Authors and copywriters; don't panic! AI can't get promoted past junior level in your business (yet)

As part of Flow State's five episode mini series on the real world implications of AI, founder Stewart P Turner sits down with Brooke, founder and director of The Contented Copywriter and a published children's author. Their conversation cuts through the AI hype to ask a practical question: what does generative AI actually mean for people whose job is words? The result is a grounded, experience based take on where AI helps, where it falls short, and why human writers are not going anywhere just yet.

Key takeaways

• AI is useful for specific tasks such as content ideation, curing "blank pagitis" with a rough first draft, generating headline options, and speeding up research, but it still needs heavy editing and fact checking before it is client ready.
• Accuracy, proper referencing and authentic tone remain weak spots. AI generated content can sound generic or "robotic" and often needs significant human reshaping to hit the right brand voice.
• Brooke describes current AI output as writing at a "junior to midweight" level. This raises a real concern about how the next generation of writers will learn their craft if they are competing with, rather than mentoring alongside, AI tools.
• AI struggles with cultural nuance and lived experience. It can explain a concept but cannot replicate the texture of real human stories, from Australian colloquialisms to the sensory detail of standing in the outback.
• Well known "explainer" content is most at risk of being automated, but real human perspective, brand storytelling and distinctive positioning are becoming more valuable as content volume increases and quality becomes diluted.

Notable quotes

"I don't think we're all going to be out of our job. I still think there is a place for really well thought out, really well crafted content and words."

"It will give you something. It will get you from A to B, but you're not going to want to be telling your friends about it."

"That's kind of how the bots can write at the moment: junior to midweight level. So there is something to be said for how we train and nourish the next generation of writers, because they may not necessarily have the ability to practice and learn."

"It takes a human to be able to discern what is good and what is not... that's where our role will come in as well: as curators, as discerners."

Summary

Brooke's take is refreshingly pragmatic: AI is a genuine addition to a copywriter's toolkit for ideation, drafting and research, but it is nowhere near replacing skilled human writers. The technology's real limitation is not sophistication but experience. It cannot smell a Sunday roast, remember a grandmother's kitchen, or feel the heat of the Australian outback, and those human details are exactly what separate forgettable content from work that resonates.

The bigger, less discussed risk raised in the episode is what happens to junior writers learning their craft alongside tools that already perform at a similar level. Brooke argues the industry needs to be deliberate about training and mentoring the next generation, rather than assuming AI will simply take over the entry level work. As content volume increases across every brand, distinctiveness, authentic brand voice and real human storytelling are becoming more valuable, not less.

Listen to the full episode above.