Content Strategy in the Age of AI: What Frida Kahlo Can Teach Us About Connection
The AI Boom Is Here—But Where’s the Soul?
We’re at a strange moment in the evolution of content. AI can generate thousands of words in seconds. It can analyze tone, match a brand voice, and pull data from across the internet. For content strategists, that’s thrilling—and a little bit terrifying.
But let’s be honest: the outputs often feel... hollow.
Not because the technology isn’t impressive. But because the technology doesn’t live the cultures, experiences, or emotions it tries to emulate.
And in a world where everyone is now capable of generating passable content, the question becomes: what will make your message unforgettable?
What Frida Kahlo Can Teach Us About Strategy
Frida Kahlo didn’t paint for trends or algorithms. She painted to survive—to process trauma, explore identity, and communicate what couldn’t be said in words. Her art was raw, intimate, and deeply human. And that’s precisely why we still remember it.
Her legacy offers more than just aesthetic inspiration—it’s a blueprint for meaningful content.
Take her self-portraits. They weren’t flattering or filtered—they were confrontational, symbolic, and unafraid to be emotionally complex. In content strategy terms? That’s the equivalent of an authentic brand voice. One that refuses to perform and instead reveals.
Or consider The Two Fridas—a painting that holds the tension between two versions of the self. That duality mirrors how brands (and people) often straddle cultural identities, audience expectations, or evolving values. It’s a reminder that great strategy can sit with contradiction.
In Without Hope, Kahlo portrays herself being force-fed—a metaphor for being overwhelmed and powerless. It resonates in today’s content landscape, where audiences are saturated with shallow, me-too messaging. What they crave instead is what Kahlo gave: truth, vision, and vulnerability.
These aren’t just paintings. They’re proof that a message born from truth doesn’t fade. But one built from mimicry? It drowns in the noise.
AI Didn’t Write This. I Did.
Let me be transparent: I used ChatGPT to build this post. And it helped—a lot. It got me going. But honestly? It also missed the mark.
It offered decent structure and polished language. But the emotional core? The artistic lens? The deeper analogies? Those came from me. From my voice, my influences, my strategy brain. Without that, this would’ve just been another neatly packaged blog saying the same thing as a hundred others.
AI can spark. But only a human can choose which sparks matter.
The Real Edge Isn’t AI. It’s Humanity.
Cultural biases shape how AI interprets the world, but those biases are often invisible unless you're looking closely. Despite all the technical marvels, AI still lacks what artists intuitively bring: cultural fluency, emotional context, and lived understanding. These aren't just aesthetic details—they're the soul of creation.
In a world drowning in information, being forgettable is easy. Following prompts, chasing trends, auto-generating filler—it’s fast, but it’s hollow.
To actually stand out now? You don’t need to sound more like AI. You need to sound more like yourself.
So here’s a question: Are you just creating content—or are you revealing something real?
Because strategy, like art, isn’t about what’s technically possible. It’s about what’s emotionally resonant.
✨ From ancient art to modern marketing—this series explores what visual persuasion can teach us, then and now.
✍️ Written by a content strategist who still thinks like an art historian.
I’ve always believed that marketing becomes more human—and more fun—when you zoom out. With a background in art history, I see visual strategy everywhere, from ancient statues to modern branding. This series connects the dots between the past and the present, between how we’ve always communicated and how we do it now.