no doubt that AI can figure out what to write, and what details to include, much faster than the human brain, but it’s human writers that do what humans do best: having a conversation.

The transcreation parallel

An additional element that’s important to consider in the Great AI Debate is its role in translation. In today’s online era it’s common for comms organisations to have an increasingly international reach. Yet with more UK universities reducing, or in some cases, removing, their language degrees, are we heading for a world reliant on AI for translation purposes?

Online translation platforms have proven invaluable for working across borders in the absence of language skills, or to drive cost efficiency. The AI tools now available are more advanced, and with careful prompting, can provide a translation that’s miles ahead of what was on offer just a few years ago.

Any comms professional worth their salt, however, never settles for pure translation. They transcreate.

Transcreation is more than just translation. It’s writing. Keeping the intent, style, tone and context, whilst communicating with the local audience. Using their idioms, inferences and cultural references, to make sure the message is felt in the way that was intended – and that can often mean substantial change. If an idiom, pun, reference or phrase makes no sense to a local audience, it shouldn’t be translated, it should be replaced, with adjustments to flow and surrounding references.

But we can prompt AI to take that into account, can’t we? Well, sort of…

Whilst the tech is constantly advancing, it’s also wise to remember that every language on Earth is a living, breathing, continually evolving phenomenon that is ‘always on’, responding to minute changes in the world around us. To rely on AI to translate for you with no human awareness of the chosen language is risky. The bot could be creating a workaround that doesn’t land in the right way, opens you up to ridicule or, worse still, a legal minefield.

Word on the street is that AI is proving a great translation tool for straightforward text, like product descriptions, note-taking and terms of service. It’s also helping with the hard yards at the beginning of the transcreation process. But for creative content, trust and lived experience are paramount. The expert linguists should still be in the room, overseeing and adjusting the output for complete trust and human connection.

A hybrid future?

It looks like the near future for writing and transcreation in the comms industry will be shaped by teamwork: man and machine, evolving and working together. A hybrid approach. AI’s cost-efficient ability to research, compile and optimise, in combination with humans doing human. It’s proving a successful combination, with hybrid teams (AI + human) seeing 42% better ROI than AI alone.1

But it’s incumbent on all of us to shape the future we want to see by pushing for the high standards from ourselves and our online assistants that we expect. And at the moment, here in the foothills, collaboration seems to be winning the day. For now .

*TOP 20 AI VS HUMAN COPYWRITER PERFORMANCE STATISTICS 2025 | Amra And Elma LLC