Over the past two decades, smart technology has become deeply ingrained in our daily lives. The introduction of iRobot’s Roomba vacuum in 2002 was met with eager adoption, as consumers sought to reclaim time and energy spent cleaning their homes. In 2005, TiVo took on the persona of a friend, recommending television shows based on inidividuals’ prior media usage. The pace of technology innovation accelerated further when Siri came of age around 2011, with voice assistance presenting a completely new (and eagerly adopted) paradigm. Fast-forward to late 2022 and the launch of Open AI’s Chat GPT content writing software, which uses natural dialogue to chat with users, and creates new content powered by artificial intelligence (HubSpot’s definition). See ya later, human content creation. The future is here.
Or is it? As an avowed wordsmith, I found the notion of having a bot craft content perplexing. I envisioned robotic content, laden with tired phrasing and zero flair. How can a bot create nuance, cadence, alliteration? Finally, I put my ego in check and exercised due diligence to research AI content creation — specifically digging in to ChatGPT. Below I’ve shared some highlights.
What is AI content creation, and how does it work?
Open AI ChatGPT streamlines the content development process, using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to generate and refine content. A chat-type interface enables a user to “converse” with the AI writing assistant in a conversational style. The user starts the chat with an initial query or input (such as What is xyz?), to which the AI writing assistant responds with a factual natural language response (xyz are the last three letters in the English alphabet).
The text-based dialogue continues. The user provides clarifying context and additional guidance to solicit the desired information from the AI bot. The bot “remembers” inputs within a session, adapting the content in response to the user’s evolving feedback. The bot’s responses are virtually instantaneous.
5 ways AI tools can support marketing content creation
1. Mitigate writer’s block: Idea generation for blog posts
Deciding on your position or angle on a topic can be the most arduous aspect of content creation. The research phase often generates a plethora of related information that merits exploration, requiring substantial time and brainpower. Because it can respond to your questions virtually instantaneously, conversing with an AI chatbot can accelerate the research process in a meaningful way.
While the AI-supported idea development process may feel energizing, a cautionary pause is imperative. Actual copy written by the AI must be considered source content and developed into an original blog post, article or other content asset. While AI-generated content is not (yet) protected by US copyright laws, an interview with ChatGPT regarding use of AI language models was abundantly clear …
While these tools can be useful for generating ideas and providing inspiration, they are not a substitute for your own original thinking and writing … It is important to understand that using AI tools to write your essay constitutes plagiarism, as you are presenting work that is not your own as if it were. Discussing Plagiarism with Chat GPT (Viper Blog)
2. Research and uncover data sources
As writers know too well, momentum can come to a screeching halt by the dogged research needed to secure credible supportive proof. This data gathering is an area where generative AI can make a meaningful impact. With your clear and specific direction, the AI bot can perform an online search for such validation, delivering the results virtually immediately.
Again, a weighted pause is important, to ensure that your information is valid. First, be certain that your query is phrased precisely to elicit the specific information you are seeking. Secondly (and sorry to burst your bubble), be sure to spot-check the AI tool’s responses; it is not intelligent, per se, but rather is scraping information from the web, and, simply said — not everything found online is true.
3. Edit and polish FAQ responses
The real-time aspect of the AI chat “back and forth “conversation” generates momentum for the user. For example, the AI can adapt the phrasing of questions to create parallel structure for Frequently Asked Questions on a website, potentially saving hours of editing time.
Note the distinction between asking the AI to create the answers to the FAQs, versus refining your draft phrasing with parallel structure. Avoid the trap of asking the AI to do your work or provide the answers. Instead, lead the process — for example, asking the AI to rephrase more succinctly, with a specific focus or in a particular format (such as a table, timeline or pros/cons list).
4. Grammar tutor: Voice, sentence structure, balanced phrasing
An appropriate use of AI tools is within an editor role, rather than as a creator or author. For example, if you’ve drafted technical content, ask the AI to offer modifications so it’s understandable by a less tech-savvy audience. Another way to employ the AI in an editor capacity involves optimizing sentence structure, such as re-writing a sentence to replace passive voice with active voice.
If your WordPress keyphrase assessment comes up short, an AI chat tool may be able to identify opportunities to increase keyword density or add synonyms. Yet to be determined is whether AI content tools will have the capacity to include alliteration, thematic content and nuanced phrasing.
5. Optimize content for search (SEO)
Some AI content tools also include functionality to help optimize your content for search (SEO). An AI SEO assistant provides an on-page live score, effectively coaching the writer real-time on edits needed to develop SEO-optimized content.
Rather than relying on AI tools for this important function, we prefer to utilize SEO plugins for on-page optimization. These robust plugins assist authors with developing impactful headlines, optimized metatags and opportunities to add internal and external links. They also provide a sentence structure analysis and an informative readability assessment.
Last words: The power of repurposing
There are some tasks that may be perfectly suited for a AI content assistant. Among them are those that involve repurposing your content into other types of assets. Here’s a short list:
- Craft a series of social posts to leverage a blog article or promote an event
- Create a YouTube script and description from your original video
- Develop an eBook based on an article you authored
- Prepare an outline for a downloadable guide from your eBook
- Draft a press release for a new business development
- Generate headline alternatives for an email newsletter
In summary, I think there’s room for AI Chat GPT content tools as a resource for authors. It’s a two-way street, however: To maximize its efficiency, the AI must be well-trained; the effectiveness of your input (prompts) will drive the quality of the AI’s outputs.
