In 2023, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly important tool in the content creation process.
With its ability to process large amounts of data quickly and accurately, AI can help content creators streamline their workflow and produce higher-quality content more efficiently.
If those first two lines sound like a decent blog post introduction, you can thank a robot. They were written by ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that’s been taking the world by storm since its release to the general public in late November. Just type in a question or prompt, and it can explain complex topics conversationally, create outlines or grocery lists, and write jokes, scripts, essays, and more.
The Current AI Landscape
In mid-March, OpenAI announced it’s releasing an updated AI chatbot called GPT-4, which the company says can write words as well as interact with images, such as by describing and writing captions for them.
The rapid advances in AI are thrusting it into the spotlight. It’s no longer a novelty reserved for science fiction. Rather, it’s something that’s becoming more and more a part of everyday life, and it has the potential to radically transform it. For example, both Google and Bing are now working to incorporate AI chatbots into their search engines. That could dramatically change how we interact with the web.
Meanwhile, there are already many great AI tools out there to use for a variety of purposes. Over the next few months, we are looking at what the growing use of AI means for the digital marketing and web design industry.
Content creation is an area where artificial intelligence is already playing a role, and it’s one that will continue to grow. That doesn’t mean AI is coming for your job! But knowing how to use AI to strengthen your work and save time on certain tasks will be vital in the years to come.
Use AI to Get Past the Blank Page
Just for fun, we asked ChatGPT to write an 800-word blog post about how AI can help with the content creation process in 2023. After a few sentences of intro (included above), the AI-generated post went on to summarize a handful of different ways, such as conducting keyword research, optimizing content, and personalizing content. Not a bad list!
AI can be valuable as a starting point for the writing process. It can help you with the tough task of going from a blank page to getting on your way to writing. If you’re looking to dabble with ChatGPT or other AI tools, try using them for brainstorming ideas and structuring your content. ChatGPT can be helpful in gathering ideas for main ideas and outlines, which you can then take and run with as you craft it into a fully formed post that works for your audience.
However, it’s important to note that copy-pasting a full post directly from an AI like ChatGPT may not be the best choice. Google will continue to prioritize “original, high-quality content” that reflects the qualities of expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. That doesn’t describe a “paint-by-numbers” blog from a prompt like the one ChatGPT was given above.
Claiming an AI’s writing as your own also has ethical implications. Not to mention, an AI like ChatGPT doesn’t automatically cite its sources and can sound confident while being completely wrong. While it’s decent at writing in a way that imitates natural speech, we still need humans to fact-check, edit, and make it fit their website or brand’s tone and style.
Use AI to Create Headings, Social Media Posts, Descriptions, and More
Some writing tasks are great for AI. The Associated Press, one of the world’s largest news reporting organizations, has used artificial intelligence since 2014 to write basic stories for topics that use “structured sets of data,” such as corporate earnings reports and sports recaps. AI can also be valuable in helping draft multiple versions of different types of copy, like social media posts and page descriptions.
You can also use AI to help you reword tricky sentences if you’re getting stuck. Whether you’re using ChatGPT to create an outline or heading ideas, or a tool like Jasper.Ai to get the structure down, there are many nifty ways that you can use it for the early steps in the writing process.
What you do with those ideas is up to you, and that’s where human creativity comes in!
Use AI to Research Your Content
You shouldn’t trust everything ChatGPT tells you, but artificial intelligence is still a super useful tool for research.
The new generation of chatbots can distill complex ideas and give you a starting point on where to look. Changes in search engines will likely make AI an increasingly large player in how we do research on the internet.
For SEO purposes, some AI tools can help you perform keyword research and generate post ideas based on those keywords. But it’s important to use a tool that’s relying on good data. You shouldn’t just ask ChatGPT for keywords and expect it to give you recommendations based on accurate numbers.
Use AI to Optimize Your Content
AI isn’t just for the initial phases of the writing process. It can also help you with the final stages.
There are several AI tools that can help you with editing your copy for grammar, readability, and SEO. These tools aren’t the “end-all-be-all”, but in many cases, they’re very helpful in identifying ways to make your writing better.
Tools like Grammarly or Hemingway can help you find ways to make your writing stronger and more readable. They’re great tools to help ensure your writing is in plain, understandable language.
That also goes for search engine optimization. Artificial intelligence can score how well your content is optimized, and there are lots of great AI SEO tools already out there. For example, programs like Yoast SEO, Surfer SEO, and Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant incorporate AI to help optimize content for search engines.
Artificial Intelligence: A Valuable Content Creation Tool
AI can do a lot of amazing things. But while it may change the way content creators work, it’s still not a replacement for them. Think of it as a friend, or a helpful personal assistant.
Hmmm. Now, how should we end the conversation on how AI can help the content process? Let’s turn it back over to ChatGPT:
While AI may never fully replace human creativity and ingenuity, it can certainly be a valuable asset in the content creation process.
Work With an Innovative Marketing Agency
If you want to learn more about how your business can take advantage of the changing landscape of AI for its content marketing and search engine optimization, our helpful team of experts at Webspec would be excited to work with you. So far, we’re all still humans! Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can help.