Let’s get creative: AI vs human brainstorming

The creative world rounded a very sharp corner with the arrival of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). But how does it really stack up to our brains when accuracy, truth and originality enter the equation?

For the communications and public relations profession, crafting ideas and developing content has been part of our bread and butter since the industry’s inception. Here’s why that still matters for brands and businesses.

Avoid the ‘hallucinations’

AI can turn menial administrative tasks around in seconds flat (which is great for efficiency and freeing up your valuable time), but Generative AI might just turn parts of your new website copy into completely fabricated but otherwise totally plausible-looking nonsense.

‘AI hallucinations’, the confident but untrue information created by Generative AI, has the potential to spread false information and seriously undermine your credibility. Deloitte found that out the hard way after a report it gave to the Australian Government in 2025 was found to have numerous made-up citations and footnotes that had been put there by Generative AI.

Human brainpower is still better equipped for identifying and dealing with information gaps. If there’s something we don’t know, we don’t fill it with something that looks plausible. We ask questions and seek out the answers.

Protect your privacy and security

Perhaps one of the greatest drawbacks of Generative AI is the risk of public models getting access to your private or commercially sensitive information. Feeding these models with this type of information can expose your business, employees and clients.

Trusted professionals like ourselves aren’t in the business of sharing sensitive information. It’s in our nature to protect privacy and reputation. This is a hugely important consideration for businesses when developing communications activities.

Beat the bias

Unfortunately for Generative AI, the tool too often reinforces stereotypes that can be harmful. As we’ve already established, Generative AI is only as good as the data available to it, and unfortunately lots of that training data has been rooted in biases. Ask Generative AI to produce an image of a judge or doctor and you’ll likely get a man, while domestic jobs will often have a woman fulfilling the work.

Humans are indeed biased, but unlike Generative AI, we have the ability to pause and question ourselves. In our work, we often call out stereotypes, actively thinking about the diversity of an organisation’s customers and pushing to ensure authentic representation. We also consider how people from many walks of life engage with an organisation and why, and embed this through the strategy.

Using human brainpower rather than AI can greatly reduce the risk of falling into tired tropes that alienate people and cause your campaign to miss the mark.

Get something bespoke not repurposed (or stolen!)

We value originality in our work, and nothing beats the feeling of putting our heads together to create something that’s tailor made for our clients. Unlike Generative AI, we are very aware of the risks of plagiarism and copyright. Generative AI, on the other hand, is sometimes described as a “plagiarism machine” because it doesn’t have mechanisms for identifying where it got its information from and crediting those authors for their content. It’s an issue many institutions are reckoning with.

With brainstorming, you can not only save yourself the anguish of determining where your project ideas or content came from, but be reassured in the knowledge that it is all bespoke to your business.

Talk to our team today about how we help support your organisation.