AI content generators have been around for a while now, but the use of Chat GPT by college students has pushed them into the headlines. Cheating on essays and papers is as old as the hills; there will always be students looking for a shortcut so they can party instead of work. But the question we’re looking at today is whether using AI content is a legitimate way to create marketing content. Are there any advantages, or is this a quick way to sabotage your brand?
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The Rise of AI
Artificial intelligence has its uses for marketers, most notably in the detection of plagiarised content. However, with AI now such an integral part of everyday life, it’s not surprising that developers have come up with increasingly sophisticated AI tools to generate content.
The most recent AI text generators use a third-generation natural language processing system. The GPT in Chat GPT stands for Generation Pre-Trained Transformer and is based on GPT-3.5. This tool, developed by OpenAI, has been trained using billions of data learning parameters from sites like Reddit and can generate human-quality content. It can predict what word comes next, just like Google’s autocomplete feature.
Until recently, most marketers dismissed the idea of using AI to produce content. At best the results were just not ‘human’ enough. At worst, the results from basic article spinners were dreadful and required too much editing. More recent AI content tools like Chat GBT have changed things. With some guidance, the tool produces a reasonable article. It doesn’t introduce any new ideas or original thoughts, but then neither does a lot of existing content published online.
While Chat GPT is perhaps the best-known AI content generator right now, there are others, including Copy AI and BuzzSumo. They all serve different purposes and are available at different price points. If you want to try an AI content generator, it’s worth sampling a few out before committing to paying for the service.
But is using AI content the best way to boost your brand? Let’s find out.
The Advantages of Using AI-generated Content
AI content may have a bad rep, but there are some advantages to using it for marketing purposes.
Speed
The first one is speed. It takes time to write content. Low-quality generic content can be bashed out quickly but most content writers need about 20 minutes to produce 500 words of basic content that needs little to no research. Some writers are quicker, but it’s easy to burn out writing content all day and humans need a break to recharge their brains.
Better quality content where research is needed takes longer. AI, on the other hand, can generate content much faster – literally in minutes. That’s a good thing if you need a ton of content or timely content on trending topics. You can scale up content production very quickly when you don’t need to hire additional writers or manage flaky freelancers.
Cost
Hiring writers, whether you employ an in-house team or use freelancers, costs money. The going rate for content writers is generally quite low, with a few exceptions. However, no writer works as cheaply as an AI content generator.
Content generators often work on a subscription or token basis. The costs vary but it’s possible to generate thousands of words for peanuts. There is no way you could pay a human writer such a low rate without violating all kinds of ethical and moral codes, not to mention employment laws.
If all you need is basic content written quickly and cheaply, AI content generators might tick all the boxes.
The Disadvantages of Using AI-Generated Content
Unsurprisingly, there are a few reasons not to try AI content tools.
Quality
Google is continuously striving to improve the quality of search results. The recent Helpful Content Update has reinforced this, by making it clear that content must add value. If users click on links and see no original content or don’t find the answers to their questions, they’ll have a poor user experience (UX).
One of the biggest problems with AI-generated content is that it is simply using existing content and rearranging the words to create new content that doesn’t trigger any plagiarism detectors. It’s unique, but also the same.
AI doesn’t have original thoughts (at least not yet…). It has nothing new to add to the conversation. For some content, such as low-quality link-building posts, it doesn’t matter. AI content will be fine. But if you want to build a strong brand with original content that adds value, relying on AI content is a bad idea.
Don’t underestimate the power of creativity. People don’t want to read the same regurgitated crap all the time. It might not matter so much for guest posts placed on obscure websites, but if you are using AI to write blog posts for your company’s website or social media content, readers won’t be impressed. No thought leader ever used AI to produce essays and articles.
Google E-A-T
Google is the biggest search engine, so most content marketers consider Google’s algorithms first. As we’ve already stated, Google wants helpful content that improves the UX. When the first five pages of a search query all produce the same content written in different ways, it causes a lot of frustration.
The E-A-T acronym is short for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. This is what Google looks for when evaluating content. It is the underlying principle behind Google’s algorithm. It’s also an important guideline for Google employees tasked with manually checking content.
Since the last thing Google wants is a ton of content that says the exact same thing but in a different order, it stands to reason that using AI to generate all your content is short-sighted at best and potentially very dangerous if you want to maintain your SERPs ranking.
When to Use AI Content Generators
There is a place for AI content tools. They are useful if you are going through a creative block and need something to get you firing on all cylinders. Ask Chat GPT to produce some content and it will generate useful sub-headings and titles, which may be enough to get you started.
AI can also be a handy tool if you need a lot of meta descriptions.
Be very careful not to overuse AI when producing content. Consider it as an additional tool rather than your go-to writer. The more businesses rely on AI to produce content, the riskier it is. Google has already warned that using AI content generators should be done with caution.
While it is tempting from a budget POV to use AI to produce content, don’t get too attached to the idea. Humans may cost more, but they are better equipped to write interesting, original content. If you are trying to build a solid brand, hire a copywriter.
Need some help with your content and don’t trust AI to do a good job? Get in touch today and see how much better human content is. You won’t be disappointed!