With prose this bad, bring on the robots

Yesterday, OpenAI boasted about their latest creative-writing AI, the output of which had even award-winning novelist Jeanette Winterson impressed. Today, I received a newsletter from a consultancy that contained, by my count, 25 business cliches and tired metaphors in just 580 words. The offending passages are pasted below, in case you care to count yourself (with redactions to spare the author's blushes).

I can tell this wasn't written by AI, since today's AIs would presumably be embarrassed to resort to constructions so easily found among the most dog-eared, coffee-stained texts in their capacious mental libraries – unlike humans in a rush.

It's hardly fair to compare creative writing with quotidian business prose. Yet the comparison is necessary: writing is writing, and both competed for my attention this busy morning.

I don't disagree with Winterson: the AI story has moments of quality and pathos (which, to its credit, the AI is astute enough to recognise as ersatz). Yet this is no cause for despair, unlike the manifestly phoned-in email circular.

Why? Simply because better AI prose will force us all to seek higher standards of originality and quality, across all writing - and in doing so will expose thoughtless dross for what it is.

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[Redacted] are looking to their [redacted] to handle their companies’ growth agendas. But are [redacted] equipped enough to deliver on these expectations?

[Redacted]. Recently, there has been a widespread trend of [redacted] taking on a much broader remit [redacted]. In short, [redacted] are no longer just [redacted]. They’re [redacted], connecting the dots across an organization.

[Redacted] are now expected to propel these lofty ambitions, and the growth agenda keeps getting bigger and more complicated [redacted]. But there’s a sizable gap between what [redacted] know is important to deliver growth and successful performance, and their ability to achieve it. Their biggest challenge is the [redacted]. Only [redacted] feel they have a [redacted] that is fit for purpose to deliver on their objectives. Their main constraints are [redacted], the lack of a ring-fenced budget, and [redacted].

There’s also a disconnect between what is top of mind for [redacted] and where they devote their attention. [Redacted]. This is a bread-and-butter [redacted] capability, yet because of today’s “new normal” context, [redacted] are now struggling to deliver on this kind of objective, which used to be table stakes.

What’s more, when it comes to more advanced areas like gen AI, [redacted] say it’s important to craft an AI strategy (with clear guardrails and use cases), but only [redacted] feel their organizations are up to delivering.

With these challenges, how can [redacted] prioritize? There’s a lot of noise [redacted]. The key is to stay focused—having a clear North Star vision [redacted]. It’s then critical to focus on [redacted], connecting people and capabilities in the right way. The [redacted] relationship is also critical. CEOs aren’t always aware of everything [redacted] must contend with these days. [Redacted]

The role of the [redacted] is a position of passion. [Redacted] are excited to pursue growth and change, and this coming year, [redacted] will be spinning more plates than ever. [Redacted] the role of the [redacted] will continue to evolve. The key to success for these [redacted] will be to focus on rebooting the ways they work.