A Blade Runner Wouldn’t Buy This Marketer’s B.S.

“Blade Runner” premiered 42 years ago today. I saw it that day — June 25, 1982 — at the Esquire Theater in St. Louis. It remains my favorite movie (ever).

In the opening scene, a cop interviews a Leon Kowalski to determine whether Leon is a human or a replicant (robot). It’s not easy to tell.

The cop from the LAPD “Blade Runner” unit asks Leon a bunch of questions designed to elicit emotional responses. Cameras and monitors measure bodily functions such as respiration, heart rate, blushing and pupillary dilation.

The “best” replicants can fool the test. Those who fail the test must “die.” (I won’t spoil how Leon fares).

Fast forward to today, on my Facebook feed, where a man/robot pitches “the secret weapon today’s top coaches, influencers and creators are using” to crank out online courses.

The man in the video looks human. His lips flap like a typical talking head. His voice sounds real (kind of).

But he is obviously a robot.

The giveaway: He says, “To be ON of the first to not only see this game-changing tool, but get your hands on it, click below…”

I think he’s supposed to say, “…be ONE of the first.”

But robotic talking heads work from a written script. The human handlers create and edit the script — sometimes with the help of an AI copywriter. Then they choose the “human looking” avatar to be the talking head. (It’s kind of cool, actually).

In this case, though, the human who unleashed the talking-robot-head, typo’d the script (or failed to notice the robot-generated typo).

So — like “Anchorman’s” Ron Burgandy who reads anything he sees in the teleprompter — the robot spouts everything in the script, typos and all.

If I was a Blade Runner, I would have to blow that robot’s brains out.

But, alas, I’m just a peace-loving businessperson. So I’ll merely roll my eyes…

…and note how easy it is to undermine trust and human connection…

…when you unleash robots dressed up as people.

I know… Soon enough, the robots will be as human-like as a replicant. Combine that with a typo-free script and your robotic talking head will fool even the best Blade Runners.

Then what?

My advice: Focus on how to stand out as YOU, as the human to hire in your niche. Sure, you can let the robots help. You can even employ them as spokespeople for your business.

But ultimately you also have to show up as you — in emails, videos, webinars, and other content. Find your voice. Show up as you — with emotion, personality, and humor. That will help you stand out above the replicants.