The great AI question: Is the human touch getting lost in the code?

AI is everywhere. You can’t scroll, click, or swing through the marketing jungle without bumping into conversations about artificial intelligence. It’s fast, it’s powerful, and it’s evolving quicker than a monkey spotting a fresh bunch of bananas.

But with all this rapid progress, one crucial question remains for marketers and business leaders: As AI accelerates, are we losing the human touch that makes marketing truly work?

The core issue: AI still needs human guidance

AI is impressive, but it’s not self-sufficient. Behind every powerful AI tool sits a human strategist, feeding it data, refining its direction, and shaping outputs so they align with brand identity and commercial goals.

• If you give AI poor data, you get poor results.

• If you ask vague questions, you receive technically correct, but strategically useless answers.

AI can execute beautifully, but only if a skilled marketer teaches it the nuance, emotion, and context your brand depends on.

Are businesses really ready to go all-in on AI?

When I work with clients, I ask one simple question: Can your business genuinely rely on AI alone right now?

For most, the answer is no and here’s why. AI struggles with the very things that make marketing powerful:

1. Empathy, emotion & tone

AI can simulate tone, but it can’t feel customer frustration, joy, fear, or decision-making emotions that drive purchases.

2. Creative big leaps

AI is excellent at optimisation, iteration, and pattern repetition. But the bold, intuitive, breakthrough ideas? Those still come from human creativity.

3. Nuance, culture & context

Skilled marketers understand history, competition, cultural nuance, internal politics, and market timing. AI only knows what it’s fed. Relying entirely on AI today is like sending a robot monkey to navigate a jungle, it follows the code but misses the instinctive signals only humans can sense.

AI is a tool, not your chief marketing strategist

At Chimplicity Marketing, we view AI as a powerful tool, not a replacement for human strategy.

AI should be used to:

• Identify patterns in customer behaviour

• Improve efficiency by handling repetitive tasks

• Support decision-making with data and insights

But the core of your brand, your voice, your strategy, your direction - must stay human. AI can guide, assist, and accelerate, but it cannot replace the intuition, empathy, and emotional intelligence that drive effective marketing.

Arlo’s advice: Stay smart, stay balanced

AI isn’t going anywhere, and nor should it. But businesses must stay savvy.

• Watch the developments.

• Experiment with new tools.

• Adopt AI where it adds real value.

But don’t lose the human connection that makes your brand unique. Use AI to elevate your team, not replace them.

Because the truth is simple: The human touch is still your most powerful marketing asset. Don’t let it disappear in the code.