If this year has been the year we flirted with AI, the next one will be us finally admitting that we’re in a complicated relationship.
- Brain’s got a GPU, Voilà!
Every year, the marketing world finds a new astrology chart to obsess over. Some years it’s VR, some years it’s the Metaverse (RIP), and this year the lucky planet is AI. Suddenly every deck has a robot handshake, every pitch has ‘hyperpersonalisation,’ and half the industry is calling themselves ‘prompt architects.’
But here’s the truth: 2025 isn’t the Year of AI. Actually it is the year of being human in the age of AI. Siri can be your assistant, but have your mom emotionally fact-check your life decisions
- AI has no childhood trauma and that s*cks.
My turning point with AI came on a random day when I hit a creative block and, out of sheer recently developed second nature, asked AI for a few lines. It delivered, instantly. Perfect grammar, polite tone, no insecurities, no panic, no overthinking.
That’s when it struck me: AI has never had a bad boss, a missed deadline, or an auto driver refusing the ride at the worst moment. In short, AI has zero childhood trauma, which is why its ideas often feel like they grew up in a well-lit, perfectly stable home.
Humans create from emotions, chaos, memory, hunger, heartbreak, and hope.
AI creates from data. Authenticity lives between lived experiences and processed information.
- The Middle-Classness of AI Adoption
Indians approach AI exactly like we approach a new appliance.
First, suspicion. Then, overuse. Finally, using it only for WhatsApp forwards.
Brands are no different.
Some treat AI like a dishwasher, others treat it like a juicer; it will solve everything before it becomes a sticky mess. The sweet spot? Use AI for scale. Use humans for soul.
- Authenticity is a premium feature.
Let’s be honest: Today’s audience scrolls with a sixth sense.
- Gen Z can detect stock photos like bomb squads sniffing danger.
- People scroll past ‘heartfelt’ brand messages faster than a traffic light at Silk Board.
- No one believes a brand that says ‘we care.’
They believe the brand that responds to DMs at 2 AM without sounding like a helpline.
Authenticity is no more a tone. It is a business model. It is no more about ‘be real’. It is about being ‘consistently real’ even when no one’s watching.
- AI as the Great Unburdening
For creative leaders, AI is like hiring 200 interns who never ask for coffee, credit, or half-day leave. Use it to speed up first drafts, kill grunt work, spark rough ideas, and generate 50 bad versions so your one good version feels divine.
But don’t outsource the human spark.
An algorithm can write a joke, but only a human knows why it’s funny.
- The Rise of Hybrid Creativity
The real winners of 2025 will be hybrid creatives. People who can switch between instinct and intelligence, data and drama, algorithms and anecdotes.
Our job isn’t to create work that ‘proves we didn’t use AI.’
Our job is to create work that feels alive.
Because AI can scale creativity.
Only people can give it purpose.
- The Unsolicited Leadership Wisdom
I often tell my teams this:
If AI writes something and it sounds like you, great.
If you write something and it sounds like AI, rethink your life choices.
