If “Vibrant Tapestry” Shows Up One More Time in a Real Pitch Deck…ISTG.

Your most expensive employee isn’t in the corner office.

It’s the 24-year-old communications specialist who discovered ChatGPT six months ago and now believes they’re a copywriter, a brand strategist, and a creative director.

They’re not. They’re a person with a powerful tool and zero frame of reference for what good looks like.

And you gave them the keys to your brand voice.

➡️ That concept board that went to the innovation team last week? Prompted in 90 seconds. Reviewed by nobody.

➡️ The pitch deck your sales team showed investors? Swap the logo for any competitor’s and nobody would notice.

➡️ That Gamma presentation with AI-generated images your marketing lead showed the board? What is even happening…?

There are over 70 active copyright infringement lawsuits against AI companies right now. Disney is suing Midjourney directly. Your junior hire is tap-dancing through a legal minefield in flip-flops.

And not surprisingly, your audience can tell.

82% of consumers spot AI-generated content.

Among 18 to 30 year olds, 88%. Over 40% say it makes them trust a brand LESS.

Meanwhile, 77% of marketers think their AI content is emotionally resonant. Only 33% of consumers agree.

That’s a 44-point confidence gap. Your team thinks it’s working. Your audience is cringing.

There’s a name for this.

Dunning-Kruger effect, AI edition. The people who know the least about what good copy sounds like are the most confident that what they’re producing IS good. Because the tool gave them something that kinda feels polished.

This is my theory. About 85% of our initial reaction to AI output is “OMG, I can’t believe it just made that in 9 seconds!”

Beware of that excitement – it’s leading a lot of us astray. Throw out that 85% and sit in the remaining 15%. Look critically at the image, app, design, or words… or consult an expert who knows what they are looking for. Often you’ll find that the actual copy, design, and layout is nothing short of horrific.

Don’t get me wrong… I think AI is spectacular.

But it’s a scalpel. And most teams are using it like a freaking lawnmower.

The problem was never the tool.

The problem is who’s holding it. A scalpel in a surgeon’s hands saves lives. A scalpel in the hands of someone who watched three YouTube videos about surgery is a liability. A very confident liability.

Your brand took years to build. Your consumer trust took decades. And trust is already hanging by a thread in the age of Ai. And nothing gets you kicked out faster than sounding like a machine in an era when people are desperate for something real.

So what do you do?

Keep using AI. Put a skilled human between the tool and your audience. A real copywriter. A real strategist. Someone who knows what good sounded like before AI existed, so they can tell when AI is falling short.

That person is more valuable now than ever.

Because when everyone has access to the same tool producing the same average output, the human who pushes it past average is the competitive advantage.

And if “vibrant tapestry” shows up in your brand copy one more time and it’s not describing an actual textile… ISTG. Everyone knows. EVERYONE.

Your boss knows. Your consumers know. Your investors know.

Which means it could be costing you millions.

Want to find out how obvious it is?

Download The Little Snitches. 27 words and patterns that are tattling on your AI usage right now. The dead giveaways that make readers, buyers, and board members quietly lose confidence without ever telling you why.

$27.

Worth it the first time it saves you from publishing something that makes your CEO sound like a chatbot with a business degree.

Get The Little Snitches here.