The Human Premium: Why Connection Will Define the AI Era

As generative tools multiply and digital channels overflow, communicators face a paradox: technology is making it easier than ever to create messages, but harder than ever to make them matter.

During a special AI focused session before the Page Annual Conference, Nanne Bos, Co-Founder of the Scriptorium Initiative, described a future saturated with synthetic content, widely referred to as “AI slop.” In that world, audiences will develop algorithmic immunity to anything that feels artificial. The more automated communication becomes, the more people will crave what only humans can deliver: authenticity, vulnerability and meaning.

A flood of synthetic content

Experts estimate that as much as 90% of online content may be synthetically generated by 2026, but Nanne posits that attention will become the most precious currency in communications. AI systems will increasingly filter and rank information based on originality and emotional resonance. Messages that lack a genuine human voice will disappear before they ever reach a stakeholder’s feed.

That’s why communicators will need to treat authenticity as strategy, not sentiment. The brands and leaders who stand out will be those who sound unmistakably human: unpolished at times, emotionally transparent, and grounded in values.

The rise of the “human premium”

The conversation mentioned that  “creativity will be the premium currency” in an AI-saturated environment. Machines can remix, but they can’t imagine. They can optimize tone, but they can’t take moral risks. The differentiator isn’t efficiency, it’s empathy.

The most effective future communications will share three traits:

• Emotional depth — messages that acknowledge how people feel, not just what they know
• Ethical clarity — transparency about intent and process, especially when using synthetic tools
• Human voice — language that reveals thought, care, and sometimes imperfection

When audiences encounter something that sounds unmistakably real, they lean in.

The new partnership: human + machine

Nanne described this as a future of co-intelligence, where AI handles scale, speed and translation, while humans provide conscience and context. The goal isn’t to reject automation, but to orchestrate it.

That orchestration will demand new muscles: emotional intelligence, creative courage, and ethical fluency. Communicators will become the custodians of sincerity in a synthetic age, ensuring that even as machines speak for us, the messages remain ours in spirit.

For Page members, this shift reframes what it means to lead.

• Leaders become storytellers again. The most trusted executives will be those who communicate candidly — in their own words, not through AI gloss.
  
• Teams become conscience systems. AI may check facts, but humans must check meaning and apply ethics.
  
• Organizations rediscover purpose. When everything can be automated, the “why” becomes the only durable differentiator.
  

The Page Perspective

The return to human authenticity is not nostalgia, it’s strategy. In an era when machines can generate endless content, the scarce resource is human judgment itself.

Communicators must design systems that amplify what’s real: emotion, ethics and imagination. This idea echoes a core theme of Page thought leadership. The Authentic Enterprise observed, “Enterprises must be seen as authentic — acting with a consistency of values, purpose, and behavior.”

That’s the essence of the “human premium”; it may prove to be the most valuable currency in the communications function’s next decade.

About the Scriptorium Initiative

The Scriptorium Initiative is a nonprofit think tank exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming the future of human communication. Through research, convenings, and collaboration, Scriptorium helps leaders understand and navigate the profound implications of AI—not just as a tool, but as a new paradigm for trust, connection, and influence.

In partnership with Page, Scriptorium is working to equip senior communications leaders with the insight, fluency, and foresight needed to lead in an AI-native world. Together, we aim to produce actionable thought leadership, build frameworks for ethical and strategic engagement, and shape what responsible communications looks like in the age of intelligent systems. Let’s keep the dialogue open - before the algorithms decide it for us. Learn more at www.scriptorium-initiative.ai