License to predict, not to think*
In one of the most iconic scenes in “Licence to Kill” (1989), James Bond drives down a dusty road in a tanker while trying to escape a missile. With no time and no plan, he does the unthinkable: he tilts the vehicle on two wheels and escapes the villain Franz Sanchez. He improvises. He survives. And in seconds, he wins the privilege of our attention. It’s the kind of decision that no algorithm would recommend and, precisely for this reason, an excellent starting point for us to reflect on the role we are assigning to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in writing.
In the case of marketing, which is increasingly driven by data, forecasts, and efficiency, the figure of Bond represents something that seems to be in danger of being lost: the ability to think critically, and with it, the ability to create texts with their own meaning and voice.
Other agents, AI agents, have already infiltrated our teams. They prepare articles on any topic, propose titles that convert, translate into several languages, adjust campaigns in real time, respond to emails and comments with precision and friendliness. They are fast, consistent and tireless 24/7. There’s just one problem: AI doesn’t think, AI predicts.
These models identify patterns in large volumes of information and anticipate the next element based on statistics, not interpretation or intuition. They produce texts that are technically correct but often incapable of moving or provoking; sophisticated in form but empty in content. And even when they seem new, they are just a calculated reinterpretation of what already exists. This raises an uncomfortable question: if everything AI writes is a recycling of what has already been written, where does that leave the audacity to reinvent discourse?
Writing isn’t just about putting together plausible sentences suggested by algorithms. Writing is thinking, doubting, taking risks. It means taking a stand, dialoguing with ideas, values and, above all, with those who read it. And those who read us are humans who recognize, without much effort or artifice, messages that connect us as beings of the same species.
AI can (and should) help structure, unblock, and even inspire. Yes, you can write fast, but you don’t know what it’s like to write passionately. It masters grammar, but doesn’t know how to fit silence into punctuation or passion between the lines. We’re not asking the machine to be able to come up with an idea at 3 am and chase it down after two coffees and some human chaos! The challenge is different: let the machine write with us, but ensure we sign off at the end.
In the movies, James Bond also uses cutting-edge technology (from exploding pens to watches that shoot darts), although he never relies on it alone. What sets him apart isn’t the arsenal of gadgets designed by Q, it’s knowing what to do when the story goes off script and the technology is no longer surprising. In marketing writing, the logic is not very different. AI offers extraordinary tools. However, it shouldn’t decide when the moment demands more than immediacy or efficiency. Technology without purpose or strategy is just a flash in the pan.
The best professionals are not dazzled by technology. They know how to use it and respect its power, but they don’t give it the wheel. They let AI take them further, but they choose where. Like 007, they know that the advantage lies not in the speed of the machine but in the talent of those who drive it. And they know that the difference between ignored content and shared content is almost always in the small details.
Today, predicting is already confused with thinking. Even so, writing that impacts and transforms still differs from writing that fills spaces. Writing that matters is attentive, courageous and adds value to the automatic. A demanding mix that is impossible to confuse at the right point.
Just like Bond’s Martini – “shaken, not stirred” and with its very own identity.
*This article was originally published in Marketeer.
