Can you be Authentic in an AI world?
When you use AI to create content, are you letting it speak for you or are you making sure your true voice comes through? Are you just taking what AI gives you, or are you shaping it until it actually sounds like you? In this episode I share how you can use AI as a tool to amplify your authenticity instead of losing it, and why your own words and your customers’ feedback are the real secret to standing out from the generic crowd.
Listen to this new 9-minute episode for practical ways to make AI work for your brand while keeping every word truly yours.
If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at [email protected] or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com
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View the full transcript on Alan’s site: https://alanberg.com/blog/
Summary
In this episode, I tackled the thought-provoking question: can we truly be authentic in an AI world? The conversation focused on the challenges and opportunities of using AI in our wedding businesses, especially when it comes to making sure our unique voices still shine through. One concept discussed was the temptation to simply use whatever AI generates on the first try, but I emphasized that real authenticity comes from multiple revisions and ensuring the final content genuinely represents who we are. I shared my own experiences with editing books using AI, pointing out how even if the words start as mine, it often takes several iterations before the finished version sounds like me.
A key theme that emerged was the power of using reviews—specifically, taking customer feedback and allowing AI to identify the language and results that set your business apart. Several points were raised, including the importance of talking about the unique results and experiences we provide, rather than just listing products and services. I highlighted how most businesses in our industry end up sounding the same, and encouraged listeners to leverage the authentic voice of customer reviews to stand out.
The discussion explored practical ways to integrate AI as a helpful tool rather than a substitute for our own expertise. I talked about bringing transcripts from my presentations into AI as raw material, ensuring the content remains rooted in my authentic voice and ideas. Authenticity, I stressed, is about ownership—reading every word before it goes out to make sure it represents you and is something you could stand behind and confidently discuss at any moment.
Ultimately, I want you to use AI as a tool that makes your work more efficient, not generic. Tools like Word and Excel may help us get the job done, but the final responsibility for authenticity and ownership always rests with us. I hope this episode inspires you to embrace AI thoughtfully, always ensuring what you put forward is truly yours.
Can you be authentic in an AI world? Listen to this episode. Hey, it’s Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. This is a topic that’s been coming up a lot lately because there’s been some backlash about AI and, you know, being honest and being truthful about, you know, whether you created it or AI created it.
And I’ve even noticed that with my AI workshops that I’ve started to change the way I do them. Change the, the format and the content a little bit on the AI workshop about trying to be more authentic with AI as opposed to being less authentic. And, you know, part of this is previous episodes that I’ve done and what I’ve written about in the book AI for the Real World is that the final judgment is up to you whether or not you use something.
Uh, I’m using AI right now to help me edit a new version of Why Are They Ghosting Me? And I was reading through stuff and it was good, but I was having the feeling like it wasn’t sounding like me.
Now it started with my content and then it added more of my content, but the way that it was tweaking it, it was good and it was still my content, but I just didn’t feel like my voice was there. So I redid it and it was better, but not quite there. And I redid it again. I think I’m on the 4th iteration of it.
And that’s the key is if you’re just taking the first thing that AI gives you, It’s not going to be the best thing that you could do. It’s not going to be true to you and your voice. You have to make sure that you’re putting your name on this, right? If you’re putting something out there that has your name on it, it’s your website, it’s your marketing piece, it’s your social media, that’s you. And if you can’t stand behind those words and the way that they’re written and the voice, you’re not being authentic.
And I think where Using reviews like I’ve been doing so much with AI to try to find your brand, I think that’s a way that you can also be more authentic. We had a call today, it was our quarterly call with Ask Alan Anything where they can ask the real Alan, that’s me, instead of it being my AI, you can actually ask the real Alan.
And one person said that in their market, in their category, Everybody’s website looks the same. They’re all saying the same thing. And I said, right, because you’re all talking about products and services, and what you’re not talking about is your unique results.
And they also mentioned that they had a reviews document. I said, that’s great, and here’s how you can use AI not to write new things about you, but to find what people are already writing about you in a way that it would be hard for you to really dig into. And that’s what I love about using AI with your reviews to find your brand language, because instead of talking about the products and services, people are talking about the results of choosing you.
And when you use their words to help update your words, you’re being authentic because you’re talking about the results in the voice, in the language of the people who have actually experienced what you do, as opposed to a lot of people who say, this is what we do.
And then I go look at their reviews and I go, well, yeah, but that’s not what your customers are saying. Your customers are saying, Your customers are talking about you this way. The customers are— one person who was on the same call said, yeah, I noticed that it was pretty consistent with what we say, but the reviews talk about our team. The reviews talk about our people.
