The three kinds and what each requires
- Template: reviewed once, reused often, sent by a person who saw the recipient.
- Automation: reviewed once, sent repeatedly with no human in the loop — needs stop conditions.
- AI-generated: composed per message — needs either human approval or tight scope limits.
- All three need the same consent check before sending.
Where templates earn their keep
Appointment confirmations, on-the-way notices, estimate follow-ups, payment reminders and review requests are the same message hundreds of times a year. Writing them once, well, raises the floor of your communication quality more than any individual effort will.
The failure mode is the unmaintained library: forty templates, six of which are used, half referencing prices or people from two years ago. A template set is a living asset and needs a scheduled review.
Drawing the approval line
Messages that inform can be automated. Messages that commit — a price, a date, a scope change, a concession — should pass a person. That single distinction resolves most arguments about how much to automate.
For AI-written messages, the safe design is narrow scope and full visibility: the AI drafts or handles a defined interaction, the message is logged exactly as sent, and anything outside the defined scope routes to a human instead of being improvised.