Is AI Making Us Lazy Influencers?

AI is a great tool, but like any tool, we can get lazy using it. A calculator is helpful, but kids still need to learn basic math. If they don’t, when the calculator spits out a wrong answer, they may not recognize it.

AI is similar. If we don’t understand how to use it well, it can produce weak, misleading, or inauthentic results. As the old saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out.”

I use AI extensively and I’m open about that. When I write articles, I draft them first, then use very specific prompts to help me edit and improve my writing. That’s not much different from how I worked with developmental and line editors on my books. Some suggestions I take, some I reject, and others we modify together. Whether the feedback comes from a human editor or AI, the finished product can be better. The key phrase is “can be.”

Recently, I accepted a LinkedIn request from someone. As I usually do, I asked how he found me. I think that’s a good practice. It keeps the “social” in social media and helps me understand why someone wants to connect.

His reply was, “I’ve been searching for coaches and consultants who are actively building their expertise, and your profile stood out.” Pretty generic but at least he answered the question.

About a month later, I received a much longer message. This time, he quickly moved into selling me on his services. What caught my attention was how oddly specific the message was. It referenced several pieces of my recent work, my themes around influence, and even particular ideas I’ve written about.

At first glance, that might sound flattering. After all, he had clearly “done his homework.” But it didn’t feel that way. It felt too polished, too detailed, and too strategic. In other words, I didn’t believe he actually wrote it.

Near the end of the message, he noted that he runs an AI automation agency. That was the red flag. My suspicion was that he used his own automated process to generate the message. So I asked ChatGPT to analyze it using this prompt:

“I received the following message on LinkedIn from a new connection. Very quickly he leaped into trying to sell me – a HUGE turnoff. As I read his message I thought, ‘Some form of AI wrote this because there are too many references to my work and the principles of influence.’ In other words, he was trying way too hard and did not come across as genuine. Please read it and share your thoughts on whether or not this was AI generated by scanning my recent work.”

I won’t bore you with the full LinkedIn message he sent, but I will share some of Chat’s analysis.

Yes, this was very likely AI-assisted, and almost certainly generated after scanning your content, LinkedIn posts, website, and/or blog archive. Not because it’s “too polished,” but because of several telltale markers:

1. Hyper-specific mirroring of your language ecosystem. That density feels assembled rather than naturally remembered. This reads like a synthesized “topic scrape” of your recent work and intellectual brand.
2. The structure feels AI-optimized for rapport. The sequence is textbook AI sales outreach.
3. The persuasion references are unnaturally concentrated. This line especially stood out: “You teach the principle of consistency that once people commit to a pattern, they keep running it even when it stops being optimal.” That’s not how someone naturally talks after absorbing your work.
4. It mistakes recognition for relationship. One hallmark of AI-generated outreach is excessive contextual recall without emotional specificity.
5. It tries too hard to sound insightful. This sentence is especially revealing: “The pattern is so established it’s become invisible.” That’s polished “consultant poetry.”

The biggest issue isn’t AI use itself. Plenty of professionals responsibly use AI to draft outreach. The issue is that the message creates the feeling: “I analyzed your content strategically” rather than “I genuinely know and value your work.” The result is highly tailored but emotionally hollow. It demonstrates research, but not connection.

That last line is the issue: research is not connection. From an influence standpoint, the message attempted to use liking, similarity, authority, and consistency. But it missed something essential: authenticity.

Ethical influence is not about getting someone to say yes at any cost. It’s about helping people make good decisions in a way that respects them.

AI can help us be clearer, sharper, and more efficient. But it cannot create genuine interest where none exists, and it cannot replace the human work of building trust.

So here are two things I hope you’ll consider:

First, if you use AI, don’t be lazy. Put in the work. Don’t simply give your AI tool a prompt and assume it will create something meaningful. Use it as an assistant, not a substitute for your thinking, voice, or judgment.

Second, be more discerning about what you read. Especially when a message is trying to influence your decision or action. If it feels inauthentic, pay attention to that feeling.

AI may help us communicate faster. But faster is not always better. Sometimes the most persuasive thing we can do is slow down, be real, and earn the relationship before asking for anything.

What do you think? Are AI-generated messages making communication better, or are they making it easier to fake connection?

Edited by ChatGPT

Brian Ahearn

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at the Cialdini Institute. An author, TEDx presenter, international speaker, coach, and consultant, Brian helps clients apply influence in everyday situations to boost results.

As one of only a dozen Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world, Brian was personally trained and endorsed by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.

Brian’s first book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of the 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by Book Authority. Persuasive Selling and Influenced from Above were Amazon new release bestsellers. His LinkedIn courses on persuasive selling and coaching have been viewed by over 850,000 people around the world and his TEDx Talk on pre-suasion has more than a million views!