Within 5 days of launching, the AI tool ChatGPT crossed over 1 million users and created a new world record for the fastest-growing platform online. It currently has over 25 million daily users, amasses over 10 million queries a day and is set to make a profit of 1 billion US dollars by 2024.
In 2023, it’s hard to find a business that hasn’t experimented with artificial intelligence to aid at least one area of their work. From computer-generated web copy to artificially-edited images, the digital world has become a rapid adopter of programmes like ChatGPT, Jasper and Anyword to help inspire, create and support their digital content creation.
But just how far can these tools take your content? How will your SEO score be affected by inorganic copywriting? Are programmes like ChatGPT really out to steal our jobs?
In this blog post, we’re exploring both the advantages and disadvantages of using AI to craft your web content and debating the best time to bring ChatGPT into your copywriting strategy.
The Advantages of AI-Generated Web Content
There are many different advantages to using AI-generated web content:
Saving Time
One of the biggest advantages of using tools like ChatGPT is the amount of time it can save a copywriter when creating content from scratch. A simple query, such as ‘write a product description for this item’, can instantly generate a paragraph of copy that may only need a few small edits to be made perfect. The research involved is automated, without a user needing to scroll through articles and PDFs to find important data. The content is well structured and grammatically correct, without the margins of typos, missed grammatical errors or skipped words. All the user needs to do is input the right command, and they could save themselves some serious time and effort.
Efficient Resource Allocation
With the time saved through implementing artificially-generated content into your copywriting strategy, the human counterparts in your team now have open windows of opportunity to explore new avenues and ideas of content. It’s important to remember that content creation isn’t just about copy alone, and that video content, SEO, imagery, design and marketing are all vital parts of your overall digital strategy. Investing your available resources into these areas is a great way to explore new opportunities to help build up your brand.
Accessibility
We can’t all be natural wordsmiths. Some of us struggle to craft copy that really works for our brands and, in a small team, hiring a copywriter isn’t always an option. One of the reasons ChatGPT works so well is that it’s accessible to everyone – regardless of your background, skill level, business size or experience. Those with disabilities such as dyslexia or those who simply struggle to write long-form content can still create high-quality content for their websites, without needing to pay a single penny.
The Disadvantages of AI-Generated Web Content
However, there are some drawbacks to AI-Generated Web Content that should be considered too:
Copy that Lacks Human Creativity
When you take the human voice out of the equation, the copy created by AI can often feel a little stiff and unemotive. For some industries, this style of writing will be acceptable, but for those industries where a specific brand voice is required, tools like ChatGPT will struggle. The shared human experience can often be what makes original content so appealing and relatable, with that underlying empathy drawing readers in. Whilst the words might be in the right order, they aren’t always saying what they really need to say.
Surface-Level Research Only
When it comes to writing personalised or bespoke content, your AI tool is always going to struggle. The pre-programmed algorithms of your chosen writing tool will only ever be able to scrape surface-level content on your particular brand, product or business – provided there is already content online for it to use. For a new business with a limited online presence, the copy your programme is likely to provide will be generic and universal, rather than niche and specific to you. It always won’t have the background data on your industry, product or brand to be able to fully flesh out descriptions or biographies, and could leave your copy feeling detached and unconnected.
Ethical Bias
Whilst for many businesses, issues such as political viewpoints and ethical debates aren’t likely to appear within your copy, for those in certain sectors and industries, maintaining professional neutrality is crucial for appealing to your target audience. As all AI programmes are fundamentally developed by humans, ethical bias is always likely to present as a filter through which your copy is created. For example, when asked about several key human rights issues, ChatGPT is particularly left-leaning. Other AI programmes might be more right-leaning, depending on the contextual factors of their development. This means that the information you receive, despite much of it coming with a disclaimer of ‘as an AI language model, I do not hold personal opinions or beliefs’, it’s like to come from a background of some political and ethical viewpoint.
There’s no denying that AI is set to play a large role in the future of the digital landscape, with more and more users experimenting with the tools to date. The potential of artificial intelligence is enormous and it can present some game-changing opportunities for both your team and your business. However, it’s important to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of the algorithms before committing to its adoption in your content strategy.
