Another edition of our miniseries THE AI OF THE STORM, this time with a very intriguing question indeed: Can AI understand emotion and persuasion the way humans do?

It’s a yes/no question but not a yes/no answer, when you really get down to it.

I mean…how well do we understand emotion and persuasion? How useful is our understanding? How consciously and deliberately do we use that understanding?

Charlie really delivers a pretty darn good answer in this episode. Because if there’s one thing AI is good at, it’s being analytical - and self aware. We could probably learn a thing or two from Charlie…

Keep your AI-related questions coming. We’ll be back soon with more content - and Y-Fronts fans, stay tuned for your next brief, which will be coming your way via email very soon…

H

Brand voice is a funny old thing. On the one hand, it’s meant to be the key to authenticity. On the other hand, it is kinda…meaningless.

In this episode, we answer an excellent question about balancing consistency with creativity. It’s perhaps one of the trickiest and least well-understood facets of the job for copywriters: on the one hand, you have to be ‘in character’, but on the other hand, you need to have a bit of creative freedom to suggest doing things differently.

By way of example, shout-out to friend of the show Lewis Folkard, and hero of the show David Abbott:

https://lewisfolkard.co.uk/ad-breakdown-volvos-if-the-welding-isnt-strong-enough-the-car-will-fall-on-the-writer/

We also answer another good question: what novel should every copywriter read? It’s safe to say that the robots struggled with this one - Martin even got into a fight with Gemima…

Until next time, IGNORE THE VOICES (at least until you start getting into trouble).

H

Back to normal programming! This time we answer a question about that most insidious client behaviour: not paying the f&$%ing invoice.

Pretty much every freelancer has experienced this at one time or another. If you haven't yet, you will: it’s the nature of the beast.

But while it’s pretty much unavoidable, there are things you can do to protect yourself, and channels you can use to get what is rightly yours.

We’re not going to give away those insights in writing, but let’s just say, one of the answers rhymes with “jet reflectors”.

It’s not all about thugs in leather jackets, though. We answer a surprisingly tricky question: what’s the world’s best breakfast? Unsurprisingly, those robots really take that question literally, while Hayden dithers and dallies and Martin tells a story in which he really, well, makes a meal out of getting breakfast.

Thanks all, and stay tuned for another edition of AI OF THE STORM next week!

H