There’s something about machine-written content that just doesn’t sit right with us.
And it’s not just the written word either.
Take Coca Cola’s latest Christmas advert as an example; AI-generated again, the verdict from Metro is that audiences found it to be creativity-free, unmemorable, and soulless – hardly a ringing endorsement.
Yet, it feels as if AI-generated content is unavoidable.
At Aqueous Digital, we’ve long predicted the early appeal and initial perks of AI-written content would diminish as the web becomes saturated with machine-generated text.
Curiously, there’s growing evidence that audiences don’t connect with this so-called ‘AI slop’, with
Why human-led content will always have the edge
It’s true that AI is a powerful tool; it can support with a range of time-consuming and repetitive tasks, including drafting and research, but there are many reasons why human-written content will always be better – at least in our eyes.
Creative and original thinking
No amount of AI prompting can replace a unique human touch.
AI tools are trained to recognise patterns and follow formulas, and not to think creatively.
Be it an unexpected idea or clever turn of phrase, genuine creativity and original thinking comes naturally from humans.
More meaningful insights
While AI is trained to detect patterns in the data it’s presented with, it can’t make sense of this information in the same way humans can.
With empathy, contextual understanding, and moral reasoning informing how we see things, humans can draw deeper insights and connect unrelated dots in a way that machines simply can’t.
Moral compass and ethical reasoning
AI struggles with subjectivity and ethical judgment.
Human writers, on the other hand, can make more informed decisions by leveraging compassion, fairness, and responsibility.
This helps to prevent potentially biased, insensitive, misleading, or even actively harmful content from being created.
Deeper research and greater accuracy
Owing to a phenomenon called “AI sycophancy” (where models are trained and optimised to excessively agree with, or even flatter, users in a bid to increase satisfaction and engagement), AI tools often end up contradicting themselves, saying one thing and the opposite moments later.
Humans understand this approach is at best confusing, and at worst hypocritical and non-sensical, actively harming a publisher’s credibility.
Human oversight, in the form of verifying facts, questioning assumptions, and spotting inconsistencies, is essential for the creation of accurate and trustworthy content.
Conversations with subject matter experts
There’s plenty that AI can do, but one thing that it’s yet to accomplish is automatically identifying and reaching out to subject matter experts when it requires more information, an authoritative quote, or a contrasting opinion on a particular topic.
Human writers, on the other hand, can spot gaps in what’s already available.
Guided by critical thinking and an innate curiosity, we can tell when a piece of content would benefit from the addition of greater authority and expert insight.
Narratives built from real experiences
Scraped data glued together from various sources simply doesn’t compare to building narratives from authentic experience.
This lived reality of memories, challenges, and emotions cannot be replicated by AI tools.
It’s for this reason that AI-generated text often feels mechanical, repetitive, or inauthentic, making it harder for the content to resonate with its target audience.
Emotional intelligence and authenticity
AI may be able to somewhat mimic emotional intelligence and authenticity through recognising the patterns associated with these feelings, but it cannot genuinely feel emotions like sadness or joy.
This lack of emotional depth is what leads many people to view AI-generated content as “soulless”, while the human ability to feel, reflect, and connect gives real writers their ineffable edge.
How prevalent is AI-written content in 2025?
While there’s no definitive answer to this question – especially with AI detectors themselves struggling to distinguish between content that’s been written by a human or generated by a machine – some studies have hinted at the striking amount of content being pumped out by AI.
Meanwhile, another study led by Graphite found that the quantity of AI-generated articles being published on the web actually surpassed the quantity of human-written articles as of November 2024.
From articles to social media posts and product descriptions, it’s clear the sheer volume of AI-written content now makes up a disproportionate share of what we read online.
How do we really feel about AI-written content?
Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, the prevalence of AI-generated content has skyrocketed – with one Graphite study suggesting that AI-generated articles now account for a substantial 39% of those published in the following 12 months.
But how do we actually feel about this apparent shift, and what do we think when we read AI-generated content?
Well, the results from several studies are in, and it’s exactly what you’d expect.
Exploring the level of trust humans place in LLMs (Large Language Models), a study published by Science Direct found that participants trusted statements more when they believed a human wrote them rather than ChatGPT.
This is supported by the findings of a PNAS Nexus article which ascertained that full news articles labelled as AI-generated were perceived to be less credible.
It’s not just the trustworthiness of AI-written content that has faced scrutiny either.
According to new research from the University of Kansas, news releases written by a human author were deemed to be more credible and effective than a release attributed to AI.
At the same time, some relevant key takeaways from Hookline&’s 2025 AI In Content Marketing Report include the fact that 82.1% of the 1,000 Americans surveyed could spot AI in at least some instances.
It added that more than 40% of respondents said their opinion of a brand would change for the worse if they knew that AI was used to generate its content.
In short: not only do we often notice when content lacks a human touch, but we also find it less credible, trustworthy, and effective.
The over-production of AI content seems to have earned these generative tools a reputation for churning out shallow, repetitive, and spam-like content that simply regurgitates information already published, and prioritises volume above value.
So, why do we keep using AI for content creation?
Despite the growing amount of research that suggests audiences don’t respond to AI-written content in the same way as human-penned pieces, machine-generated content can still be found everywhere online.
Quick, affordable, and
For many business owners, these benefits seem enough to look the other way despite mounting evidence against the effectiveness of AI-generated articles.
Whether they feel it’s too late to do a U-turn on AI-written content, believe it’s still sufficient for SEO or informational purposes, or are waiting for clear performance declines before acting, failing to respond to the latest research could lead to a range of costly consequences.
However, there are some signs that the tide is turning. The same Graphite study that revealed the surge in AI-generated articles since 2022 also found that their overall share has remained relatively stable since May 2024.
The reason behind this stagnation? Graphite hypothesised that practitioners may have finally realised AI-written articles simply do not perform well in search.
They’ve realised that choosing volume over engagement, convenience over creativity, and ‘good enough’ over ‘spot on’, just isn’t producing the desired results.
From a loss of brand voice to quality concerns, it’s never been more apparent that a human touch is needed to breathe life back into online content.
SEO-friendly content written by people, not machines
Here at Aqueous Digital, we have a team of experienced, SEO-savvy, (and, crucially!) human copywriters on hand to help your business stay visible and truly connect with its target market.
Whether that involves describing the positive customer journey they’ll experience or explaining the relatable pain point your product or service can alleviate, there’s no replacement for real, emotive, human-led content.
To find out how our professional digital marketing team can start driving results for your business, feel free to start a conversation using our convenient online contact form.
On receiving your enquiry, we’ll be in touch soon to arrange a free website audit and identify how we can support the success of your business.
To arrange your no-obligation consultation, don’t hesitate to contact us via:
Phone: 0800 285 1424
Email: hello@aqueous-digital.co.uk
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