“If you’re writing for a brand, you can’t just be needlessly wacky for the sake of appearing human”

We caught up with ProCopywriters director Leif Kendall, to talk AI hysteria, professional copywriting standards and whether AI-generated copy can ever inspire action.

Collective Content: A prominent theme that came out the ProCopywriter’s 2026 survey was this idea of copywriters being pressured to use AI, whether they’re in-house, at agencies or freelancers. Why do you think this is happening?

Leif: I don’t think we really got insights from the survey data, but I do speak to a lot of copywriters and hear stories of what’s going on. It’s partly a kind of mass hysteria. No one wants to be left behind. There’s a vague techno-curiosity about it, which there is with every new technological advance.

CC: Where do you think companies are at now with GenAI?

LK: I think companies are weighing up the gains and the losses. AI is very fast, but it’s boring. It’s not inspiring or original. It’s very clever, seemingly, but it also lies and you don’t know when it’s lying. There’s also the question: If the AI makes a mistake, who do you blame? Who do you go to? There is no one to go to when there’s a problem.

On a positive note, for people who struggle with writing, AI can kind of give them a voice. Whether it’s writing up an idea clearly, writing an email to the line manager asking for a raise, or taking on a new challenge. That can be a real gift to organisations.

CC: Almost two thirds of respondents said that if they could get rid of AI, they would. Why do you think that is?

LK: So many of us are using AI for different things – organising lots of information, research and drafting. But then the majority would also delete it from the world if they could.

That could be to do with the huge energy consumption of these massive AI data centres, the vast copyright theft that went into training the models, the greed of tech companies or how much creative work is being destroyed by AI. Probably for most people, it’s all of those.

CC: Do you think that there is a potential for AI creating more value around good writing?

LK: Yes, I do actually. The general public, other digital creatives – the project managers, designers, developers – all of those people are now a lot more switched on and looking for originality, looking for signs of life.

Any copywriter who can write and sound like a human has an immediate advantage. AI has devalued generic content, but it increased the value of original, inspiring, content.

AI slop, and the need to appear human, presents an interesting challenge to all copywriters and agencies. How do you tap into that in a way that’s useful, relevant and appropriate? If you’re writing for a brand, you can’t just be needlessly wacky for the sake of appearing human.

How do we bring some kind of real life into what we’re doing in a way that’s still on brand? The cost of sounding like everyone else is even higher than it was before.

CC: How do you think AI has changed the client and agency/copywriter dynamic?

LK: From what I’ve heard from freelancers, it is a topic of conversation, but it’s not just about trust. Sometimes it’s that clients are keen for copywriters to use AI because they want a lot of content, so they understand that a copywriter plus AI equals faster production. Sometimes it’s that clients must not use AI because of their internal policies.

At ProCopywriters, we’ve just launched the Copywriter Code – the UK’s first professional standard for copywriters. It’s in two parts. It’s a code of conduct, which is all about your professional conduct, and a code of practice, which goes into detail about how you do the work of a copywriter. We created the Code partly in response to AI. The main gist of where we’ve landed with the code is that it’s okay to use AI, but if it’s a significant or substantial use of AI, you need to be transparent with your clients.

CC: Can AI-generated content ever inspire action?

LK: I’d love to say no, but I think it’s probably yes. And the reason is, I think as content professionals, as creatives, we think so much about the words, we devote so much time to it, but there’s an awful lot of people out there who are making decisions while distracted, ordering something, while they’re half asleep or quite drunk. There are people who join cults. There are people who bought NFTs. I think there are people who will be persuaded by AI content.