Your AI Captions are Killing Your Business...

(and yes we can always tell)

Look, I get it. You’re running a local business. You’re juggling inventory, staff who "forgot" their shift, and things going wrong on the daily. Who's got time for social media!?

But then someone told you that AI is going to save you!

"Just plug it into ChatGPT!" they said. "It’ll save you five hours a week!"

So now, your Instagram feed looks like a tragic assortment of "Unleash your potential!" and "Experience the ultimate "something" journey!" posts. Social media is easy, you think 😎 You checked the box, yes, BUT, you're missing the entire point of being a local business.

It hurts my soul. Not because I'm scared AI is stealing my job, but you’re literally throwing your brand’s heartbeat away. And thats a bit sad *tear*

The Psychology of "The Cardboard Cutout" effect

Even if your customers can’t articulate why a post feels off, their brains are screaming it. Humans have evolved over millennia to detect social incongruence (aka little fakes).

I was reading the other day the perfect way to describe what happens.

"When a person reads an AI-generated caption, they experience what I call the Cardboard Cutout Effect. It looks like a person from a distance, the colours are right, and it’s standing in the right spot... but as soon as you get close, you realise it's cardboard. And what weirdo is trusting cardboard to spend their money."

On a subconscious level, when your customer reads AI, they also experience:

Pattern Recognition Fatigue: People see "In today's fast-paced world..." for the 90th time and their brain literally stops processing the words.

The Trust Gap: If you can’t be bothered to write three sentences to me, why should I believe you’ll care about my customer experience?

Mirror Neuron Failure: Real writing triggers mirror neurons, like we feel the excitement, the sarcasm, or the stress of the writer. AI doesn’t have a nervous system, so it can't create this for the reader.

What Social Media is Actually For

The entire competitive advantage of a local business is that you are not cardboard! You have a face. You have a voice. You have "that one regular who always orders the weird latte."

Social media's primary function is social validation and connection.

It’s Not "Do or Die"... Yet.

I’m not saying your business will implode tomorrow because you used a bot to write a caption. But people will get tired and stop listening to you.

The Solution

Start. writing. your. captions. again.

Keep them simple (people are lazy and don't read much anyway), but just use your head! Trust me, they will feel the difference. They might not say "Aha! No Chatty-G detected here!" but they will stay on your post a second longer. And trust me, people will judge you less for writing your own!

Talk soon! Maybe even in real life!

G