AI is a tool. Generic is a choice.
Scroll through social media for five minutes and tell me you haven't noticed it. Beautifully polished graphics, perfectly worded captions and feeds that look like they could belong to just about anyone.
Everything looks professional. But increasingly, I'm finding myself asking: where's the person behind the business?
I work in social media marketing, and I use AI myself. So this isn't an anti-AI lecture. It's a conversation about what happens when convenience starts replacing personality.
Professional is good. Identical is not.
There's absolutely a place for polished branding. Clear messaging, consistent visuals and good design help people understand what a business offers. The problem begins when every business reaches for the same look, the same phrases and the same carefully manufactured version of 'authentic'.
You know the captions I mean. The ones full of sweeping statements, predictable transitions and words that sound impressive without really saying much. Add a generic image that could represent a dozen different businesses and suddenly you've got content that's tidy, but forgettable.
A potential customer might see a professional-looking post. What they may not see is any reason to remember who posted it.
AI can help you create. It cannot tell your story for you.
At Salty Gypsy Studio, AI is one of the tools in my workflow. I might use it to explore an idea, organise my thoughts or get past a blank page. Then I go back through the result and make it sound like me, or like the business I'm creating for.
The same goes for visuals. I might start with inspiration, but I'll refine the design, adjust the details and bring it back to the brand rather than accepting the first polished thing that appears.
There's a difference between using a tool to support your creativity and handing over your entire identity to it. One helps you communicate. The other risks making you sound like everyone else.
Your ordinary moments might be your strongest content.
Think about the things your customers don't get to see in a template: the messy workbench, the behind-the-scenes decision, the lesson you learnt the hard way, the face behind the service, the little detail that explains why you do what you do.
Not every post needs to be a glossy campaign. Sometimes a real photo and a few honest sentences will tell me more about a business than a week's worth of perfectly matched graphics.
And no, that doesn't mean you have to share your whole personal life online. Authenticity isn't the same as oversharing. It simply means giving people something recognisably yours.
Before you hit publish, ask yourself this.
Could this caption be copied onto a competitor's page without anyone noticing? Could this image be used by five other businesses with nothing more than a logo swap? Would someone who knows your brand recognise your voice?
If the answer makes you uncomfortable, it might be worth another edit. Add a specific example. Replace the vague promise with something you actually do. Use a photo from your own day. Say it the way you'd say it to a customer across the counter.
You don't need to abandon AI, templates or professional design. You just need to make sure they're working for your business, not flattening it into something generic.
The point isn’t to look less professional.
It's to be more recognisable.
The businesses I remember aren't necessarily the ones with the most flawless feeds. They're the ones that give me a sense of the people, values and experiences behind the work.
Use the tools. Save yourself time. Make your content look good. Just don't polish away the very thing that makes your business worth following.
Because when everyone looks professional, personality is what helps you stand out.
A question for you: When you visit a business page, what makes you feel there’s a real person behind it?
Using AI for your business graphics, but struggling to make them feel like YOU?
Whether you're just getting started or you've been experimenting for a while, our free guide will help you create AI-assisted content that reflects your business, not everyone else's.
Less generic. More you.