335. Is AI the Future of Marketing? Winning Customer Trust in the Age of Automation

Do you remember the Pixar movie Wall-E? You know, the post-apocalyptic one where everyone was just floating around in chairs with their super-sized drinks and personal TV screens while robots did all the work and they had no human interaction? Yea, it’s one of my favorites. Well, I’m here to remind us all that the movie was supposed to be a warning, not a how-to manual. 

There have been a lot of conversations on the internet lately about the rise of AI and our desire to win the race against the rest of the world. It’s so important, a reconciliation bill that’s moving through Congress right now literally has a provision in it that prohibits states from regulating AI over the next 10 years. 

I understand the logic behind that. We’ll be up against other countries that won’t have regulations, and we want to make sure we can compete. But considering how quickly it’s moving, the fact that a lot of people still can’t tell the difference between a real video and an AI-generated one, and the environmental concerns… it makes sense that people would be concerned. 

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What’s Happening with AI in 2025

Not to mention you’ve got companies like Shopify saying their employees have to prove something can’t be done by AI before they would consider hiring another person, Duolingo the language app came out saying they were going to be an AI first company, yea, it didn’t go over well… hell, there’s even a completely AI generated album from a fake band on Spotify. I didn’t research that one, so I don’t know if there’s any information about who is behind it. 

And it wasn’t all that long ago that SAG-AFTRA was fighting to protect actors from being replicated with AI and not being compensated. 

This reminds me of the birth of the Internet… except this feels way faster than that… or maybe my memory just isn’t very good. I dunno. 

All that to say, we’re in for a RIDE, and my gut tells me the consequences are going to be very similar to those of the Internet. The World Wide Web brought us some amazing advancements. Hell, it makes my business possible. But it also brought us some not-so-great things, and sometimes it seems… that’s just the price of progress.

Am I Anti-AI?

And look, don’t get it twisted. I’m not anti-AI. As I’ve said before, I did resist it for content creation for a long time… but just like I knew years ago that I had to learn eCommerce and digital marketing so I didn’t get left behind, AI is the same. 

So, I jumped in with both feet and ended up developing the AI Brand Brief to help you better utilize AI for content creation. I’m incorporating more and more AI into my courses to help you get the work done faster. And it’s come in pretty handy to help me work out some coding kinks for custom sections I released in Shopify Secrets. 

As small business owners with limited resources, AI can be a super effective tool to do more with less. 

Public Sentiment: The Backlash is Real

But as much as AI is becoming a part of our everyday lives, and big businesses are doubling down on their investment and reliance on AI, consumers are not happy. 

While Shopify mostly made people fear what the job market would look like in a few years, especially for entry-level jobs for recent college grads, it was the Duolingo announcement that got a lot of backlash. 

Their AI implementation, while also for back-end processes, etc., bled into their main product… their language lessons. 

I’m not a Duolingo user, so I can’t speak to the quality of the courses but their user base was pissed. As of just a few days ago, they are still getting dragged in their comments on TikTok. 

I gotta say, as clever as Duolingo is with their social strategy, those commenters be giving them a run for their money. 

How Small Businesses Can Utilize AI

So… why am I going on this tangent about AI and all the doom and gloom?

Well, because consumer sentiment on AI isn’t positive, and this is going to matter for all businesses. 

When it comes to the big guys, they probably won’t change anything about their strategy. And while A LOT of people have the attention span of a goldfish and will choose comfort over everything else, I dunno, something about what’s happening right now, I think consumers are gonna hold this grudge for a while. 

At the end of the day, it’s probably not going to matter a ton. There are enough customers in the world, and these companies will be fine. 

But it does open up an opportunity for you. 

As consumers, we’re already skeptical. Add on all this AI stuff, and it’s only going to get worse. 

But you have something these big guys don’t have. You. The human behind the business. 

That’s why no matter what happens in the AI space, no matter how companies adopt AI to flood the zone with content, ads, etc. consumers are ALWAYS going to crave realness. 

