AI is the intern, you're still the CMO

AI: joyless, brain musher or enthusiastic intern that buys you time back? Exploring what ChatGPT can do for marketers, where it still hands the mic back to you and how to strike the best balance.

ChatGPT - and others, but mainly the big guy - is quickly becoming the unofficial intern of every marketing department. It's fast, tireless, and surprisingly articulate.

Whether it’s drafting email copy, brainstorming a LinkedIn post, or summarising notes, marketers across industries are turning to it to move faster and lighten the load.

But beneath the enthusiasm is something more complex. As with social media before it, there are plenty of AI evangelists. But many others find it overwhelming, even a little joyless.

AI is becoming essential, even as we remain unsure about its long-term role

According to a recent TIME article, students and professionals alike are using ChatGPT every day, even as they admit it makes their work feel less meaningful or more detached, and MIT research shows it lowers brain activity.

So where does that leave marketers? For most, it means balancing speed and scale with strategic judgment. And that’s where the distinction between using AI and leading marketing becomes clear.

Deciding what matters is still our job

Right now, AI is proving useful for the day-to-day doing of marketing. In-house teams, agencies and freelancers are using it for:

• First-draft copy (emails, blog intros, ad variations)

• Brainstorming headlines or content angles

• Summarising reports or competitor positioning

• Drafting social posts or refining tone

• Turning messy notes into polished client comms

In short: if it’s repetitive or structurally predictable, ChatGPT can help.

While ChatGPT is helpful for execution, it can’t build clarity. It can’t set a direction. And it doesn’t know the nuances of what makes your proposition different.

Here’s where I’m still seeing businesses turn to humans:

1. Strategic brand positioning

AI can echo your value proposition, but it can’t define it. True brand positioning work involves market understanding, strategic alignment, and tough decisions about what you’re not.

2. Go-to-market planning

What to launch, when, and how to position it - these aren’t promptable questions. They require a bird’s-eye view and commercial judgment.

3. Customer insight interpretation

AI can summarise research, but it doesn’t understand nuance, tension, or the emotional layers behind a business decision. Translating research into real brand insight is still human work.

4. Marketing leadership and internal alignment

If your CEO is still setting marketing direction or your team is stuck reacting, AI won’t fix that. It takes senior leadership to bring discipline, focus, and alignment across teams.

5. Taste, timing and judgment

Marketing isn’t just about words. It’s about resonance. Brand tone, campaign timing, and channel choices all require intuition and experience. ChatGPT can’t yet tell you when something is off or why it matters.

How to get a better balance

Getting the balance right is about defining how you think of AI. Not as the oracle, but as a capable intern - eager, fast, and sometimes wildly off the mark. Treat it like a junior team member: assign it clear, structured tasks, and then ask yourself and your team a better question - “Now that we’ve gained back time, what do we use our brains for?”

This is the moment to get away from the keyboard, spread out post-its, and actually think. Because if AI is buying you back time, the best ROI is found in how you reinvest it: in strategy, ideas, and sharp decision-making.

In conclusion

Think of AI as the intern: fast, productive, and great at handling volume. But the strategy - the commercial logic, customer understanding, and brand coherence - that still needs a human in the room.

That’s why businesses working with Pink Mingo aren’t looking to replace teams or pile on more content. They’re looking for clarity. A better lens through which to view their brand and growth strategy. A smarter way to scale, whether they’re using AI or not.

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