As a writer, you’re probably weary of headlines like “AI Is Coming for Your Job.”
Yes, with the right prompts, almost anyone can generate decent-enough content. And yet, “decent” isn’t what gets ranked, shared, or remembered. And it’s definitely not what makes a client say, “This is exactly what I wanted.”
The fact that AI can’t hold real, human-to-human conversations or build nuanced relationships that evolve over time is great news for us.
Real people can be messy, emotional, brilliant, and unpredictable. And interviewing them yields insights and anecdotes you can build content around — content that carries more weight across every type of writing: brand strategy, sales copy, storytelling, articles, case studies, even internal business communications.
Human interviews are the spark, the heartbeat, and the differentiator AI can’t replicate.
Why This Matters Now
The quickest way to lose readers is to make them feel like you’re talking at them through an algorithm instead of with them as a person. No one likes being reduced to a “demographic” or “target audience,” even when we understand the marketing logic behind it. It feels impersonal, and, honestly, people are tired of it.
Readers crave connection, honesty, and a human voice they can trust. They’re questioning online information, because they know it can be manipulated and because AI has made it harder to tell where that information came from in the first place. AI pulls from a gigantic data pool, where content from scientists, marketers, and even high-school students merge, leaving lingering questions about credibility.
AI doesn’t actually know what’s true; it only predicts what sounds true. Sometimes it even hallucinates. It can’t reliably filter credibility from noise. That’s still our job. AI-generated content has become so common, the internet is starting to sound stale. Writing born from real conversations is like a breath of fresh air, because it hasn’t been scraped from the same recycled pool.
Interviewing has always been part of a writer’s toolkit, but now it’s what separates “content” from connection. Anyone can ask AI to draft an article or list interview questions. You’ll get clean sentences and a tidy structure. What you won’t get is the story that lives only inside your subject’s head.
Even as AI learns to sound more and more human, true human-to-human connection remains beyond its reach. Writers who talk to people stand out, because they’re unearthing knowledge, not just curating or remixing it.
Why Interviews Matter Across Every Niche
Take B2B marketing, for example. Interviewing experts is essential, if you want high-quality, original content — especially when you’re a generalist tackling a niche topic. Interviews bridge the knowledge gap, when you’re writing about complex ideas or emerging products you’ve never heard of for an audience that cares deeply about specific details.
Neither you nor AI can research something that hasn’t been written yet. That’s why interviews become the make-or-break factor behind strong case studies, founder stories, brand narratives, and thought-leadership pieces.
When your subject shares insights that haven’t been told before, your ability to relate to them and ask good questions becomes the difference between something rote and something memorable. In those moments, interviewing skills serve you better than almost anything else in your toolbox.
By honing the art of conversation, you infuse your work with originality and those magical “aha moments” algorithms can’t replicate. That’s how human writers stay not just relevant, but in demand in an AI-driven, copy-and-paste era.
Great Writing Starts With a Great Conversation
Some projects absolutely scream for human engagement:
- Case Studies: Numbers matter, but people remember stories. A client explaining how a solution changed their day-to-day life is worth more than any ROI percentage.
- About Pages and Brand Stories: These require empathy and intuition. A personal conversation can reveal the details that transform a founder’s background into the voice and heart of a brand.
- Thought-Leadership Pieces: Real thought leadership doesn’t recycle trends; it captures how someone thinks. Interviews reveal the perspective behind the expertise.
- Testimonials and Impact Stories: What matters most are the feelings, the turning points, and lived experiences that only come out in conversation.
I’ve done many interviews for profiles, case studies, About pages… you name it. The magic almost always comes from a follow-up question I didn’t plan, script, or anticipate.
One interview left both the client and me in tears. We were working on her About page. She shared how her painful past inspired her to become a family crisis interventionist. That revelation would never have surfaced without the genuine connection we built. The result is a profile that captures her compassion, honesty, and relatability for the people who need her most.
About Page excerpt:
In a time of crisis, you deserve to feel safe about who you are placing your trust in.
I do this work because I’ve been where you are. Growing up with a mentally ill family member shaped my world early, and my own recovery journey through addiction led me to this calling. Those experiences, together with decades of professional work, help me ease the fear and confusion families face when navigating a daunting system.
AI can’t catch the heartbeat of a story — or the human why behind it.
What AI Doesn’t Hear
AI is great at finding patterns, but it’s tone-deaf to nuance. Tiny sparks in a conversation can change your entire angle — sparks that only humans notice. These can ignite an all-out fire that turns your writing into something unforgettable.
AI cannot:
- Lean forward or respond through body language.
- Hold space for silence.
- Sense emotional shifts.
- Follow a thread that turns into a revelation.
- Notice hesitation.
- Decode “I had a rough year” really means “It was the year everything fell apart.”
AI predicts. Writers perceive.
The 3 R’s: Respect, Rapport, and Relationship
How do you build respect, rapport, and a relationship, when you have only a short amount of time?
You show up with curiosity and compassion, because you’re human. AI can mimic empathy, but it can’t earn trust.
Doing your homework shows respect. It signals that you’re prepared and genuinely interested. You build rapport by listening actively and asking thoughtful questions. Successful interviews hinge on noticing the cues that show you what truly matters to your subject.
The magical moment behind a strong interview happens when your subject decides they can trust you with their story. That’s when they share the kinds of details no prompt could ever uncover. Their trust translates directly into stronger copy, because now you’re writing with them — not just about them. It’s also the moment readers stop scrolling and lean in.
This Is Your Built-In Differentiator
Strong interviewing skills are your edge over AI-generated content. When you flex that muscle, every project gets sharper, deeper, and more interesting.
Coming Up Next…
Great interviews don’t just happen. In Part Two, we’ll explore how you can develop and strengthen these skills. When you have a solid game plan, you’ll feel more confident talking to new people, no matter how intimidating their job title.
We’ll get into how to prep like a journalist, ask smarter questions, and walk into every conversation knowing exactly what you need to walk out with. Part Two will be available in two days, so keep an eye out!