Whereas artificial intelligence is reinventing Web writing, the written word has never been more valuable. Selim Niederhoffer, a copywriting trainer and bestselling author, has recently been exploring how marketing professionals can still succeed amidst “enshitification“, online influence, and automation. Meet an expert who remains confident in the power of words.

Copywriting in the age of AI: why words retain all their magic

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Human vs. AI

Selim, a seasoned copywriter and author is keen on using what he calls “magic words.” Ask him why and his answer might surprise you in this age of sheer automation. “I’ve already been thinking about magic words for years. I want to dig deeper, show real examples and, most importantly, explain why they actually work.”

Pen and paper

His approach remains resolutely traditional.

“I genuinely work with a pen and paper.”

This approach reveals something fundamental about Web writing: it works when you truly understand the psychology behind it, not when you just mechanically apply copywriting techniques. Selim bases his work on well-established principles of persuasion.

“When there’s a principle of persuasion, there’s usually a word that goes with it. Take urgency or scarcity, for example. If something’s rare, that means limited places, running out of stock… that sort of thing. That’s how I build my word cluster.

The research then extends to field observation. “I look at what my clients are using, what’s going on at Burger King, McDonald’s, Nike. I check out the major brands too – what they’re doing on YouTube, on LinkedIn.”

Eventually, Selim identified 55 magic words but trimmed them down to 50. It’s an approach that perfectly shows what still sets humans apart from machines: the ability to critically analyse and curate with discrimination.

However, it’s worth adding nuance. Selim can’t conceal that he genuinely “loves” ChatGPT. As we’ll see later, this raises some legitimate questions.

Thank you! the ultimate magic word

Among the 50 words he’s analysed, the first is also the simplest: thank you! For Selim, this should be essential for every business. “How many times have you walked out of a shop where the sales assistant just didn’t seem to have noticed you? Whether you bought anything, or didn’t doesn’t make any difference, once the transaction’s done, you’re out the door.”

Yet some brands know how to thank their customers. “Nespresso or Apple, for example: the Nespresso employee comes out from behind her counter, she hands you your product. Thank you for your visit. Have a nice day! That’s how it should be.”

For Selim, saying “thank you!” is more than just being polite, it’s a way of life. “You can go further: thank you for your visit, thank you for subscribing to the newsletter, thank you for your comment. You need to constantly think in terms of gratitude.”

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This approach fits into what Gary Vaynerchuk called The Thank You Economy. “We’re in an attention economy,” Selim explains. The stakes are high in Web writing: how do you maintain this human dimension at corporate scale?

“For me, the essence of business is that there’s a person in front of you who’s exchanging something with you. That’s really the foundation. But today, how do you keep that at corporate scale?”

Data confirms an intuition: gratitude improves customer experience and encourages loyalty. A valuable lesson for all those who practice Web writing and seek to create a lasting connection with their audiences.

AI and Web writing: threat or opportunity?

The conversation inevitably turns to artificial intelligence. For Selim, AI is first and foremost an incredible productivity tool. “If I’ve got a newsletter to write, I’ll use AI. Sales pages? AI. The thing is, AI works brilliantly for me. I’ve even become clearer in my writing,” he admits without hesitation.

But he’s not entirely starry-eyed about it. He’s identified three major pitfalls that professionals absolutely must avoid.

The three pitfalls of AI in copywriting

1. The first pitfall is wordiness. “ChatGPT tends to waffle because it’s been trained on Reddit, Wikipedia, and similar sources. However, in real life, when we write, we cut down to the core, deleting most of what we initially write.”





2. The second limitation is related to syntax. “AI tools have their favourite phrases. It can be a bit clunky. It’s got that ‘ChatGPT-ish’ quality – you know it when you see it. After a while, you can spot AI-written text a mile off.”





3. The third issue, and the most surreptitious one, is lack of personality. “When we just use basic LLMs, we lose our tone of voice, we lose what makes us different, we lose what makes people go ‘Ah! That’s Selim, that’s Yann’. That personal touch. I’d say that’s the biggest danger AI poses for copywriters, Web writers, anyone working in this field.”

For him, the key questions are: how do you refine AI, how do you avoid its main pitfalls, how do you stay in control and how do you harness all its power?

This evolution shows a profound shift in the profession: the copywriter is becoming an orchestrator of AI platforms.

Losing our skills

Selim warns against a hidden danger: declining skills. He reminds us that the brain is a muscle, and using it creates connections. However, if we stop using it, those connections are lost. He admits that he has fallen victim to this himself.

“I have noticed that my writing isn’t as fluid as it used to be when I’m starting from scratch. Between 2010 and 2022, I was churning out three to five blog posts a week. Now, if I can just knock up a prompt, get a result and tweak it a bit, job done. But it’s less satisfying.”

This awareness led him to experiment.

“I run A/B tests. Send out version A written by AI, version B written by me, then see who clicks more. I check which headlines work best, which text performs better,” he explains.

It’s a data-driven approach that could bruise his ego, he admits with a laugh, but it’s essential for understanding what genuine human value looks like in Web writing.

What human added value tomorrow?

The final question comes naturally: will humans still add value compared to machines in a year or two? Selim remains cautious about making predictions. “I’m rubbish at forecasting because I don’