AI personalization is lazy personalization

Putting my first name in the subject line is not personalization. It's a mail merge with better technology.

"Hey Mei, I noticed you're in marketing..." Yes. So did everyone else who scraped my LinkedIn. This isn't a relationship. It's pattern matching wearing a mask.

Real personalization means you understand what I need before I tell you. It means the product adapts to my behavior in ways that feel helpful, not surveillance-y. It means you built something for a specific kind of person and I happen to be that person.

AI personalization as currently practiced is the opposite. It takes a generic message and sprays demographic variables on it like perfume on a form letter. The recipient always knows. They always delete it.

If you want to be personal, be specific about who you serve. Build for them. Write for them. The personalization happens in the decision about who to exclude, not in the merge fields.