We live in a time where AI can write your emails, design your slides, and even “sound like” you.
So here’s the question many creatives and founders are quietly asking:
If AI can do what I do… what’s the point of my story?
In this episode of Conversation, Julia sits down with psychologist, journalist, and award-winning author Rod Berger, whose career has taken him from refugee camps to Vatican meetings—and whose upcoming book The Narrative Edge is all about the human power of storytelling in a world obsessed with automation.
Together, they dig into what AI can’t do, the risks of outsourcing originality, and why your story might be the single most strategic asset your business has right now.
AI Can Mimic, Predict, Automate—But It Can’t Feel
You can feed ChatGPT your bio, your tone of voice, even your values. You can get eerily close to “sounding like you.” But that’s all it is—close.
“AI can mimic. It can predict. It can analyze. But it cannot feel. And the feeling is where the magic is.” —Rod Berger
AI didn’t cry in your car after a client ghosted you.
It didn’t pace the room before your first pitch call.
It didn’t sit on your floor at midnight wondering if you could really do this.
And it never will.
No matter how advanced it gets, AI doesn’t come with soul. Only you bring that.
Your Origin Story Isn’t Just for Branding
You’ve probably seen it on every “about” page checklist: share your origin story.
But Rod makes a powerful point: most people don’t actually feel like the main character in their own life.
Why? Because we’re raised to believe our stories don’t matter unless they’re dramatic, heroic, or wildly successful.
Rod challenges that head-on:
“There are a thousand reasons why we tell ourselves our story doesn’t matter… but it does. And it matters at every level.”
And here’s the kicker: if you don’t claim your origin story, AI can’t help you. It can only remix what you give it. So if you haven’t given it anything rooted in lived experience, it’s just spinning empty words.
Your story isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s the source data.
Authenticity Is More Than a Marketing Buzzword
Rod shares a chilling story: a colleague secretly trained AI on Rod’s public writing. The model generated articles so convincing that a longtime friend couldn’t tell which version was real.
Cool? Maybe. But also… unnerving.
“It’s tough to be authentic when the content didn’t come from a real experience that impacted us as individuals.”
In a world full of AI-generated sameness, authenticity is your competitive edge.
The way you describe your childhood.
The metaphors only you would use.
The energy in your voice when you talk about your work.
That’s what cuts through. That’s what creates trust. AI can help amplify it, but it can’t replace it.
AI Can’t Ask the Right Questions
One of the most poignant parts of the interview was this: Rod didn’t build his storytelling career on flashy tactics or clever content. He built it by listening deeply—and asking the kind of questions that unlock truth.
“AI can’t feel the vibe in a room. It doesn’t know when it’s the right moment to dig deeper. It doesn’t know when to pause.”
He tells stories of interviewing icons like Sammy Hagar or MMA legend Khabib Nurmagomedov—not about music or fights, but about grandfathers, cooking, and selling vegetables in a small village. Why?
Because that’s the kind of story that lives in someone’s bones—not their LinkedIn.
You don’t get those stories from a Google scrape. You get them through connection. Through timing. Through trust.
AI might eventually get better at facial recognition, at speech patterns, maybe even emotional tone. But it still won’t care.
And if we want people to trust us, we have to care first.
How “Version Control” Shows Up in Your Story
Rod introduced a powerful idea: version control in storytelling.
We all do it. We tell one version of ourselves in a job interview, another at a dinner party, another in front of our kids.
That’s normal. But when we stop being honest with ourselves about why we’re telling certain versions… we start to disconnect.
“If I’m not honest with myself, I feel like a shell of who I really am.”
In marketing? This shows up in your copy.
In sales? It shows up in how you pitch.
In leadership? It shows up in whether your team trusts you.
The takeaway: own your version before AI does it for you.
Your 15-Minute Challenge
This one’s simple—but not easy.
Take 15 minutes.
Open a doc.
Write the origin story you’ve never published—the one that made you care about the work you do.
- No editing.
- No thinking about clients.
- Just truth.
Ask yourself:
- When did I feel like the main character?
- What’s a story I’ve never told publicly—but shaped everything?
- What do I know about this work that AI never will?
This story might not go in your next newsletter.
But it will reshape how you tell every other story from here on out.
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
Use AI. Train it. Scale your voice. Get help with the heavy lifting.
But when it comes to meaning—you’re still the source.
“You humans live inside the chaos. You dream. You take risks. You get it wrong, then get it right in a way I never could.”
—ChatGPT, from a fictional “letter to humans” included in The Narrative Edge
And that’s the point.
Use the tools. Build the systems. But don’t forget your voice.
Because someone, somewhere, is waiting to hear the part of your story that makes them feel seen.
If you found this helpful, share it with an entrepreneur looking to improve their AI-powered content strategy. Check out How to Create CustomGPT: A Gamechanger for Entrepreneurs to learn how to start using AI in your business or with Voice2Reels GPT to use AI to create reels with your voice.
