AI fatigue is real: Return of grit-based creativity

Artificial intelligence (AI) fatigue is setting in. Individuals and organisations are feeling it. Because AI is no longer just about keeping up with the latest tools – it’s become a danger area where ‘sameness’ is everywhere you look.

As AI floods the internet with content, much of what we read and watch is starting to feel strangely repetitive. The promise of endless efficiency has created too much content that feels both generic and soulless.

This in turn has a negative effect  on your audience. And that’s the focus of this article – the problem of putting out content that’s so clean and overly polished that the audience sees right through it. They can sense there is no human quirkiness and no grit, and your brand ends up paying the price.

We have all experienced this, reading a blog post that doesn’t feel like it really came from that author – or even any human writer. There’s just that kind of generic feel which gives the sense it could have come from anywhere.

After all, we consume so much content on a daily basis, we can pick out ‘formula’ a mile off, and almost instinctively our brains switch off or we move on.

That’s a problem. Because when your audience stops expecting to be surprised it can change everything. The whole point of content is to build trust over time and putting out pure AI-generated work means you’re eroding that quickly. Engagement numbers drop. Then over time people can’t even distinguish your brand from all the other noise out there.

Does AI signal the end of creativity?

The good news is that AI hasn’t ruined creativity. But our use of it certainly has that potential. In our rush to meet deadlines and feed the content machine, we’ve relied too much on the ‘write prompt → generate content → post content’ cycle. When we do this, we lose originality, and we lose our original voice.

When we lose our voice, we lose the various quirks that make up human creative output. We stop being bold and taking risks (after all, not everything is going to work perfectly). But if we don’t take risks, we lower the chance of a piece of content really hitting the mark and getting the desired emotional response.

To put it another way, we have become too safe and, in our quest, to do everything at scale, we’ve unintentionally diluted what made content really matter in the first place. 

When AI efficiency isn’t all that efficient

There’s another uncomfortable truth: AI isn’t always as efficient as we think it is. It’s true that an AI tool can generate ten headlines in just a few seconds, but it takes skill (and often rewriting by a human) to get just the right tone. So, have you really saved time?

Because of the endless back-and-forth required to get something truly original out of AI, you may find you have in fact taken longer than if you had just crafted it yourself from the start.

In the end, the human hand always wins in both creativity and efficiency. One study by NP Digital showed that human-generated content got 4.10 visitors for every minute spent on writing, compared to AI-generated content which only got 3.25.

Audiences crave something real

What all of this has done is create a genuine hunger for content that feels real. This isn’t some romantic longing for the past but a practical reaction to an automated world. Keep in mind, your competitors are using the same tools as you are – so how are you differentiating?

Better to be original, with all its flaws and imperfections, than make cookie cutter content just like everyone else. ‘Technically perfect’ actually has little value if it doesn’t have any heart. The old song ‘It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing’ warns that any creative output needs that human energy and warmth. This is what will lead your brand to develop a distinctive voice.

In fact, the same NP Digital study found that human-generated content outperformed its AI-generated counterpart, receiving 5.44 times more traffic. Meanwhile, the Gartner 2023 AI in Marketing Survey showed that 38% of consumers are sceptical of content they believe was created using generative AI. The reason? Lack of authenticity.

It’s not time to ditch AI – it’s time to use it smarter

 I’m not saying let’s ditch AI altogether. The most effective creators and brands think of AI as a kind of co-pilot. Your ideal partner for that initial brainstorming session and research, but when it comes to emotional storytelling it’s going to need that human hand.

In fact, 70 per cent of consumer decisions are based on emotional factors so if your content isn’t hitting home with them, you’re losing out. 

So, how do we move forward, not just as marketers or writers, but as creative teams? The first thing to do is stop putting out first drafts. If what you have reads even vaguely like a prompt response then put it in the draft folder ready to re-work when you have the time.

Publishing a first draft means you’re publishing at 80 per cent. This is what so many companies are doing, so it’s your chance to take that extra time to publish at 100 per cent. Your audience will notice. Let AI help you break through a creative block but make sure you keep hold of the storytelling and narrative decisions yourself. It’s that latter part which is going to define your brand.

Also consider bringing back a bit of editorial tension. In team discussions, ask those tough questions – is this content that truly provokes and surprises? It’s this kind of work that is going to be remembered.

In the end, creativity is about effort. The process is supposed to be a bit painful and sitting with an idea a bit longer, rewriting that sentence five or six times, and really asking yourself – and your team – whether what you’re saying actually means something. If you’re doing these things, you’re on the road to originality.

The curse of the first draft

 In the AI era it’s clear that certain tools have made it easier to hit publish, to get stuff out there as fast as possible. But does that content deserve to be out there? Has it earned its place? Or are you just doing the same things as everyone else, putting out generic content that just feels like a first draft. If there’s even a part of you that wonders if it’s good enough, then it’s not. Keep working.

When everything feels rushed, that connection with your audience will suffer. Once their attention slips, so does brand equity. In this case, it’s less about speed and moving the fastest, it’s about really putting something out there that is carefully crafted. Because if it reads even slightly like a prompt reply, your audience is going to pick up on it immediately.

The final word: Grit is the new differentiator

 AI fatigue is real. But it’s also an opportunity to reset. Think of it this way: When you see a beautiful handwoven rug, you instantly know it’s worth more than its machine-made counterpart because it has that evidence of effort and human touch.

Is it absolutely perfect in terms of symmetry? Probably not. It’s this lack of polish paired with human care that makes it so valuable. Why should content be any different?

AI might help us move faster, but standout brands will be built by the people who know when to slow down and add that human touch.

Published by: Campaign Middle East