Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just a tool in the communicator’s kit, it’s increasingly a co-author, a voice actor, and, in some cases, the face of the brand. From automated blog posts to AI-generated videos and synthetic voices on podcasts, we are witnessing a quiet revolution in how brands express themselves. The shift is efficient, scalable, and fraught with reputational risk.
While generative AI promises speed and content scale, it also invites new questions about trust, authorship, and the thin line between automation and authenticity. Brands that once prided themselves on human connection are now flirting with tools that generate thousands of words or images without a single person involved in the creative process.
For communication professionals, especially those responsible for brand reputation, the rise of AI-generated messaging poses a fundamental challenge: How do we ensure our brand voice remains credible, consistent, and human, even when AI is doing much of the talking?
The Temptation of Automation
The appeal of generative AI is undeniable. Imagine producing personalized emails at scale, writing 500 blog post drafts a month, or turning customer service data into readable insights with just a few prompts. AI tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Claude make this a reality.
Meta recently announced its ambition to offer fully AI-generated ad campaigns by 2026, requiring only a brand’s input and budget. Similarly, Spotify experimented with AI-generated scripts for artist bios and playlists. These developments point to a future where much of a brand’s outward expression could be created by non-human intelligence.
However, efficiency can have a cost. In 2024, Duolingo received backlash for replacing human translators with AI-driven outputs, particularly as it simultaneously launched AI-generated marketing campaigns. Customers felt the brand had replaced substance with simulation. Similarly, H&M was criticized for featuring AI-generated models or clones, instead of real people, prompting a public conversation about authenticity and erasure.
What these examples underscore is a simple truth: Customers don’t just care about what a brand says, they care about who is saying it.
What Makes Brand Voice Believable
The essence of brand voice lies in emotional resonance. It’s built over time, through consistent tone, context, and credibility. When AI begins to play a dominant role in crafting that voice, the risk isn’t just tone mismatch, it’s disconnection.
Your audiences are perceptive. When messaging feels too polished, too uniform, or oddly impersonal, people can sense something’s off. This is especially true in high-stakes categories like healthcare, finance, and public policy, where trust and empathy are paramount. Messages that lack human nuance — the imperfections, hesitations, and natural storytelling rhythms — can feel hollow or even manipulative.
It’s not that AI can’t help. Many organizations use it to speed up research, structure initial drafts, or generate content ideas. The problem arises when brands outsource too much — tone, judgment, or values — to machines. If the AI writes your CEO’s blog, crafts your crisis response, or scripts your equity campaign, who is ultimately responsible for its meaning and tone?
In today’s communication landscape where public scrutiny is high and mistakes are amplified, synthetic messaging without human review poses a serious risk to reputation. Even if the message is machine-made, the brand remains accountable for every word.
Guardrails for Synthetic Messaging
How can organizations use generative AI without compromising authenticity or trust? The answer isn’t to reject AI, but to build a thoughtful framework for its use.
- Always Combine Human and Machine: Use AI to support speed or volume, but have human communicators edit, refine, and approve final outputs. AI should assist, not replace.
- Be Transparent, But Thoughtful: If a piece of content is AI-generated, especially in sensitive contexts — healthcare, sustainability, finance — consider a short disclosure. But more importantly, reinforce why AI was used and how accuracy was ensured.
- Protect Your Tone: Develop a brand tone guide that works with AI. Feed it into prompts and build templates. Don’t leave tone to chance; it’s what makes messaging recognizable and relatable.
- Create a Review Workflow: Have a clear AI review protocol. Who edits? Who fact-checks? Who approves? Treat AI content with the same scrutiny as any high-profile public communication.
With the right governance, AI becomes a power tool for productivity without becoming a risk to brand reputation.
Real Stories, Real Stakes
The stakes for mishandled AI messaging are no longer hypothetical. In early 2025, the Chicago Sun-Times published a summer reading list created by AI that included fake book titles and fabricated author quotes. Readers quickly noticed, leading to public embarrassment and the retraction of the list.
In another case, an AI-generated robocall mimicking President Joe Biden was used for voter suppression in New Hampshire, sparking a nationwide outcry and legal action. While not a corporate brand issue, the message for communicators is clear: Synthetic voices, when unchecked, can lead to ethical, legal, and reputational disaster.
Even Spotify’s 2024 Wrapped campaign saw backlash when fans discovered much of the messaging was AI-written, making folks question whether the beloved, culturally human tradition had lost its soul.
These are not fringe cases. They represent a world where every communicator must now ask: Could this go wrong? Would we still stand behind it if it were fully AI-authored?
Reclaiming the Human in a Synthetic Age
Communicators are, at their hearts, storytellers, and storytelling has always been a profoundly human craft. While AI can mimic patterns, style, and even voice, it cannot replace human empathy, judgment, or intent.
As AI becomes a more common co-pilot in communications, the real challenge for brand leaders is to strike the right balance, using automation to enable speed and personalization, but never letting it obscure responsibility, tone, or truth.
Brands must resist the temptation to be fully synthetic in the name of efficiency. Instead, we must lead the way in developing hybrid strategies where AI handles the heavy lifting and humans ensure the soul remains intact.
At the end of the day, the most powerful messages aren’t just heard, they’re believed. And belief is something that only human trust can build.