Since the release of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has created a massive wave. Today, 23% of digital marketing professionals say they use generative AI to create copy, produce creative graphic designs, and edit significant documents.
However, if you have ever input prompts into a generative large language model, you know that these programs can produce some quite unusual responses. This highlights the reality that AI cannot create content independently—at least not yet.
Instead, artificial intelligence should be used as an auxiliary tool for its intended purposes. This will help you maintain humanization in content creation and ensure you continuously produce trustworthy, reader-friendly marketing materials.
Limitations of AI
AI programs like ChatGPT and Google Bard are undoubtedly powerful. They are changing the way we market and seem to be the future of social media content creation. Generative tools help marketing teams instantly generate professional-level graphics and can input image descriptions in several sections.
However, even in our increasingly automated world, real writers are still crucial. Unlike large language processing models, AI writing tools cannot accept constructive criticism, struggle to change sentence length and style, and often generate inaccurate copies that do not pass your editing guidelines. This means handing the keys to AI can actually increase the time you spend editing, modifying, and researching.
Instead, when developing your next content strategy, you want to use a combination of AI and human writing. By combining human writers with AI tools, you can ensure all content is user-friendly, factually accurate, and engaging enough to capture real readers’ attention.
Editing Capabilities
For decades, content creators have been using technological tools to edit their work. Ralph Gorin invented the first spell checker in 1971, and every modern word processor now includes built-in spelling and grammar checks. In recent years, tools like Grammarly have pushed technology to new heights, now able to catch issues in real-time.
Editing AI software can also help you create more visually appealing content. Adobe is currently supplementing its suite and will release Adobe Sensei in 2024. Programs like Sensei can use generative fills to enhance images, add context-appropriate elements, and make intuitive changes to existing graphics.
However, AI editing cannot compare to human editing. If you want to introduce AI into your overall content strategy, human oversight is crucial, as human editors can make strategic changes to content that AI cannot understand. Instead of replacing editors, enhance their capabilities with advanced tools like Grammarly and ChatGPT’s premium subscriptions.
Similarly, you can encourage authors to use large language models during the writing process. For example, if they struggle to match the audience’s expected tone, consider sending drafts to an AI program designed to identify tone issues. This cannot replace the hard work of developmental editors but can help writers make strategic adjustments to style, grammar, and syntax.
Brainstorming
AI cannot replace true content creators. In its current form, it is too unpredictable and unreliable to produce the content on which marketing departments around the world rely. However, this doesn’t mean you need to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.
Instead, encourage your content creation team to strategically use programs like Grammarly, ChatGPT, and Midjourney. Before granting content creators access to these programs, emphasize the pros and cons, as this will help your team make wise decisions when integrating AI into daily tasks. These programs can help writers and graphic designers find new inspiration and keep up with trending topics quickly.
For example, if you operate a marketing blog for your business but don’t know what omnichannel marketing is, you could start by asking ChatGPT, “What is omnichannel marketing?” This will generate quick and relatively accurate results through some examples. However, this should not be the end of the research process.
Instead, this result should act as a catalyst for further research on the topic. Your writing team should use their new understanding of omnichannel marketing to search online for more authoritative resources to deepen their knowledge. This will help your content creators brainstorm and enhance the final quality of the blog content you publish.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence represents the next step in content creation. However, many overly eager digital marketers have been plagued by low-quality generated content that jeopardizes the quality and authenticity of their brand image. Don’t replace human creativity with automation; instead, use AI as an auxiliary tool to enhance the quality and quantity of content produced by your team.
