AI is a Powerful Tool, Not a Replacement.
AI is everywhere right now, and depending on the day, it’s either being positioned as the thing that will save us hours, replace roles and departments, and even quietly judge us for doing things like drafting work in Google Docs. Judge away, bots…this is how I write and think! All this prognostication makes it tempting to either overtrust AI…or dismiss it entirely!
At Seventh Scout, we’ve landed somewhere in the middle and are a little more grounded in how we think about AI for marketing agencies. We think of AI as a content creation partner with the helpfulness and limitations of an intern.
AI for Marketing Agencies Works Best When It’s Treated Like an Intern
That perspective matters because when you expect intern-level work, you lead differently. You give clearer direction. You validate assumptions. You take responsibility for the final output. And you never confuse speed with wisdom.
Like interns, AI is incredibly resourceful and has endless time on its hands. It can research, summarize, outline, and create at a pace that feels almost magical, which is why using artificial intelligence for content can be such a gift when it’s guided well. It doesn’t get tired and will continue to draft multiple versions of the same thing without pushing back.
And like most interns, AI is wired to please. A lot.
Why Using Artificial Intelligence for Content Creation Requires Human Judgement
AI aims to please so much so that it will sometimes hallucinate, bend the truth, overstate confidence, or even smooth over gaps in knowledge just to give you something that sounds complete. Not out of malice, but out of pattern recognition. Like people, we have trained our robots that confidence often gets rewarded, even when accuracy should matter more.
AI only knows our world as it exists in books, articles, and online conversations. It hasn’t had to sit through awkward meetings. It hasn’t felt the tension of a client call where the real issue isn’t what was said out loud. It hasn’t learned how much nuance lives in tone, time, and experience.
So what are the ramifications of these gaps in knowledge for the work created by your AI and interns? Neither knows the hard-fought lessons of your business and experience. The mistakes that have cost you money. The campaigns that looked great on paper but failed quietly when executed. Which is why, like interns, AI works best when it is supporting your thinking, not replacing it.
Interns become valuable parts of your team when they are mentored, not when they are turned loose and expected to perform like experts from day one. AI is no different. The more context, clarity, and judgment you bring to the table, the better the collaboration becomes.
The real question isn’t to ask whether AI is “good or bad,” but how agencies should use AI in ways that support human judgment rather than replace it.
How Seventh Scout Leverages AI
(…and yes, this includes our human interns)
At our digital marketing agency, we don’t use AI to replace thinking. We use it to support it. Like interns, we think of AI as that new or junior person who is excellent at research, early drafts, and helping us get unstuck with their fresh perspectives.
Generate first drafts that our team rounds out with strategy, voice, and experience
Explore multiple angles quickly before choosing the one that aligns accurately with a client’s goals
Summarize research so our experienced team can stay focused on the insights rather than the overload of information
Take broad statements and customize them to a specific persona, ensuring we are reaching our target audiences
What AI never does is make final decisions on our behalf. It never defines our marketing strategy. And it would never speak on behalf of our clients without human insight, context, and accountability.
Our work isn’t just about content. Our work is rooted in trust, clarity, and long-term relationships. Thankfully for small, intentional teams like ours, these still require humans who know when to push, pause, or even say no.
AI doesn’t need to be feared or blindly trusted. Like any intern, its value comes from how thoughtfully it’s guided, challenged, and integrated into your workflow. When used with intention, AI can help agencies move faster without losing clarity, voice, or accountability, but only if humans remain firmly in the driver’s seat.
Hear more of our thoughts surrounding AI, or check out our ChatGPT prompt templates designed to help teams get started with clearer inputs, better outputs, and fewer “hallucinations.”
Using AI the right way doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Like any good intern, it just needs direction, context, and a manager who knows when to step in.
A Practical Checklist for Working With AI the Way You'd Manage an Intern
Give AI context before asking for output. Share your audience, goals, constraints, and tone upfront. Garbage in, garbage out. Vague inputs will almost always lead to generic and useless results.
Ask for drafts, not decisions. Use AI to explore possibilities, not to choose a final direction. Best judgment is still your job.
Question confident answers. If something sounds too good to be true or comes out too tidy, verify it. AI was built and optimized for fluency, not accountability.
Edit with your values in mind. Ask yourself, does this “sound like us.”? Does it reflect how we interact with each other?
Don’t outsource your voice. AI can help you find words, but it shouldn’t replace the human and hard work of saying what you actually mean.
Remember who owns the outcome. If it goes out in the wild and on the internet, it carries your name and reputation, not the tool’s. Act and behave accordingly.
