I was reminded this week of how important it is – especially if you work alone – to have a trusted person who can read through that high-stakes document and pick up the wood that you can’t see for the trees, because you’re just too immersed the damn thing.

Yes, I know you think your AI agent did a great job and covered all your bases. But there are three major problems with not taking the extra step. The first is that you prompted it, and when we’re too close to a project, we can make assumptions about other people’s knowledge, or about logic we think is obvious, when the reader doesn’t have all the information they need to follow. Your friend Chatty doesn’t have that background – it just does what it thinks will please you.

Then, once you’ve worked on something for a long time, you start to read what you think is there, not what’s actually there. I once had to privately message someone on social media to inform them that they had called themselves a ‘pubic speaker’ on their website. Not what they had in mind, I assure you.

Finally, when you’re working with a machine that has aggregated vast amounts of content and been designed by US companies, it’s just going to miss vital nuance on a document that’s designed for South African audiences, or which tries to solve South African problems, for instance.

It’s going to use US words, phrases and idioms. “Not that big of a deal” instead of “not that big a deal” or “faucet” instead of “tap” are simple examples that you might not think matter, but can subtly alienate your audience. And it’s not just vocabulary – even the way unions operate in the US is different to the way unions operate here.

All of that poses a risk for your communications.

And that’s where you need a human – preferably someone outside of those working on the project – who can come in, read it cold, and make sure there aren’t any gaps or gaffes that could affect your reputation.

Would I love that person to be me? Of course. I’ve spent decades doing exactly that, and I will tell you the truth.

But if that’s not an option, at the very least get someone else in the company to read it. Often the small nuances not caught now lead to crisis comms somewhere in the future. Reputations that are built over years can be destroyed in minutes.

Take the extra step. Take the extra care. In the long run it will save both costs and your company’s image.