It’s not often I receive backlash for my thoughts.
But this one caused quite a stir.
Apparently, teaching people how to build Custom GPTs is controversial.
(Lucky for me, I have many spoons and AI in my corner to defend my position.)
Let’s rewind.
The Offending Post: “Build Custom GPTs That Work Like You”
In a recent blog, I broke down how to create personalized AI assistants inside ChatGPT — the kind that scale your voice, write in your tone, and give you back hours of your week.
The response? Mostly applause. Hundreds of downloads. DMs like, “This changed how I think about content.”
But not all of it was confetti.
A handful of folks (loud ones) slid into my inbox or comments with words like:
“This feels like cheating.”
“Isn’t this replacing real creativity?”
“Aren’t you just automating the soul out of your work?”
“Tell me you don’t know marketing, without telling me you don’t know how to market” <- this one was my personal favorite. Thanks, Jeff!
And hey, I get it. Anything that challenges the status quo usually kicks up a little dust. But let’s talk about what’s really going on here.
This Isn’t Cheating. It’s Strategy.
Using AI isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about cutting through noise.
When I use a Custom GPT trained on my tone, values, and client insight, I’m not removing myself from the work. I’m scaling what already exists inside my head — so I can be in more places, with more clarity, without cloning myself (yet).
Let me ask you something:
Do you write every line of every landing page, social post, email, and onboarding doc by hand, from scratch, every time?
Or do you repurpose, template, and delegate where you can?
Because if you’re not doing the latter, you’re not leading — you’re just firefighting.
We don’t call Canva “cheating graphic design.”
We don’t call Zoom “cheating collaboration.”
So why is a GPT that remembers your brand voice any different?
We’re Not Automating Art. We’re Automating Admin.
Here’s the big misunderstanding: People assume AI is replacing their essence.
But really? It’s replacing your third draft.
Your rewrites.
Your repetitive brain drain.
The 80% of work that slows down your brilliance instead of showcasing it.
What you do with that saved energy — that’s where your edge lives.
Great marketers don’t fear new tools. They master them. Then they teach others how to make them sing.
AI Isn’t the Threat. Irrelevance Is.
We are living in a moment where attention is fragmented, platforms change weekly, and the workload on solo creators and lean teams is… let’s say, “unsustainable.”
If you think the future of marketing is doing everything manually while your competitors are training AI to think like them?
I respect your conviction. But I like my odds better.
Because the people who will win the next 5 years are already figuring out how to:
Scale message without diluting it
Show up more, with less burnout
Lead creative teams and efficient systems
This isn’t about robots replacing people. It’s about creators, founders, and marketers using smarter tools to do more of what they’re here to do — lead, invent, connect, sell.
Let’s Redefine What “Authenticity” Means
If I spend 3 hours crafting a caption from scratch, and you spend 10 minutes guiding a trained GPT to write one in your voice…
Which is more “real”?
Because in both cases, you’re the source. The guide. The voice.
And to be blunt? If your authenticity only survives without tools, it was never very durable to begin with.
Real creators evolve. Real brands adapt. And real authenticity scales.
My Commitment, Moving Forward
I’m not here to convince the skeptics. I’m here to serve the people building something bold.
So yes — I will continue to teach marketers how to:
Build GPTs that think like them
Automate the grunt work without losing their voice
Future-proof their brand with tools that work smarter, not louder
Because the truth is: AI isn’t the enemy of creativity.
It’s the scaffolding that helps it reach higher.
And if using a trained assistant that understands my tone, my ethics, and my audience helps me help more people? Then pass me another spoon — I’m just getting started.