me vs. ai
That sounds ominous. And unwinnable.
But here’s my red line:
More and more often I’m asked how I feel about AI replacing me as a fundraising copywriter. Not just by friends and family, but by my colleagues in and around our nonprofit sector.
Am I worried? Yes, a bit. My head’s not in the sand about AI’s fast rise or growing power.
But I don’t use generative AI to write copy for the nonprofits I serve, and I never will.
Why? Because I’m better than an LLM.
And because you – and your donors – deserve better-than-AI writing.
Here’s why:
ME: Creativity.
I can find new angles, connect threads in original ways, and be nimble in both thought and expression. I know when and how to be surprising, vivid, or strange. I can write dynamically and memorably.
AI: Slop.
New research from MIT, Cornell, Google, and others finds that AI flattens language, “blandifies” it, defaults to the middle of the road and stays there. Forgettable writing doesn’t spark anything in hearts and minds. It doesn’t raise much money.
ME: Introspection.
I understand nuance and use it. I live inside an idea I’m writing about. I get the WHY of the writing, which propels the work. Readers sense that.
AI: Unconscious.
It can’t reflect on what it does. It doesn’t know why it does what it does. And it doesn’t care.
ME: Compassion.
I have not only a brain but also a heart and a soul. I’m a skilled interviewer for your next fundraising story because I have not just IQ but EQ. Emotional sensitivity and compassion shows up in the copy I write. Which helps my writing connect emotionally with human readers.
AI: Apathy.
No emotional capacity, no emotional intelligence. It’s learning to simulate, at best.
ME: Curiosity.
I’m internally driven to learn and experiment. I want to know more, so I ask more. And I bring that curiosity about others into the copy. Readers feel it.
AI: Indifference.
It can’t feel interest, concern, or enthusiasm. Again, it’s learning to simulate, at best.
ME: Personality.
I write with a distinct tone and style, even as I chameleon my voice in service to each unique nonprofit. My writing feels unmistakably me. No AI summary could capture or quite replicate it. And your supporters would miss my voice if it went away.
AI: Nondescript.
Where’s the charisma? Dry and humdrum, its writing doesn’t feel distinct. Even when it’s accurate, it will never surpass average. My clients don’t hire me to be AVERAGE.
ME: Collaboration with other humans who share this same capacity.
My copywriting for your donors is stronger because I can and do collaborate with other humans. From strategizing to brainstorming to polishing, I’m never working in a vacuum.
AI: Unilateral.
One-sided. A lone wolf writer. And worse than that, a lone wolf entirely beholden to whatever humans have been willing to feed it so far.
ME: Trustworthy.
My nonprofit clients trust that I’m competent, candid, authentic, and transparent. It’s not that I never make mistakes (I do). It’s that I show my integrity again and again.
AI: Jury’s out.
Right now I see a lot of misplaced trust in the robot as a writer and thought partner. For example, AI’s defaults to stereotypes are well documented and can reinforce racism, sexism, cultural biases, and logical fallacies. Even its surface competence is far from perfect. (Check the facts. And the punctuation.)
ME: Dedication to my craft.
In the words of my fellow fundraising copywriter Julie Cooper, “Being great at something takes time and perseverance.” When I’m good at it, I’ve earned it.
AI: Fast fashion.
To quote Julie again,“Optimizing for speed rather than improving quality is why donor retention stinks sector-wide. LLMs just make your race to the bottom faster.” Not to mention all the time and brain power you’ll spend trying to give AI just the right prompts to churn out a passable draft that puts everyone to sleep.
ME: Priced fairly for the full value I bring to you and your fundraising outcomes.
A direct mail appeal or email campaign I custom write averages an ROI of 400-700%. And that ROI tends to increase the longer we work together. Good investment.
AI: Cheap.
At least for now. And minimum effort for max reward is a fantasy. Miracles don’t come from nowhere.
ME: Ethical.
Moral principles guide my life and work. I care deeply about honesty, justice, accountability, and respect.
AI: Maybe not.
AI data centers are gobbling up massive amounts of energy (often from fossil fuels) and polluting our environment. It depends on extracting more rare minerals and metals. And training a single model can produce more than 600K lbs. of carbon dioxide – 5x the lifetime emissions of the average American car. It’s chugging huge amounts of water. (While more than half of data centers are located in places facing water scarcity!) And it’s leaving behind mountains of e-waste.
Then on to the problems of surveillance and privacy. Misinformation and deepfakes. And using intellectual property like my very own writing to train AI without consent and in violation of copyrights. There’s more, but you get the picture.
So yes, I’m the better fundraising copywriter.
I recognize that AI technologies have all kinds of potentials for fundraising. But LLMs generating creative work like writing and design is not one I can ever endorse.
I’m trusting that the nonprofits who are truly aligned, who know the value of my human expertise, will keep finding me and investing in the work I create.
If that’s you, I hope you’ll reach out.