Deep-Diving in a Shallow Pool
As with the effects of most systems, processes and automation, output is only as good as the input.
AI is still relatively new and the ‘machine learning’ element is still learning - much of the data put into ChatGPT was up to the point of 2021, so updates haven’t yet worked through the system.
As a result, there are gaps in information, and in sectors where things change quickly, updates are clearly lacking.
Limited Technical Input
Our human content creation here at Website Success covers sectors from kitchen and garden design, environmental services and hydrogen heating, business software, beauty and health clinics, to security services, insurance and business scale up... (and that's not everything)!
We include an allocation of research time for all content, to ensure we understand what we’re writing about, and we hit the nail on the head technically on behalf of our clients.
We don’t just churn out content for the sake of it; every piece of content has its purpose.
So far, there is insufficient technical content in the AI systems for most of our more technical clients. This shows, either by the AI generator admitting it doesn't have the knowledge/ability or by the weirdly vacuous output of words that less experienced/ qualified/ professional content overseers might approve! (Tip: Know your customer - if you can see through the pap, they can...)
Look Who’s Talking
Although you can ‘brief’ the AI content generator to create in a specific style or tone of voice, there is often a lack of definition in the resulting output, and the tone or style is slightly ‘off’.
Sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on exactly what is wrong, but this is a key element that we rely on our human writers to get right!
Differentiation in a Mass Market
Digital marketers will tell you there is currently much observation and reflection... on brand strategy and SEO.
If AI is churning the same kind of content for garden designers and specialist management consultancies around the world, where does the point of differentiation begin and end? Surely everything will start to sound the same, after time...?
How Google will decide what ranks for searches and what misses the mark waits to be seen, but if everything sounds and looks the same, absolutely the human-written content will stand out as being different...
Content is about underpinning your differences as a brand - as long as it retains relevance, knowledge and helpfulness to those searching, something a bit different will be refreshing!
Digital marketers are already starting to see the negative impacts on SEO of using AI content... Buyer beware...
Grab a Sense Check
Recent recruitment has opened a can of worms... for a digital marketing assistant, one of the exercises was to write a blog post for an imaginary client and a mix of human and AI-generated blog posts came through.
In content quality, the human-crafted blog post stood head and shoulders above the others – why? It’s hard to say, but it ‘pops’ and sparkles, whereas the others are bland and generic.
Additional recent recruitment for a content executive resulted in one candidate answering qualifying questions using AI, and yet the questions were to identify motivations in life; opinions on content topics... I don't care what ChatGPT or Bard is motivated by in life - I asked the questions to get an idea about the person behind the application! (Note: This was from an MA graduate, who really should have their own opinions by now.)
The risk of sounding ‘puffy and pappy’ with AI is very high - every item we use AI for always, always, always needs a human sense check.
As an agency, our jury is out on AI for a while longer... We’re playing with it and testing it as a support tool with some of our client content, but we don’t yet see a future when all us content writers are out of a job!
The AI-generated blog posts need a very careful and experienced eye passed over them – before they go to our clients for review/feedback. Some of our client content is just too specific in its subject matter or tone of voice to risk putting through an AI generator. The output is way off what we need, and what our clients expect.
So, from our standpoint, AI puts the emphasis on the Need for Common Sense - and the Curation of Content, rather than the Creation of it.
If you need help crafting decent content for your social media, email marketing or website, it’s what we do – we deliver better.
Call us on 01243 888555 or click here to book a chat in the diary.