I said, right, because that is a unique thing that you have. Your team is unique. Your products and services aren’t unique because other people can do similar things and they do do similar things.
And as far as products go, physical products like photo booths or DJ equipment or things like that, Anybody can buy the same stuff that you buy unless you built it from scratch. Anybody can do that. So don’t sell that stuff. Sell the results of you bringing your team to provide those products and services.
And this again is where you can be authentic with AI, because if you take the words of your customers, if you take the words of the guests, if you take the social comments that people are making about what they’ve experienced when they’ve been to an event that you’ve done, Now you can be authentic with AI and talking about your results in a way that are genuine because they’re from your customers and they sound different than everybody else.
So instead of coming up with a generic mission statement and all these things, you’re actually using your customers’ words to talk about what it is that you do. So how do you be authentic in an AI world is by starting with stuff that you’ve already done. So it understands your products and services, but more importantly, it understands your voice.
And it understands the results that you provide. And now you can use AI to help format that into something that sounds more like you and sounds different than everybody else.
I was talking to somebody recently about who wanted to write a book, or actually they said, I had this idea. I said, so write it, write the book. They said, oh, you know, I don’t have time at all. I said, you know what? We don’t write books, we write words. Words get edited and then they become books. I don’t try to write a book.
I just get thoughts out and get those thoughts out. And then we start saying, do these thoughts make sense? Is there enough here to put together into a book? And then do we move— need to move this around? Do we need to take this out? Do we need to flush this out a little more so there’s more information about something? But it starts with our own words. It starts with my words.
A lot of my books, if not all of my books, have started with presentations. So literally started with my words. And whereas in the past I would go look at the slides, I would go look because I don’t always— actually, I haven’t written a script for a presentation in a very long time. I have my notes and things. So I used to take those notes and then look at the slides that I’ve done and start thinking about what I might do.
Now I literally take a transcript of a recording of a presentation I did, and that is the basis. That is the foundation, which is now this strong trunk of a tree that we can build off of instead of just starting with the seeds all over the place.
So again, I’m being authentic using AI because I’m taking AI and using my content with that. And that’s what I want you to do, is AI is a tool to help you be authentic and just do things that you could do, but maybe it does it faster.
It’s what I wrote about a lot in AI for the Real World, how everything I’m asking AI to do, I could do, or I could give to another person to do. It just helps me do it maybe faster, maybe in a more organized way.
Certainly to do things like if I give it hundreds of reviews, I have 260-something Google reviews at this point. If I put all of those into a document, I’m going to get bleary-eyed trying to read through to find these wonderful sentences that talk about something in particular, whereas AI can go through that quicker and find the same thing I’d be looking for, but it can do it for me faster.
I could do it. It’s gonna help me do that. And this is again being authentic with AI and not just letting AI do it for me. I’m asking AI to help me do it. And that’s how you can be more authentic.
So you see a lot of stuff that you know immediately was done by AI, and a lot of it you’re reading and going, this, this is just generic stuff here, right? That was one of the reasons I created Ask Alan Anything, because it understands the wedding and event industry the way that I do. And therefore it’s not giving generic business information. It’s giving information about businesses who do weddings and events.
That was one of the reasons I created it, to give it an ecosystem that understands our industry, not one that just understands general knowledge.
So how do you be more authentic in AI world? The bottom line on it is you have to read every word and you have to own those words and say yes. These are my words that AI helped me put together in this way.
But if AI did it for you and you’re reading it, and this is a big red flag, if you don’t understand everything it says there, that’s not your words anymore. You can’t back that up.
You know, I say, I often say that as a speaker and a subject matter expert, all right, I can get off the stage and keep talking about whatever I was talking about on stage with no notes and anything. If you can’t continue that conversation that AI is starting because you don’t know where that data came from, or you didn’t— that’s not your thoughts there, you’re not being authentic.
So let’s all try to be a lot more authentic and use AI as a tool, just like so many other tools that we have.
You know, Google Docs is a tool, Word is a tool, Excel is a tool. These are tools to help us do things. It— you’re still the arbiter of all of that and what finally gets put out there.
Hope it gave you something to think about. Thanks.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is [email protected] or you can text, use the short form on this page, or call +1.732.422.6362, international 001 732 422 6362. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
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©2026 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com
Question
How do I make sure my AI-generated content actually sounds like me?
