Will AI Kill Your Email Newsletter? My Take After Growing a 72K Email List

I’ll be honest with you. Lately, AI feels like an illness that crept into my life.

I don’t want it. I didn’t ask for its so-called inevitability. It overstimulates me, it zaps my creativity, and it makes me second-guess myself. And yet it just won’t leave me alone.

So when I heard someone on a podcast declare that newsletters are “dead in the water,” I’ll admit it got under my skin.

The argument goes like this: between email platforms summarizing your messages and AI tools scanning your inbox to tell you what’s “worth” your attention, people simply won’t read emails anymore.

If you run a business that relies on email marketing, that’s a scary thought. Email is supposed to be ol’ reliable! So let’s talk about whether it still is.

Why People Think AI Will Kill the Email Newsletter

The fear isn’t totally made up. AI inbox tools are real, and some people use them. If a bot summarizes your newsletter into two bullet points, does your reader ever actually see your words?

That leaves a lot of business owners asking:

• Should I stop writing a newsletter?
• Should I write my emails differently to get around AI summaries?
• Can I still count on my newsletter reaching my audience?

Here’s my answer to all three.

My Take: I Wouldn’t Do Anything Differently

I don’t have my head in the clouds. I know AI tools could “hurt” my business, and I know plenty of people use them.

But not everyone wants a bot reading their emails. Many people still enjoy real human interaction, and they don’t want a machine standing between them and the writers they love.

I’m not just betting on hope and good humans, though. I think there’s a real strategy here, and it’s simple:

Write good emails.

What Happens When Your Emails Are Worth Reading

Every week, I hit “send” on my newsletter to more than 72,000 people. Within minutes, replies start rushing in.

And they’re not one-word replies. They’re thoughtful and in-depth. Personal reflections. Grief stories. Notes like “you’re in my head” and “your newsletter is the only one I read.”

That’s what happens when people value and benefit from what you send. They remember it. Reading your email becomes part of their routine, not something they hand off to a summary tool.

Be the Highlights Magazine of Their Inbox

When I was a kid, I used to wait by the mailbox for the latest issue of Highlights magazine.

I didn’t ask my friends to summarize it for me. I didn’t let my dad read it to me. I loved it so much that I couldn’t wait to devour it myself.

That’s the bar for your newsletter. Our job is to create something so good that readers are checking their digital mailboxes, wondering if your email has landed yet.

Nobody outsources the things they’re excited to read.

You’re Not Competing for the Same Reader as AI

Call me naive. Maybe I’m wrong. But I’m not afraid of AI.

Think about it like this: Erewhon isn’t afraid when a McDonald’s opens across the street. They’re not competing for the same customer.

The people who want every email squeezed into a bot summary probably weren’t your most engaged readers anyway. My people want human connection. They want to read my silly stories about trips to the farmers market and my hot takes on business news. And I want to read their silly, deep, vulnerable, thoughtful replies, too.

How to Write a Newsletter People Actually Read in the Age of AI

If you’re worried about AI and your email marketing, here’s where I’d put your energy:

1. Write for humans, not algorithms. Don’t contort your emails to outsmart a summary tool. Write something a real person wants to read start to finish.
2. Share real stories. Personal, specific, even silly stories are what make your emails feel human and impossible to replace.
3. Give people something they value. When readers consistently benefit from your emails, opening them becomes a habit.
4. Invite replies and actually answer them. I read and reply to every response with my own human hands. That two-way connection is something no bot can fake.
5. Show up consistently. Routine builds anticipation. Anticipation builds loyal readers.

Newsletters aren’t dead. Boring, forgettable newsletters might be. The fix isn’t to fight AI. It’s to write emails people would never want summarized.

Want to See How I Built My 72K Email List?

If you’ve ever wanted a peek behind the scenes of my email marketing, I’m hosting a free live workshop with the Kit team on Tuesday, November 10 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET called What’s In Sam Vander Wielen’s Kit. I’ll walk you through my actual Kit account, how I grew my list to 72K subscribers, and how I run my funnels, freebie sequences, and email sequences. A replay will be provided. Sign up here (free)

And if you want to see what a human-written newsletter looks like in your inbox every week, join my newsletter here. Hit reply when you do. I read every single one.

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