Can AI Reliably Create Your Content?
AI, especially ChatGPT, is a hot topic right now, with a lot of supporters in the tech world. As with most new tech developments there are questions of morality, of boundary transgression and of the anxiety-inducing prospect of being replaced by a machine. These concerns merit careful consideration and discussion...
Can I just use ChatGPT to write my website content and emails?
Yes and no. Google has been very clear that using fully AI generated content on your website will not be looked upon favourably by the algorithm, according to a statement made last year by John Mueller, Search Advocate at the internet heavyweight.AI content is considered as spam, or shady tricks similar to duplicating content from other sources, which is outright plagiarism. Google also looks on reposting old content with only a few tweaks as underhanded too, so it is always best to have a human hand involved in your content creation (and in reworking or updating old content).
Where AI can come in handy is in generating a block of text that can then be edited and re-worked by a real person. This is a similar process to having a rough draft and refining it, which may suit the way some content writers work. It may not suit everyone's way of working, however, so don't assume that your content creator will get on with AI content – it will feel a bit like manipulating someone else's work.
What if AI can write like a real human? Who will be able to tell?
For a start, your readership and Google will be able to tell that content is AI generated. The way humans interpret the written or spoken word intrinsically tells us when something isn't quite right. We might not be able to put our fingers on exactly why it's not right, but we can tell. Anyone who does crosswords regularly will know how easy it is to learn the style of a particular setter and it's the same for content. If you have a favourite author, or artist, you will know their style and be able to tell when something is a fake.
While AI can be taught to write like a particular person, or in a particular style, it will still produce content that requires human editing. Perhaps in the future the systems will have learnt enough about writing style and popular culture that they'll be able to write completely natural sounding content that uses contemporary references and concepts, but we are not there yet.
What sort of AI should I be using now?
Rather than using AI to create large swathes of content for your website or for marketing materials, use tools like Grammarly that leverage AI knowledge to determine whether your content hits the mark in terms of tone and readability. Can I Rank? is a tool that parses content ideas to generate additional keywords for exploration and other suggestions for improving SEO on each piece of content you put through it. There are always new AI tools coming out to help marketers create, refine and explore their content to its fullest potential.
So what place does AI really have in marketing?
Right now, AI should be seen as an entry level colleague; an entity with some really useful skills, who can put in the hours, but who also needs the careful guidance of the experienced people who have been doing the job for years. One day, AI might be promoted to head up a department, but for now it's still in the probationary period.
