The Problem with Sounding Like No One
A recent Instagram post caught my attention with a statistic about AI-written content. 52 percent of consumers said they become less engaged when they suspected an article was written by AI. I often do, too. When I come across “It’s not just X, it’s Y!” or a string of short sentences straining to sound profound, I can feel myself losing interest.
I went looking for the original study mentioned in the post. Bynder surveyed 2,000 people in the U.S. and U.K. and asked them to compare two short articles on the same subject, one written by AI and one by a copywriter. When participants didn’t know which article was which, 56% preferred the AI-written version. But when asked how they generally feel about reading copy they suspect is AI-generated, 52% said they become less engaged.
Those answers may seem at odds. They also show how much a reader’s impression can change the experience of reading. The same person might enjoy an AI-developed article in a blind comparison and feel less interested in a piece they believe was generated with little thought.
What Readers Think They’re Seeing
Readers don’t need to know how an article was made to form an opinion about it. In Bynder’s test, only half correctly identified the AI-written piece. But suspicion alone affected how respondents said they would engage with content. What readers think they’re seeing can matter as much as what’s actually on the page.
A familiar opening, broad claims and examples that could belong to any company may make a reader wonder whether anyone had something particular to say. And that impression matters even if a person wrote every word. Careful writing can lose a reader when it feels generic.
The reverse deserves attention, too. The AI-written article won the blind comparison in Bynder’s survey. A reader can find a piece useful or engaging without knowing every step of its production. The study doesn’t tell us exactly what made participants prefer that article, and it would be a stretch to treat this writing example as a verdict on every kind of business writing.
Give Readers Something to Hold Onto
This gives us is a good reason to look at our content through the reader’s eyes. When I’m writing about a complex service or industry, I want to find the detail that shows me how the work actually happens. Often it comes from asking good questions while working with a subject matter expert.
Those answers can help a piece sound like it came from the people who do the work. They give the reader something to recognize, learn from or remember. A general description of a service can be accurate, but a specific observation helps someone believe the business understands their situation.
The Signals Our Writing Sends
This is where I think the Bynder findings become useful for content teams. While we can’t control every assumption a reader brings to the page, including their feelings about AI, we can pay attention to the signals our writing sends. Does it answer a real question? Does it say something interesting? Is there evidence that someone stopped to think about the reader before hitting publish?
The 52% figure caught my eye because it was about suspicion. A reader didn’t need proof of how the copy was made to become less engaged. Their perception was enough. That makes the work of earning their attention feel all the more important.
Wondering whether your content sounds like it came from the people behind your business? Let's give them a reason to keep reading. Blacklock Communications provides writing, editing and content strategy support for organizations with something worth saying.
