Ann Handley! AI and Creativity!🧠How Ann Handley Uses AI...| Ep. 386

Anne Handley is not here to bash AI—she actually uses it—but she is here to warn us about what happens when we use it too early, too often, and for the wrong reasons. Jay Schwedelson gets into it with Ann Handley about how to stay creative when AI wants to take over your brain, what’s really at stake for writers, and why being a good marketer still means sounding like an actual person (even if it’s a sweaty, messy one).

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Best Moments:

(01:31) Why she’s more afraid of humans becoming robots than robots becoming human

(04:00) The biggest mistake creators make when using AI

(05:15) A smart rule of thumb for where AI should save time

(07:15) How we’re being trained to accept boring content—and how to fight back

(08:08) The rise of AI trigger words like “unlock” and “discover” (and why they’re ruining copy)

(09:00) Are marketers avoiding copywriting as a career now?

(11:18) The case for “thoughtstipation” and why prompt engineering is not the future

(14:00) The very human way Ann used AI to review her book draft

(17:30) Her 30-minutes-a-day reading challenge and why it rewires your brain

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Partner with Jay! https://www.jayschwedelson.com/contact

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Pre-order Jay Schwedelson’s new book, Stupider People Have Done It (out June 9, 2026). All net proceeds are donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research—let’s kick cancer’s butt: https://www.amazon.com/Stupider-People-Have-Done-Marketing/dp/1637635206

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