Content writing is a tough but rewarding job. Each year, it seems like there's more pressure to churn out even more content. And our audiences seem to consume it just as fast as we can get it out there for them.
As the need for more content continues on its upward slope, companies are looking for ways to create as much as possible as quickly as possible. In fact, a Content Matters report showed that eight in 10 marketers plan to create more content next year than they did the previous year. While copywriters can create great content quickly, it can cause a lot of strain to keep up with the rising demand. This is the driving force behind the adoption of generative AI. Algorithms like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Microsoft's Bing Chat are the latest technological advancements to generate content.
This has a lot of copywriters scared about losing their jobs to automation in the near future. And it’s understandable why they would be. Now you can type a prompt into an AI copywriter like Jasper, Copy.ai, or ChatGPT and receive hundreds of words of written content in a matter of seconds. It’s almost scary.
Here's the truth about generative AI:
Generative AI is Faster
AI copywriters like ChatGPT are lightning-fast. They provide hundreds of words of content in a cohesive structure almost instantaneously, no matter what the subject is about. Human copywriters, on the other hand, can take hours to create the same amount of content, and the more complex the subject, the longer it takes. Given the choice between getting a finished blog article right now vs. a blog article tomorrow, AI looks very tempting.
AI is Cheaper
Humans are expensive, needy animals. They need a paycheck. They need to eat. They need to take breaks. They need sleep. They need a healthy work/life balance. The list goes on and on. On the other hand, AI doesn't need food, sleep, or bathroom breaks. It can work 24/7, allowing businesses to produce a lot of content with very little investment.
AI Doesn't Get Writer's Block
Every copywriter has faced the terror of staring at a blank page for hours on end with no words coming to their mind. Just thinking about getting stuck in a creative rut makes me break out in a cold sweat. Generative AI doesn't get writer's block. It doesn't have to worry about creative burnout. It just provides a steady stream of content, day or night.
But this doesn't mean we can simply lay off our content team, plug a topic into an AI copywriter, and expect it to write all the content for us. AI-generated content on its own can come out dull and lifeless at best, or repetitive and valueless at worst. Here are some of the reasons why you need human copywriters to turn AI-generated words into valuable marketing content.
It Lacks the Human Touch
Generative AI is fast, but it certainly isn't interesting. AI-generated content on its own has a very dry, dull, lifeless quality that can make it completely uninteresting to read. The content can be factually inaccurate, filled with cluttered sentences, and sometimes it can repeat the same phrases multiple times. It takes a human eye to sift the good content from the bad that the AI wouldn't detect due to a lack of awareness.
Search Engines May Devalue AI Content
AI generates plenty of content, but it's often very surface-level. It lacks the depth and specificity needed to make a useful content piece that answers the audience's questions. Plus, it's also important to know that search engines can recognize AI writing. With Google's recent Helpful Content update, content will get dinged if it doesn't clearly demonstrate expertise. That expertise comes from a depth-of-knowledge or first-hand experience that AI just can't bring to the table.
It takes a skilled copywriter to turn AI-generated words into interesting, helpful content that fits into Google's E-E-A-T guidelines of experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
AI-generated content can be a valuable tool for content creation. But it still needs human copywriters to ensure that it meets the needs of the target audience and aligns with the brand's overall marketing strategy. By combining the speed and efficiency of AI with the creativity and expertise of human writers, businesses can produce high-quality content that engages and inspires their audience.
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