Want to stay ahead of AI? Start with the skills it can't replicate.

In a world where, thanks to generative AI, anyone can churn out brand content at scale, it may be tempting to assume that writing-heavy jobs will soon be few and far between.

But it turns out that many employers are actively looking for brand journalists and content marketers who have the storytelling skills that AI can't replace — and, somewhat ironically, they're willing to pay a premium if those storytellers can also use AI to do their job even better, content distribution platform Stacker reports.

New data from marketing career site SalaryGuide.com found that content and editorial jobs that mentioned AI in the job description paid roughly 26% more than those that didn't ($119,250 vs. $95,000 at the median). These high-paying jobs were primarily content jobs, meaning they didn't have "AI" in the job title but did include AI fluency as part of the job description. They specifically called out AI tools like ChatGPT, CapCut AI, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot.

The data covered 1,380 job listings that included salaries and were posted between October 2025 and early May 2026. The analysis included content leaders, content managers, editors, writers, storytellers and data journalists, but contract, part-time, volunteer and intern roles were left out.

SalaryGuide’s findings suggest it’s well worth investing time in learning how best to use AI to do your job more efficiently.

For brand journalists, that likely means finding ways to automate the more repetitive or time-consuming parts of the job so that you can focus on the authentic storytelling and strategic thinking that will help your brand cut through the noise.

Why Storytelling Skills Matter in the Age of AI

Learning the basics of using an AI tool is easy. When brands are looking to hire someone to tell their story — and pay them well to do so — it’s the soft skills that stand out, Josh Peacock, CEO and founder at SalaryGuide, said in an email interview. Peacock is also the CEO and founder of Search For Hire, an SEO and marketing headhunting agency.

“The three skills that separate the marketers commanding that premium are storytelling, judgment, and taste curation,” Peacock said. “AI gives you the keys to the Ferrari, and you can drive a long way down the wrong road, fast.”

Robert Rose, chief strategy advisor at Content Marketing Institute (CMI), echoed that sentiment in a separate interview.

He pointed to Notion's decision to merge its internal communications, external communications, social and influencer teams into one "storytelling" team, and to OpenAI and Anthropic hiring their own content strategists (and paying salaries as high as $300,000).

“It has actually raised the profile of great storytelling and great content creators because of the commoditization of everybody getting ‘good’ at the tool,” Rose said. “The bar has risen, and those that are talented with content are actually finding greater opportunities.”

Creating Strong Brand Content Now Requires Balancing Good Judgment With AI

In a survey of 655 full-time global marketers conducted in February, CMI found that 65% believed it was their strategic and critical thinking skills that would be most critical for staying relevant in the field in the future. AI skills came in second place, with 59% of marketers saying they were the most critical tool for future relevance.

There’s a tension between AI efficiency and authentic storytelling. The marketers earning premium salaries are those that can maintain voice and good judgment while letting the technology do the more tedious work.

“Companies aren't hiring ‘AI content people,’” Peacock said. “They're expecting every content marketer to be AI-fluent inside the role, and the market is paying for it.”

Plus, for a profession where brand is everything, relying too heavily on AI for content creation could be a red flag.

“An army of tool pilots who know how to prompt their way through a content calendar add little value,” the CMI analysts wrote in their report on the survey. “As one marketer put it, the risk of following the AI herd is real: ‘When everyone adopts the same techniques, marketing starts to look superfluous.’”

So what does this mean for brand journalists looking to stand out?

How to Position Yourself as a Premium Hire

• Take stock of what AI can do for your role. Focus on the repetitive parts of your job so that you can spend your time on tasks that require judgment and strategic thinking.
• Get comfortable with the tools. Job descriptions are now mentioning tools by name, making it clear what to familiarize yourself with. SalaryGuide's analysis found that the most commonly mentioned tools were ChatGPT (132 mentions), CapCut AI (131), GenAI (113), LLM (108), Claude (62), Agentic (57), Gemini (35), Copilot (29), Perplexity (26), Jasper (21), Descript (21) and Midjourney (12).
• Keep a creative outlet, like a freelance gig. The CMI survey found that many marketers are freelancing to stay relevant and to keep their creative and strategic skills sharp. Those at the director level and above are freelancing at the highest rate, with 12% making $30,000 or more each year from side work.

Counterintuitively, the rise of AI means it’s a good time for marketing and communications professionals to sharpen the storytelling skills that got them into the field. In a sea of AI slop, taste and human judgment stand out.

This story was produced, reviewed and distributed by Stacker.