Think about how many people you know who can’t stand an automated telephone system. If you’re anything like me you just scream agent into the phone until you can get a human. 

Well, that need and desire are not going to go away for the majority of consumers, no matter how good the AI is. 

And honestly, if it does ever get that good and people stop caring about real human connection, we’re gonna have a whole different problem on our hands anyway. 

But I digress. 

How to Use AI and Keep the Human Touch

So, the question becomes… how do we leverage AI without losing the connection that makes us special? We use AI as an enhancement, not a replacement. 

What does that look like in practice? Let’s talk about it. 

AI for Content Creation

First, there is nothing wrong with using AI for content creation; you just have to make sure it’s got a little bit of you in it. The easiest way to do that is to make sure you’ve trained it. That’s the step-by-step process I walk you through in the AI Brand Brief. 

I used AI to help me brainstorm this episode. Sometimes I even have it write the majority of the episode script… It’s not quite there for full long-form content just yet. 

You can also utilize the AI features of the tools you already use, like Canva’s image generation or bulk creation, Shopify’s AI-powered product descriptions, or Klaviyo’s subject line assistant. 

ChatGPT’s image generation tool has improved a ton. I’m not great at it yet, but I did use it to generate avatars for my Bot Brigade inside Email Badassery. I’ll stick an image in the show notes if you wanna take a peek. 

The Content You Shouldn’t Create with AI

It is easy to go overboard, though. For example, I’ve seen platforms that auto-generate video ads using stock models, robotic voiceovers, and AI product images. 

This one can definitely hurt you more than help you. I think if it’s obvious something is AI, and that’s kind of the point, like have you seen the videos where they take people talking on a podcast and create AI babies with them? It’s actually hysterical. But I’ve also seen AI videos of blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls pushing products, and it’s just icky. 

As I mentioned, consumers are already skeptical. It’s been an issue in eCommerce thanks to years of dropshippers and bro marketers… let’s not give them another reason not to trust us. 

You’ll also want to be careful with AI-generated lifestyle images. Where it puts your product in a scene, like on a kitchen counter or in a shower. While sometimes they look alright if you’re good at telling the AI what to do, most of the time the scale is off, and it’s just going to come off as unprofessional and not trustworthy. 

When it comes to the image quality, I’m sure this will improve over time, and my results could be due to user error. 

Just scrutinize it through the eyes of a customer who doesn’t know or trust you yet, before you put it out in the world. 

AI for Customer Service

You can also use AI for customer service. This can be super helpful to make sure customers can get the support and answers they need, even when you’re not around. 

But just like you hate being stuck with an automated phone system, you want to make sure your customers can still get easy access to a human. 

You can start with something simple like Shopify Inbox to share answers to frequently asked questions, and give your customers easy access to order updates. 

Once you’re ready to step it up, you can utilize a full customer service solution like Gorgias. They have a full-on AI agent that can learn from multiple sources. It also includes a full customer service ticketing system, which is great if you are a high-volume store. 

If you just want a trainable chatbot, but don’t need the full customer service suite, then you can use something like Chatbase. That’s what I’m using for some of my courses. I like Chatbase specifically because you can connect Notion pages as knowledge documents. You still have to retrain the bot if you update the information, but it’s a click of a button instead of downloading and reuploading. 

Affiliate links are in the show notes. 

In both of these cases, use the bot itself to encourage customers to reach out if they’re not getting their questions answered. That’s the balance. Using AI to handle the repetitive stuff while making sure your customer still feels heard when it really matters. 

AI for Customer Connection

The connection you have with your customers is the always going to be one of the things that sets you apart. One of my favorite ways to create connections with your customers is to send them handwritten notes with their order. 

While this is easy to do when you’re just starting out, it’s increasingly difficult to do at scale. Tools like Ignite Post make it ridiculously easy. You connect the app to your email marketing platform and instead of triggering an email, you trigger a handwritten note. 

