AI vs. marketer: The marketing funnel challenge

There’s no escaping AI talk. It’s in your feed, your inbox, and every LinkedIn post telling us it’s going to replace our jobs and humanity at large.

So can AI hold its own when it comes to presentations?

There’s been much online venting on this topic and the verdict seems clear: not really. Presentations should’ve been one of the first things AI nailed and yet when a group of marketers shared their experiences with paid AI presentation tools, the consensus was unanimous: disappointment.

What if AI tools went head-to-head with a real marketer?

While AI struggles to capture all the nuances of more complex presentations, what about the basics? I put a couple of free AI tools to the test with a simple challenge:

Who can create the better version of a classic marketing funnel?

The prompt: “Create a presentation slide showing the marketing funnel and align each stage to marketing tactics.” And then I asked a marketer to do the same.

Here’s what happened

Copilot:

Genspark:

Marketer:

Credit: Cynthia Breslau

Summary

• Copilot: Very basic. Not terrible but not meeting-ready either.

• Genspark: Spat out a 10-slide text book, circa 2008. This slide was the closest to answering the prompt but needed some ADA help (yes, it really did come out that wonky). And when I asked again for just one slide, it hit me with a paywall.

• Marketer: The clear winner, also incorporating lead journey stages, department coverage, and a more thoughtful list of tactics aligned to each funnel stage.

Now to be fair, Cynthia is a brilliant marketer. But for all the “AI is replacing you” talk, good presentation design still needs that human touch. AI is just not there yet… at least, not today.