Wrestling with Robots: A Copywriter’s Honest Take on AI, Creativity, and the Mess in Between

Lately, my brain has been bouncing around one persistent, slightly existential question:

What’s my stance on AI?

Not in the “how do I feel about it privately” sense—I know that part. I use it. I respect it. I occasionally yell at it.

But in the “how do I want to talk about this publicly as a writer, strategist, and messaging obsessive?” sense?

Well. That’s where things get tangled.

And if you’re also a writer (or spend any amount of time online trying to create something that sounds like you), you might know the feeling.

Because AI isn’t just a tool anymore. It’s a conversation. A controversy. A choice. And for those of us in the copywriting and marketing world, it’s starting to feel like you’re expected to take a side.

Let’s go there.

The AI Copywriting Identity Crisis: Where the Internet Stands

When it comes to AI and writing, we’re not short on opinions.

Spend five minutes on any corner of the internet where writers hang out, and you’ll find a few familiar refrains:

1. AI is the end of creativity.

This is the camp of fear—and honestly, I get it. There's a real concern that automated tools will devalue creative labor, replace human nuance, and reduce everything to sanitized, vanilla content. (And honestly? Some of it already has.)

2. AI is fine, but it’s no replacement for real writers.

These are the folks who’ll dabble with ChatGPT to outline a blog post or tweak a headline, but still rely on their brain (and caffeine) to write the real stuff.

3. AI is revolutionary, and I’m obsessed.

Usually non-writers, this group is thrilled that they can now write anything—from websites to wedding toasts—with a few well-worded prompts. It’s exciting. It’s new. It’s empowering. And often... it lacks depth.

4. The Quiet Middle.

And then there’s where I live.

Somewhere between impressed and annoyed. Between curious and cautious.

Someone who uses AI tools almost daily… but not without eye rolls, edits, and the occasional moment of “What the hell is this paragraph even trying to say?”

How Writers Are Actually Using AI (Not Just Theorizing About It)

Here’s the behind-the-scenes version most blog posts skip:

Writers aren’t asking AI to do the writing for them.

Not the good ones, anyway.

We’re asking it to:

• Shorten a run-on sentence when we’re too tired to think.

• Brainstorm ten ways to reframe a boring idea.

• Help us write a meta description without screaming into the void.

• Take a half-decent first draft and clean up the clunkiness.

We’re not outsourcing our creativity—we’re offloading the grunt work. The repetitive bits. The boring bits.

And when deadlines are tight and brain cells are frayed? That’s a gift.

The Real Conflict: Is AI Making Us Lazy… or More Efficient?

Here’s what keeps me up at night (besides the PTA email thread that needs responding to):

If I use AI too often, am I losing my creative edge?
Are my writing muscles quietly atrophying every time I let a tool clean up my work?

Because honestly? It is easier. AI makes writing easier. Not always faster. Not always better. But easier.

Which leads to this very real inner monologue:

"If I stop wrestling with the hard parts, will I forget how to do them altogether?"

It’s the same feeling you get when you haven’t worked out in months, and then try to lift the 10 lb dumbbells like you used to.

Painful. Humbling. A reminder that ease isn’t always the goal.

But here’s the thing: sometimes you don’t need to wrestle.
Sometimes you need to get the thing done—without the drama, the overthinking, or the 40-tab research spiral.

And in those moments? AI is incredible. Not because it thinks for you. But because it makes space for you to think more clearly.

What Makes AI Copywriting Work (Spoiler: It’s Not the Tool)

Let’s get something straight: AI isn’t magic.

It’s pattern recognition at scale.
It’s a prediction machine, not a creativity machine.
It does not “understand” you. It doesn’t know what your brand sounds like.
It only knows how to echo what it’s already seen—unless you show it something different.

That’s why untrained AI is frustrating as hell.

Ask it to write you a homepage and it’ll churn out something that sounds like a motivational poster and a tech startup had a baby.

But train it?
Feed it with actual examples of your voice, your values, your vocabulary, your tone?
Layer in real customer feedback, clear brand positioning, and intentional writing strategy?

Then AI becomes a co-writer.
A mirror.
A tool that reflects back your own thinking, only faster.

The Part No One Tells You: You Still Have to Know What Good Copy Is

Here’s the real kicker, especially for people new to AI copywriting:

You still need to know how to write.

Because if you don’t, you won’t know what to feed it.
You won’t know how to evaluate what it gives you.
You won’t know why that paragraph makes you cringe, but the sentence before it sings.

AI will never fix broken strategy.
It will never magically find your voice for you.
It won’t tell you when your offer positioning is off, or your headline is confusing, or your CTA is buried.

It’s only as good as the inputs—and you are still the one responsible for those.

The Future of AI and Copywriting Isn’t Robots. It’s Relationships.

I don’t believe AI is replacing us.

But I do believe the future belongs to the writers and strategists who know how to collaborate with it.

Who know how to:

• Train it without losing their voice

• Use it without depending on it

• Work faster without writing garbage

• Write smarter without giving up their craft

Because the relationship isn’t “AI vs. writer.”
It’s “AI + writer.”

And if we do this right, we’ll all spend less time yelling at blank docs… and more time refining the stuff that really matters.

Final Thoughts: Humble Pie, Google Searches, and Learning to Let the Tool Be a Tool

Look, I’m under no illusion that the whole world is waiting for my AI opinion.

There are 8 billion people on this planet.
Maybe 1,000 care what I think. Maybe less.
Probably less.

But that doesn’t mean the conversation isn’t worth having.

Because for those of us in the trenches—writing, building, marketing, creating—this isn’t just about a tool.

It’s about the future of how we work.
How we think.
How we create.

And if nothing else, it’s about learning how to use these tools without letting them dull the thing that made us good in the first place:
Our voice.
Our curiosity.
Our craft.