The Minimization of Effort
Recently I saw an ad offering to build me a professional website in 20 seconds. Then I saw another one touting the ability to automate my social media with zero effort on my part.
I’m all about efficiency and leveraging tools to make our agency better, but the removal of humanity from the project process doesn’t sit right with me.
It’s as if the minimization of effort has become the goal of the website and digital marketing industry…or maybe it always has been there and AI tools are accelerating it. So essentially AI tools seem to be removing the human side of the project process. No effort required! Awesome!
The Results of Removing Humans from the Process
I would suggest that effort isn’t the enemy. In fact I would suggest that completely removing the human experience from project processes short circuits you and your business.
Disengaging from the project process, the patient, methodical, deep thinking work that something like a website project requires, can ultimately harm your project. You end with a completed project (kind of), but skip the journey of creation.
The process of bringing something to life that we’re proud of is important. It matures, defines and refines you and your business. Without it there is a sense of shallowness to your project.
Also, I would argue that the best results of a project are worked out in the company of others. Collaboration between stakeholders often results in robust ideas, pitfalls avoided, and significantly better end results.
It the risk of sounding like a Luddite, I’m guessing that best digital marketing companies will maintain a healthy tension between their use of AI tools and the human side of their project processes.