It’s rare to come across a presentation that mirrors your own professional track, and even less common to hear it given with such eloquence. At CopyCon 2024, Tajha Myers’ talk on “The Power of AI Tools as a Content Designer” was outstanding—not just in substance but also in origin.
A journalist turned content designer, Tajha now produces content for tech giants like Meta. Her transition into brand design took a familiar path: from reporting on facts to crafting stories.
Like Tajha, I now work with businesses to distil their identity into words—words that are sharp, specific, and emotionally resonant. When she spoke about AI tools, it wasn’t in the voice of a technophile or a sceptic. It was a realistic evaluation from someone who’s watched the newsroom become the brand studio and seen the red pen yield predictive text.
The Myth of Replacement
Tajha got right—and bears repeating— that AI is not a replacement. It’s an accelerant. Yes, it can draft a decent sentence. But it cannot intuit tone, mood, or context. It will never understand why a skincare brand should speak like your outspoken best friend. Or why an NBFC will require the demeanour of a respected neighbourhood uncle—calming, wise, and yet spreadsheet-savvy.
That’s the writer’s territory. That’s brand craftsmanship. And no template, however large, can replicate that subtle understanding of culture, consumer behaviour, and context.
Tools Are Neutral. Strategy Isn’t.
The tools on demo—ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grammarly, Ryter, Copy.ai—are all valuable. They save time and surface options and can even push a writer past creative inertia. But they don’t know when a brief is off. They don’t know that “punchy” sometimes means “sound like Apple, but don’t say it.” They don’t know when a headline lacks tension, or a call-to-action lacks soul. Tools can assist. But strategy—real brand-building strategy—requires critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and that elusive copywriter’s muscle: gut instinct
Prompts as Creative Leverage
One of the most useful frameworks from the session was Tajha’s 5W method for structuring prompts. It reinforced a central idea: AI output is only as good as the input it receives. Asking it to “write a product description” is vastly different from prompting it to “write a product description for a 35-year-old first-time homebuyer scrolling on mobile while wrangling a toddler.”
Here are some more examples:
Instead of:
Write a headline for a fintech app
✅ Do this:
Write a headline for a mobile-first fintech app targeting 25-35-year-old gig workers who want faster access to their earnings.
Instead of:
Generate Instagram captions for a skincare brand
✅ Do this:
Generate 5 witty Instagram captions for a clean beauty brand launching its new vitamin C serum. The brand is targeting eco-conscious women in their 30s with a warm but cheeky tone.
When you write prompts like these, craft meets code. The better the prompt, the sharper the response. But again, prompt engineering isn’t a mechanical task. It requires the same strategic clarity we bring to client briefs.
Final Thoughts: Keep the Pen
Personally, I view AI as an intern who drafts fast so I can think better. It handles volume; I handle value. It reduces repetitive strain; I retain creative intent. The goal is not to resist it or romanticise it. The goal is to understand when to reach for it and when to set it aside.
Ultimately, the client won’t remember how fast the draft came in. They’ll remember the one line that made them pause. That made them feel seen.
So, yes, AI is now part of the team. But we are still responsible for writing with nuance, intention, and meaning. Rest assured, the pen is still in our hands, folks. And no one’s taking it away from us.
