the day I realized AI wasn’t the answer…

For the longest time, all I wanted was to make things work better. Streamline processes.
Turn marketing into something smarter and more connected instead of a never-ending parade of chaotic spreadsheets.

So when I got the chance to implement a CRM at work, I jumped in.
I started studying, testing, imagining how everything could fit together. CRM sounded like a great first step — until I learned about CDPs.
Then automation.
Then AI.
Then predictive scoring.
And suddenly every “next step” led to another one.

But each step also revealed the same uncomfortable truth:
I’m trying to build a network without the wires to hold it together.

That’s when the real questions started.
The ones I never said out loud.

Who is actually supposed to build this with me?

I work in a mid-sized company in South America.
Our team is small.
My ambitions are big.
Excel crashes if I add a new column.
Half our tools don’t talk to each other.

Some days it feels like I’m trying to build an AI ecosystem with tape and hope.
Other days I wonder if I’m even ready for the thing I’m trying to build.

And then another question hits me — one I can’t shake:
How is a copywriter suddenly expected to become an “AI Editor-in-Chief,” curating and supervising models without ever going through the real craft of writing?
If the people who are meant to guide the machine never mastered the skills the machine imitates, what exactly are we doing?
Do we really have teams prepared to handle these tools responsibly?
Or are we skipping the entire learning curve and pretending the system will fill the gaps for us?

Are any of us ready? Mid-levels, seniors, generalists, anyone outside of IT?
I’m not sure.

Most days my “preparation” looks like 87 tabs open, online courses saved for later, and an enthusiasm that makes me sprint before checking if there’s ground underneath me.

I keep trying.
But I’m not always sure what it’s costing me.

Marketing, AI, and the Black Box

I work in marketing — supposedly the engine of innovation.
The field that launches ideas, strategies, products.
The one that’s meant to lead.

But every time I connect a tool or analyze a metric, I see it more clearly:
We’re building our strategies on top of black boxes.

AI gives us outputs, but we rarely know how it gets there.
It segments, ranks, predicts —
And we just keep going, pretending that not knowing doesn’t matter.

It does.

• What logic is guiding the behaviors we’re trying to nudge?

• What ethics shape the way we collect data?

• What morality governs the automated “human-like” experiences we keep deploying?

And how do we protect people’s data in countries where privacy laws barely exist?

Paraguay just passed its first Data Protection Law — a huge step, but a late one.
Meanwhile, users have no idea how much we collect or how little we actually understand ourselves.

The real risk isn’t technical. It’s emotional.

Because when we misuse these tools, we don’t just break a process —
We break trust.

We build invasive automations.
We send emails without meaningful consent.
We call it “personalization,” but deliver canned scripts.

And people stop believing.
In brands.
In messages.
In us.

That’s not just a strategy flaw — it’s ignorance.
And it turns us into contributors of a machine that blinds us while rewarding our shortcuts.

I’ve always been the overthinker, the annoying one with too many questions.
So here’s another one:
Is this really the kind of marketing we want to practice?

Because if all we care about is ROI,
If we keep automating without asking whether we should,
If we ignore that users are tired, overstimulated, overwhelmed —
Then we’re not doing our jobs.

We need fewer marketers who chase dashboards
and more communicators who understand humans.

We need people who can think ethically, not just efficiently.

Look at our economy.
Cashback promotions inflated prices.
Everything is more expensive because we played along.
And somehow, the government gets blamed.

But we built this trap. And now we’re living in it.

Food prices are up.
The guaraní keeps losing value.
The dollar normalizes and prices still don’t drop.
It’s our behavior, our incentives, our systems.

And the brilliant genius behind the cashback craze?
Congratulations — your beef is more expensive too.
Your boss who expands like mold is the one who wins.

If we can’t explain how our systems work, we’re not strategists.
We’re kids playing with matches.

As a woman, a Latina, and someone who wants to do things right

I want to build things that matter.
I want to leave something behind.
But every new tool reminds me: without human judgment, tech collapses.

AI without ethics is just polished vapor.
Automation without context is noise.
Marketing without morality is manipulation.

And I refuse to work from that place.

I don’t have the answers.
But I do have a lot of questions:

• Are we designing a future for everyone, or only for the ones already prepared for it?

• Are we building ecosystems, or hoarding poorly connected tools?

• Are we protecting people’s trust, or draining it faster than we can measure?

I don’t know.
But I do know I can’t keep accelerating without stopping to ask.

This master’s program of AI forced me to slow down — and I’m grateful.
And if you’re reading this and asking the same questions, reach out.

Maybe we don’t have the answers.
But at least we’re awake.