Automation has its place, but these marketing tasks still need a human touch to protect your brand
Key Points:
- Marketing expert and founder of First Rank highlights seven high-risk areas where AI can cause reputational damage if misused.
- These include crisis communications, legal disclaimers, and culturally sensitive campaigns, where tone, accuracy, and context are critical.
- An expert explains why businesses should use human-led strategies for sensitive brand touchpoints and how to balance automation with authenticity.
As AI revolutionizes digital marketing, it’s easy to forget one critical fact: not every task should be handed over to a machine.
From generating blog posts to automating ad targeting, artificial intelligence can streamline operations and unlock scale. But there are still serious risks when it comes to the subtleties of language, ethics, emotion, and context. Misusing AI in the wrong areas doesn’t just reduce performance—it can erode trust, create legal exposure, or damage your brand’s credibility.
According to Jacob Kettner, founder of SEO and digital marketing firm First Rank, marketers must be strategic about when and where they use AI. “There’s an assumption that if something saves time, it’s worth using. But in marketing, speed without judgment is a dangerous equation,” Kettner says. “In some cases, handing a task to AI can do more harm than good.”
Below, Kettner reveals the seven areas where brands should proceed with caution—and what to do instead.
Crisis Communications
In high-stakes moments, such as product recalls, PR scandals, or data breaches, AI lacks the nuance and emotional intelligence to craft an appropriate message.
“AI doesn’t understand context or intent in the way a human does,” says Kettner. “An off-key sentence during a crisis can appear dismissive or tone-deaf, and that’s not something you can afford to get wrong.” In these moments, trust and empathy must be human-led.
Personal Customer Responses
While AI can automate FAQs or route tickets, it shouldn’t be responsible for responding to sensitive or escalated customer issues. According to Zendesk, 52% of customers say they would stop buying from a company after a single negative customer experience.
When complaints involve frustration, emotion, or complex issues, generic responses can escalate tension rather than resolve it.
Culturally Sensitive Campaigns
AI models are trained on global data, but that doesn’t mean they understand cultural nuance. From inappropriate word choices to visual missteps, AI can easily produce offensive or tone-deaf messaging in a specific region or community.
“You can’t outsource cultural intelligence to a model that doesn’t live in the world it’s speaking to,” notes Kettner. These campaigns require local knowledge and lived experience.
Legal Disclaimers and Regulatory Content
AI is not a lawyer; using it to generate or interpret disclaimers, disclosures, or regulated content is a legal risk.
“Regulatory scrutiny of digital marketing has increased sharply in recent years—particularly in healthcare, finance, and consumer privacy,” explains Kettner. “Relying on AI for this content can lead to non-compliance, misinformation, or even lawsuits.”
Brand Messaging and Tone of Voice
Every brand has a distinct voice, but AI outputs often lack consistency or subtly shift tone depending on the prompt structure. Over time, this erodes brand identity.
“We’ve seen businesses unknowingly dilute their voice by publishing AI-written content that just doesn’t sound like them,” Kettner says. “Human oversight is a must for maintaining consistency.”
High-Value B2B Proposals or Pitches
Authenticity and personalization matter when courting enterprise clients or pitching tailored solutions. AI-generated proposals can feel generic or templated, undermining your positioning.
These materials often benefit from direct human input that reflects real client pain points, strategic insight, and relationship history.
Content That Deals With Mental Health or Personal Well-being
AI can regurgitate facts, but can’t show empathy or responsibly guide users through emotionally charged topics. Using it to write copy about mental health, trauma, or personal development risks alienating readers—or worse, causing harm.
Sensitive content should constantly be reviewed or written by professionals with appropriate experience.
Jacob Kettner, Founder of First Rank, commented:
The promise of AI in marketing is real—it’s fast, scalable, and increasingly capable. But there’s a clear line between where automation adds value and where it chips away at trust. The key is knowing when human oversight isn’t optional.
Striking a balance between automation and authenticity isn’t simply a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic necessity. Brands that over-automate risk losing their voice, their empathy, and their connection with customers. The goal should never be to replace marketers, but to empower them. AI should handle the repetitive and predictable, so people can focus on what actually builds relationships: clarity, care, and credibility.
A smart AI strategy does more than just save time, it protects your brand.