Tags:
#ai #authenticity #branding
Answer
I never settle for the first draft from AI. Even if it starts with my own content, I keep editing until it truly captures my voice. If it doesn’t sound like me, I keep refining. Remember, if you’re putting your name on it, you need to stand behind every word.
Takeaway: Own your words, even when AI helps write them.
Question
Can I use AI and still be authentic in my marketing?
Tags:
#ai #authenticity #marketing
Answer
Absolutely. I start with my real experiences and let AI organize or polish them. I make sure every piece of content matches the results my clients talk about. Being authentic means using AI as a tool, not a replacement for your voice.
Takeaway: AI should amplify your authenticity, not replace it.
Question
How do I avoid sounding generic when using AI tools?
Tags:
#ai #contentcreation #branding
Answer
Most vendors talk about products and services, but clients remember their experience. I use customer reviews and feedback to uncover my unique value. Then I let AI help me highlight what makes my team and process special, not just the services I offer.
Takeaway: Your results and client stories make your brand stand out.
Question
What’s the risk of letting AI write without my oversight?
Tags:
#ai #authenticity #contentcreation
Answer
If you don’t review AI-generated content, you risk putting out words that don’t feel like yours. Worse, you might end up with generic or even inaccurate messaging. Always read every word and make sure it’s something you’d say.
Takeaway: If you can’t defend it, don’t publish it.
Question
How can I find the language that truly represents my brand?
Tags:
#reviews #branding #ai #contentcreation
Answer
I dig into my customer reviews and social comments. AI helps me spot the exact words people use to describe their experience with my business. Using those phrases in my marketing keeps my messaging genuine and relatable.
Takeaway: Your clients’ words are your best marketing copy.
Can you be authentic in an AI world? Listen to this episode. Hey, it’s Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. This is a topic that’s been coming up a lot lately because there’s been some backlash about AI and, you know, being honest and being truthful about, you know, whether you created it or AI created it.
And I’ve even noticed that with my AI workshops that I’ve started to change the way I do them. Change the, the format and the content a little bit on the AI workshop about trying to be more authentic with AI as opposed to being less authentic. And, you know, part of this is previous episodes that I’ve done and what I’ve written about in the book AI for the Real World is that the final judgment is up to you whether or not you use something.
Uh, I’m using AI right now to help me edit a new version of Why Are They Ghosting Me? And I was reading through stuff and it was good, but I was having the feeling like it wasn’t sounding like me.
Now it started with my content and then it added more of my content, but the way that it was tweaking it, it was good and it was still my content, but I just didn’t feel like my voice was there. So I redid it and it was better, but not quite there. And I redid it again. I think I’m on the 4th iteration of it.
And that’s the key is if you’re just taking the first thing that AI gives you, It’s not going to be the best thing that you could do. It’s not going to be true to you and your voice. You have to make sure that you’re putting your name on this, right? If you’re putting something out there that has your name on it, it’s your website, it’s your marketing piece, it’s your social media, that’s you. And if you can’t stand behind those words and the way that they’re written and the voice, you’re not being authentic.
And I think where Using reviews like I’ve been doing so much with AI to try to find your brand, I think that’s a way that you can also be more authentic. We had a call today, it was our quarterly call with Ask Alan Anything where they can ask the real Alan, that’s me, instead of it being my AI, you can actually ask the real Alan.
And one person said that in their market, in their category, Everybody’s website looks the same. They’re all saying the same thing. And I said, right, because you’re all talking about products and services, and what you’re not talking about is your unique results.
And they also mentioned that they had a reviews document. I said, that’s great, and here’s how you can use AI not to write new things about you, but to find what people are already writing about you in a way that it would be hard for you to really dig into. And that’s what I love about using AI with your reviews to find your brand language, because instead of talking about the products and services, people are talking about the results of choosing you.
And when you use their words to help update your words, you’re being authentic because you’re talking about the results in the voice, in the language of the people who have actually experienced what you do, as opposed to a lot of people who say, this is what we do.
And then I go look at their reviews and I go, well, yeah, but that’s not what your customers are saying. Your customers are saying, Your customers are talking about you this way. The customers are— one person who was on the same call said, yeah, I noticed that it was pretty consistent with what we say, but the reviews talk about our team. The reviews talk about our people.
I said, right, because that is a unique thing that you have. Your team is unique. Your products and services aren’t unique because other people can do similar things and they do do similar things.
And as far as products go, physical products like photo booths or DJ equipment or things like that, Anybody can buy the same stuff that you buy unless you built it from scratch. Anybody can do that. So don’t sell that stuff. Sell the results of you bringing your team to provide those products and services.
