People are Tired of Slop and Sameness

CNN wrote about it. Ben Aflek said it. Joe Lazar explains it in actual numbers. The prediction: In 2026 we’ll see a shift back to humanity in marketing.

Yay! But, how can I be so sure?

People are tired of slop and sameness. They crave originality, and they’re not going to get it from AI. Which, honestly, just trolls the internet and distills a single thought down from badly written websites. It finds the average, which is mediocre at best, and presents it to you as an original idea.

In voiceover we’ve talked about being conversational for a long time, and how important that is. Why is that? Because what people want, what pulls them in, is real conversation, a shared experience. Knowing another person on this big, blue marble gets them.

They want to know YOU feel like they do, in a way that’s honest, genuine, and palpable.But AI doesn’t work like that. It tries to merge everyone’s desires, fears, and joys into a single, non offensive, somewhat detached thought.

My husband and I both use AI to generate ideas, organize thoughts, and get advice on what data, like tags, should be entered. We haven’t given it a fun name so we can laugh to ourselves about having a “conversation” with a Mac. We call it “The Affirmation Machine”.  And isn’t it? Try and count how many times you’ve asked it a question and it’s come back and said “Good instincts” or “Yes, you are spot on” or maybe “That’s exactly the right approach to take”.

It’s not really advising you. It takes what it’s deciphered you want to hear, what you’ve expressed is important, or what’s safe to say, and spat it back at you so you can move ahead with confidence because the AI said it was the thing to do.

iHeart Radio has pledged not to use AI voice talent or play AI generated music because “90% of its listeners — even those who use AI tools themselves — want their media created by humans.”  (https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/16/business/anti-ai-backlash-nightcap) Let’s hope this integrity carries over into their advertising too!

I worked with an agency just a few weeks ago that happily signed the NAVA AI rider because they’re committed to using human voices to tell human stories.

And I don’t think we have to worry so much about movies and TV shows either. Ben Aflek was interviewed on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and he observed “I don’t think it’s actually very likely that it’s going to write anything meaningful, or that it’s going to be making movies whole cloth.” It doesn’t create new ideas from thin air. It has to have something else point to those ideas first because it’s pulling from someone else’s data.

Aggregating the mean. Yup, ChatGPT is good at that. Creative thinking? Nope. It’s job is to find the safe, middle ground and that’s not creative or artistic.

Think about it. Everywhere you go, people show how unique and special they are. I have purple hair. I have a tattoo of my dog. I dress in a specific way so it can announce who I am before I even sit down. Even if it’s not one of those, there is something about you, that you hold dear and express in the way you conduct yourself, so that people will know who you are or what you stand for.

Why would we settle for anything less in our advertising or entertainment? I for one have heard enough AI ads about ED for a lifetime.

Think about that the next time you audition.That you may be reaching a soul who feels like no one really gets them. Yet, you do. And ya know what…you’ve got a solution.

Joe Lazar has written so eloquently in his recent LinkedIn article. He brings the facts and figures to back it up. Plus, he has a new book that may just help with your own storytelling! Read it here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ben-affleck-explains-why-ai-wont-replace-writers-its-joe-qkkhc/

And the CNN article is a quick read that lends more credence to the argument that AI isn't all that. https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/16/business/anti-ai-backlash-nightcap