AI in Communications: From Workflow Engine to Audience Trust Challenge

NowThis’s audience strategist describes a shift from using AI merely to draft copy toward treating it as a “manager or editor” that runs intermediate steps while human judgment decides what to ship. The strategist’s paid-social agent, a multi-agent system that automates campaign setup, performance reporting, and pacing optimization on Meta and TikTok, exemplifies this workflow-centric approach.

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.

The British Chambers of Commerce reports that 54 % of UK firms are actively using AI, up from 35 % in 2025 and 23 % in 2023, indicating rapid uptake over the past year. This growth coincides with copywriters noting that AI can turn “a jumble of notes into coherent copy in seconds” and analyze large data sets at scale.

Proceed with caution! Lessons for writers using AI

• NowThis audience strategist – former associate producer turned analytics lead, championing AI as infrastructure that decodes audience interests and algorithmic trends.

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.

• Jack Clark – co-founder of Anthropic, whose comment about hiring “thousands of chiefs of staff” reframes AI as a strategic resource.

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.

• Derek Thompson – host of the *Plain English* podcast, emphasizing that AI “raises the floor, but your taste sets the ceiling.”

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.

• Anna Moloney – deputy comment and features editor at *City AM*, enforcing AI-detection on submissions.

Proceed with caution! Lessons for writers using AI

• Micah Nathan – writer for *The Guardian*, critiquing AI prose as “perfectly mediocre.”

Proceed with caution! Lessons for writers using AI

A London School of Economics study found that 42 % of respondents consider AI-written campaign materials unacceptable, and 41 % share the same view for AI-generated images and videos. These figures illustrate a gap between organizational adoption and public comfort.

Proceed with caution! Lessons for writers using AI

The NowThis strategist argues that “the blank page used to be the bottleneck. Now the bottleneck is the workflow around the draft, and the context you’ve built up that the AI can reuse the next time.” This view positions AI as a repeatable, context-aware assistant rather than a simple drafting tool.

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.

Anna Moloney’s policy at *City AM* states that any article flagged by AI-detection software will be rejected, reinforcing a human-first editorial standard.

Proceed with caution! Lessons for writers using AI

The LSE research team notes that while voters accept AI for data analysis or campaign logistics, they reject its use as a substitute for a politician’s own voice.

Proceed with caution! Lessons for writers using AI

Copywriters caution that AI-generated copy often feels “dull” and triggers an “uncanny valley” reaction among readers. The same sentiment is echoed in Moloney’s remark that “If you can't be bothered to write it, why should anyone be bothered to read it?” Critics argue that reliance on AI may erode the authenticity, humor, and nuance that human writers provide.

Proceed with caution! Lessons for writers using AI

• “If AI only writes your first drafts, you’re still the operator: you’re doing the research, moving the files, formatting the report, and hitting send.” — NowThis audience strategist

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.

• “Now the bottleneck is the workflow around the draft, and the context you’ve built up that the AI can reuse the next time.” — NowThis audience strategist

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.

• “If you can't be bothered to write it, why should anyone be bothered to read it?” — Anna Moloney, deputy comment and features editor, *City AM*

Proceed with caution! Lessons for writers using AI

• “AI’s prose is perfectly mediocre, producing the sort of inert gloss that reads like a Frankensteinian amalgam of…workshopped writing, an unintentional parody of the style it mimics” — Micah Nathan, *The Guardian*

Proceed with caution! Lessons for writers using AI

• “You shouldn’t buy AI like software, you should think of it as hiring thousands of chiefs of staff.” — Jack Clark, co-founder, Anthropic (quoted by the strategist)

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.

• “It resonates with me a lot: AI raises the floor, but your taste sets the ceiling.” — Derek Thompson, host, *Plain English* podcast

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.

The strategist will demonstrate the paid-social agent workflow at Ragan’s virtual AI Communications Conference on July 22, offering a concrete example of end-to-end automation while retaining human oversight.

Stop asking AI to write. Here’s what the NowThis audience strategist does instead.