And this again is where you can be authentic with AI, because if you take the words of your customers, if you take the words of the guests, if you take the social comments that people are making about what they’ve experienced when they’ve been to an event that you’ve done, Now you can be authentic with AI and talking about your results in a way that are genuine because they’re from your customers and they sound different than everybody else.
So instead of coming up with a generic mission statement and all these things, you’re actually using your customers’ words to talk about what it is that you do. So how do you be authentic in an AI world is by starting with stuff that you’ve already done. So it understands your products and services, but more importantly, it understands your voice.
And it understands the results that you provide. And now you can use AI to help format that into something that sounds more like you and sounds different than everybody else.
I was talking to somebody recently about who wanted to write a book, or actually they said, I had this idea. I said, so write it, write the book. They said, oh, you know, I don’t have time at all. I said, you know what? We don’t write books, we write words. Words get edited and then they become books. I don’t try to write a book.
I just get thoughts out and get those thoughts out. And then we start saying, do these thoughts make sense? Is there enough here to put together into a book? And then do we move— need to move this around? Do we need to take this out? Do we need to flush this out a little more so there’s more information about something? But it starts with our own words. It starts with my words.
A lot of my books, if not all of my books, have started with presentations. So literally started with my words. And whereas in the past I would go look at the slides, I would go look because I don’t always— actually, I haven’t written a script for a presentation in a very long time. I have my notes and things. So I used to take those notes and then look at the slides that I’ve done and start thinking about what I might do.
Now I literally take a transcript of a recording of a presentation I did, and that is the basis. That is the foundation, which is now this strong trunk of a tree that we can build off of instead of just starting with the seeds all over the place.
So again, I’m being authentic using AI because I’m taking AI and using my content with that. And that’s what I want you to do, is AI is a tool to help you be authentic and just do things that you could do, but maybe it does it faster.
It’s what I wrote about a lot in AI for the Real World, how everything I’m asking AI to do, I could do, or I could give to another person to do. It just helps me do it maybe faster, maybe in a more organized way.
Certainly to do things like if I give it hundreds of reviews, I have 260-something Google reviews at this point. If I put all of those into a document, I’m going to get bleary-eyed trying to read through to find these wonderful sentences that talk about something in particular, whereas AI can go through that quicker and find the same thing I’d be looking for, but it can do it for me faster.
I could do it. It’s gonna help me do that. And this is again being authentic with AI and not just letting AI do it for me. I’m asking AI to help me do it. And that’s how you can be more authentic.
So you see a lot of stuff that you know immediately was done by AI, and a lot of it you’re reading and going, this, this is just generic stuff here, right? That was one of the reasons I created Ask Alan Anything, because it understands the wedding and event industry the way that I do. And therefore it’s not giving generic business information. It’s giving information about businesses who do weddings and events.
That was one of the reasons I created it, to give it an ecosystem that understands our industry, not one that just understands general knowledge.
So how do you be more authentic in AI world? The bottom line on it is you have to read every word and you have to own those words and say yes. These are my words that AI helped me put together in this way.
But if AI did it for you and you’re reading it, and this is a big red flag, if you don’t understand everything it says there, that’s not your words anymore. You can’t back that up.
You know, I say, I often say that as a speaker and a subject matter expert, all right, I can get off the stage and keep talking about whatever I was talking about on stage with no notes and anything. If you can’t continue that conversation that AI is starting because you don’t know where that data came from, or you didn’t— that’s not your thoughts there, you’re not being authentic.
So let’s all try to be a lot more authentic and use AI as a tool, just like so many other tools that we have.
You know, Google Docs is a tool, Word is a tool, Excel is a tool. These are tools to help us do things. It— you’re still the arbiter of all of that and what finally gets put out there.
Hope it gave you something to think about. Thanks.
Question
Why shouldn’t I just talk about my products and services on my website?
Tags:
#marketing #branding #differentiation
Answer
Products and services alone aren’t unique—other people offer the same things. What really sets you apart is how you deliver and the experience only your team provides. That’s what clients praise in reviews. Focus on those unique results, not just the tools you use.
Takeaway: Sell your unique results, not just your offerings.
Question
How do I make my website and marketing differ from competitors?
Tags:
#branding #marketing #differentiation
Answer
I avoid copying standard industry language. Instead, I let genuine client feedback shape my brand voice. Bringing in my team’s personality and focusing on outcomes—rather than features—makes my business unforgettable.
Takeaway: Let your real-world results and voice set you apart.
Question
What’s the best way to use client reviews with AI?
