Is AI the Death of Copywriting? A 60-Year-Old Book Holds the Answer
Is it even worth learning the craft of copywriting anymore?
If artificial intelligence can crank out ads, emails, and landing pages instantly, why spend time studying the craft? Why invest in learning persuasion, psychology, or marketing principles?
The answer comes down to something AI can’t do.
What Gene Schwartz Knew That AI Never Will
Gene Schwartz was one of the highest-paid copywriters in history. His ads sold millions of dollars worth of books, supplements, and investment newsletters. He wasn’t a writer in the traditional sense—he was a decoder of markets.
He understood something that most people today overlook: the secret to high-converting copy isn’t in the words themselves. It’s in understanding how to assemble those words so they move the prospect closer to a buying decision.
And that all comes down to understanding the mind of the customer.
This is why Schwartz spent most of his time analyzing buyers. He studied their past purchases, their motivations, and the underlying desires driving their decisions. When he finally sat down to create, he already knew exactly what needed to be said.
As he put it “Copy isn’t written. It is assembled.”
This process became the foundation of Breakthrough Advertising—a book written in 1966 and one that legendary marketers swear by even 60 years later.
Why AI Can’t Replace Market Mastery
Direct response marketing is more than just the words on a page.
AI can generate text, but it doesn’t know your market. It doesn’t understand your audience’s fears, frustrations, and desires—or how to position an offer in a way that speaks directly to them.
The marketer must understand this first and then direct their AI tool of choice.
Successful marketing isn’t about words alone. It’s about decoding what makes a customer take action and structuring a message that touches a nerve and makes customers realize how much they need a particular solution.
AI can’t recognize why one offer will outperform another or why certain emotional triggers lead to sales. It doesn’t instinctively understand human behavior, persuasion, or market sophistication. It must be led.
Imagine Handing a Scalpel to Someone Who Has Never Performed Surgery Before.
The tool itself is powerful, but without the skill and knowledge to use it correctly, it’s useless—and dangerous. AI is no different.
Without your unique understanding of your market’s psychology, consumer behavior, and strategic positioning, AI-generated copy lacks the depth, nuance, and precision that turn words into sales. The tool itself is powerful, but without the skill and knowledge to use it correctly, it’s useless—and dangerous.
This is why Breakthrough Advertising remains essential today. It teaches the process that helps you turn AI into a tool rather than a crutch.
The Missing Piece in AI-Generated Copy
Brian Kurtz, a 40-year veteran of direct response marketing, worked closely with Gene Schwartz. He saw firsthand how Gene approached marketing. Gene wasn’t focused on writing techniques—he was focused on positioning offers, understanding consumer awareness, and identifying what would make someone say “yes.”
As Brian recently wrote:
“I remember sitting with Gene Schwartz on his couch in the living room of his New York City penthouse, surrounded by his impressive art collection years ago.
He was working on a promotion for his small publishing company called Instant Improvement.
I was helping him choose the right mailing list for his front end offer.
This is something I did many times with Gene.
And during these meetings we never once talked about hooks or copywriting angles.
He was entirely focused on understanding the psychological makeup of the person who would best respond to his offer.
- What were their secret desires?
- Had they made past purchases that indicated they would be open to the kind of solution that Gene wanted to offer?
- And what other types of offers were they receiving from other publishing companies?
This was the process that Gene used to figure out what his copy needed to do.
It’s a process he developed over many decades and documented in Breakthrough Advertising.
Compared to the time and effort he put into understanding his reader, writing the copy was the easy part.”
Brian has dedicated his career to preserving and teaching the principles he learned from mentors like Gene. He acquired the exclusive rights to Breakthrough Advertising from Gene’s wife Barbara and created a companion guide—Breakthrough Advertising Mastery—to help today’s marketers apply Schwartz’s principles faster.
Here are just a few things you’ll discover in the 225 pages of Breakthrough Advertising:
- The five levels of market awareness—and how to speak to each one.
- The five stages of market sophistication so your ads don’t sound like everyone else’s.
- How to uncover your market’s secret, and singular, mass desire.
- Why some ads fail, even when the copy is strong.
- How to identify untapped marketing opportunities before your competitors do.
- How to position your product so it stands out in a crowded market.
Breakthrough Advertising is not a book about writing copy.
It describes a process that you can use to quietly assess your market and see the marketing opportunities that others are missing.
It shows you how to make your offer stand out from all the cookie cutter and formulaic copy that everyone else is using.
And the great gift of AI tools like ChatGPT is that we can use them to gain a better understanding of our market’s desires, states of awareness and market sophistication.
“Will AI replace copywriters?” is the wrong question.
The better question is “As a student of direct response, how can AI help me understand my market and find the right words that will make my offer stand out faster?”
Learn the Process That AI Can’t Replicate
Marketing has evolved, but human psychology hasn’t changed. The advertisers who understand why people buy will always have an edge—whether they’re writing ads themselves or using AI as a tool.
If you want to master this process, you have two options:
- Get a copy of Breakthrough Advertising – The original, unedited work that has influenced the greatest direct marketers of all time. Only $125 plus shipping.
- Upgrade to the Breakthrough Advertising Mastery Bundle – Includes the book plus a step-by-step study guide, exercises, video training library and full-color reproductions of every ad Gene referenced in Breakthrough Advertising. Only $199 plus shipping.
This is the lowest price available for these materials, as Titans Marketing holds the exclusive rights.
If you’re serious about understanding the psychology of marketing—and using AI the right way—this is where you start.
To learn even more about Breakthrough Advertising and Breakthrough Advertising Mastery visit breakthroughadvertising.com.