Then, a robot uses a real ballpoint pen to write a note in a real handwritten font. You can even use your own handwriting if you want.  

This is one of those little touches that make your business stand out and feel personal. 

AI for Social Media Engagement

There are also tools for you to automate engagement on social media. You’ve probably heard me talk about ManyChat a time or two. This is great for automating DMs with users after they comment on a post, reply to a story or message you with a keyword. 

Manychat also lets you collect email addresses directly in the DMs and integrate with your email marketing platfor, which is great as a list-building tool. 

But Instagram has some built-in tools too. You can set up automated FAQs, away messages, instant replies and more. 

My biggest tip when using DM automation is not to try and pass it off like it’s a human response. For example, I have an automated DM in my course platform when someone joins the Lounge membership. I ask them what they’re struggling with at the moment so I can direct them to the right content. Because they’re going to get this message at all hours, I want them to know it’s automated and even if they reply right away, they won’t hear back from me if it’s outside my regular business hours. 

Transparency will go a long way when you’re integrating AI into your business. 

Make sure you check the show notes for my affiliate link for Manychat if you’re interested – it’ll get you 30 days of Pro for free. I also put the link to take you directly to the automated messages for Meta because it can be a pain to find. 

AI for Your Website

Then of course there is your website. If you’re using Shopify you probably have already taken advantage of Shopify Magic, this is the tool that helps you write content, reply to customer inquiries, etc. Then there’s sidekick, which is your support bot and shop assistant. In the Summer 2025 release, Shopify introduced AI blocks as part of the Horizon theme release. You can learn more about that in episode 330. 

But my favorite automation tool for Shopify is Shopify Flow. This is one of the tools I cover in Shopify Secrets, and provide some custom templates for like automating your new arrivals collection, sending a bonus gift card to your customers after they place an order, and even getting inventory re-order notifications based on custom reorder points. 

Shopify Flow also has a bunch of pre-built templates you can utilize and it connects with a lot of your favorite apps. 

Automating operations in your business might not sound sexy, but it does give you more time to do the thing only you can do. Show up as the real human being behind your brand.

The Humanity Hit List

Alright, so you’ve got some ideas for using AI without losing your soul. Here are a couple of additional ways to inject more of you into your brand and counteract all your new robot friends.

Show your face: Yes, even if you HATE it. Try and do it anyway. While video is the best way to do this, start with a picture you love. You will always get a better response to your face than any written word… no matter how fancy it is. 

Use text-only emails: As a product-based business, not every email should be text-based, but strategically using them in different flows and the periodic campaign will make it feel like you sat down at your desk to write that email just for them. 

Show behind the scenes: Let your customers see what it looks like to run your business, even if it’s messy. People love getting a peek at the real work that goes into what you create, and it will remind them that there is a real human behind the brand. 

Final Thoughts

AI is here to stay, and it’s only going to get more sophisticated—and honestly, a little scarier—as time goes on.

I know this era of business can feel overwhelming. It’s moving fast, it’s messy, and some days it feels like you’re constantly trying to catch up.

But here’s what I believe: just like brick-and-mortar stores will never completely disappear, no matter how much eCommerce grows, businesses that stay human in the rise of AI are the ones that will win.

Even if you wish you could do more, or you feel like you’re falling behind the big brands, leaning into the human element is what will set you apart in the long run

Listen to the Episode

Tools Mentioned

ManyChat*

Meta Automated Messages

Gorgias Customer Service Platform*

Chatbase AI Chat Bots*

Ignite Post*

Episodes Mentioned

330. Shopify Platform Updates: Summer 2025

109. How to Build Your Email List with Instagram DM Automation with Mike Yan of ManyChat

207. How to Increase Lifetime Value and Reduce Customer Churn with Ignite Post

Courses Mentioned

AI Brand Brief

Shopify Secrets