Tags:
#ai #reviews #branding
Answer
Feed your reviews into AI, and let it spot patterns in the praise. It helps uncover what clients really love about working with you. I use that language to reshape my messaging so it’s authentic and hard for competitors to copy.
Takeaway: Let AI surface the hidden gems in your reviews.
Question
Is it cheating to use AI if I start with my own words?
Tags:
#ai #authenticity #contentcreation
Answer
Not at all. As long as the foundation comes from your experience, AI is just a tool to help refine or organize your message. It’s authenticity married to efficiency.
Takeaway: AI is a helper, not a substitute for your voice.
Question
How can I tell if AI made my content too generic?
Tags:
#ai #contentcreation #branding
Answer
If you read your content and it could fit anyone in your industry, you’ve lost your uniqueness. I look for specific client results, stories, and language that only belong to me. If AI outputs bland or vague copy, I rewrite until it feels personal.
Takeaway: Generic AI content won’t build your brand.
Question
How do I turn my presentations into original content with AI?
Tags:
#presentations #ai #contentcreation
Answer
I use transcripts from my own presentations as a starting point. Then I let AI help me organize and expand on those ideas. This way, my books and articles still sound like me—they come straight from my real words, not a generic template.
Takeaway: Start with your voice; let AI help organize your thoughts.
Question
What should I do if I don’t have time to write a whole book?
Tags:
#productivity #writing #ai
Answer
Don’t think about writing an entire book at once. I just jot down my ideas—one thought at a time. Later, I use AI to help organize and connect those thoughts. The key is to get your words out, then let tools help turn them into something bigger.
Takeaway: Write words first, shape them into a book later.
Question
What mistake do most people make when using AI in content creation?
Tags:
#ai #contentcreation #mistakes
Answer
The biggest mistake? Letting AI write everything without your input. That’s how you end up with bland, forgettable content. I always make sure my ideas and experiences are the foundation, then let AI help with polish and structure.
Takeaway: Your experiences—not AI—should drive your content.
Question
Why do so many websites in my industry sound the same?
Tags:
#branding #differentiation #authenticity
Answer
That’s because everyone focuses on generic features instead of the unique value they actually deliver. Most businesses copy each other’s language and forget to showcase what clients really appreciate: their real-world results and client experience.
Takeaway: Break the mold by highlighting your unique strengths.
Question
How can I tell if AI content is really “mine”?
Tags:
#ai #authenticity #contentcreation
Answer
Ask yourself: Can you talk about everything in your content without notes? If you can’t, that’s a red flag. Authentic content is something you fully understand and can discuss at length.
Takeaway: If it’s not in your words, it isn’t truly yours.
Question
Do I need to mention if AI helped with my content?
Tags:
#ai #authenticity #contentcreation
Answer
You don’t have to, as long as you genuinely own every word. The key is that you can stand behind what’s published—AI is just one of many tools you might use.
Takeaway: Authorship is about ownership, not process.
Question
Can AI help speed up branding work without sacrificing authenticity?
Tags:
#ai #branding #efficiency
Answer
Yes. I can use AI for tasks like sorting through hundreds of reviews—something that would otherwise take me hours. It helps find themes and powerful phrases fast, so I get the best ideas more efficiently without losing my unique voice.
Takeaway: AI saves time but authenticity comes from you.
Question
What’s a quick test for authentic content?
Tags:
#authenticity #branding #ai
Answer
Read your content and ask, “Could I have said this myself?” If you hesitate, it needs editing. Authentic content always sounds like it came straight from you, not from a robot.
Takeaway: If it doesn’t sound like you, it isn’t authentic.
Question
How important is it to review every AI-generated word?
Tags:
#ai #authenticity #contentcreation
Answer
It’s critical. You’re still the final editor. If you wouldn’t say it, cut or change it. Ultimately, you’re responsible for how your brand comes across—AI can help, but never replace your judgment.
Takeaway: Always be your own editor with AI content.
Question
Should I use AI-generated mission statements?
Tags:
#ai #branding #contentcreation
Answer
Generic mission statements feel empty. I prefer using real client language and experiences instead—it’s more genuine and impactful, and clients connect with your story much better.
Takeaway: Skip clichés—use authentic language for real connection.
Question
What’s the single most important rule when using AI for content?
Tags:
#ai #authenticity #contentcreation
Answer
Own your words. If you can’t explain or stand by what’s written, it doesn’t represent you. AI is just a tool—the heart and style have to be yours.
Takeaway: Own everything with your name on it.
