In 1999, I’m still boggled that it is now 25 years ago, a bunch of clever fellows published something called The Cluetrain Manifesto. It’s called that for a reason, though I no longer remember or care why.
The internet was far younger and the idea of doing commerce there was still a young and exciting idea. The Cluetrain was a Martin Lutheresque challenge to “markets,” code for corporations, to start communicating like human beings vs. corporate doublespeak (note reference to George Orwell; we’ll come back to that).
They said . . .
A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter, …and getting smarter faster than most companies.
These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can’t be faked.
Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder networked markets have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to speak as they do.
Yesterday, I fed a year’s worth of my blogs to my “favorite AI.” (I’ll pause there to marvel that I even have a favorite AI.) I asked it to write a blog about Labor Day in the style of me. It wasn’t exactly doublespeak, but at least in my ears, it didn’t sound like me. Or if it did, I should stop writing now, as it sounded like yesterday’s oatmeal.
I do find AI useful. But can we all agree that a human voice is a human voice? A facsimile, however clever, is still just a fake.