It used to be that AIs were only found in dystopian sci-fi stories. Over the past few years, however, they’ve risen in popularity. People wonder at the ability of art AIs to generate pictures with a few words as prompts or content AIs to generate entire blog posts within seconds. In the world of marketing where people are always trying to find ways to make processes more efficient, these content-generating AIs seem like a good tool to do that.
However, you still need humans to write your content. Here’s what you need to know about these content-generating AIs and why you shouldn’t use them to replace real human writers.
AI-Generated Content Goes Against Google Guidelines
When it comes to things that you should and should not do in online marketing, it’s always best to look first to Google before anything else. If Google says that something is alright, you’re good to go. However, if Google guidelines state that something is not permissible, doing said something will result in your site getting penalized.
Such is the case with AI-generated content. Automatically generated content, which is what AI-generated content consists of, is against Webmaster Guidelines. Google says that content automatically generated with AI is considered spam. This can result in a penalty.
While Google systems are still learning how to detect AI-generated content without the help of humans, if it is detected, it is flagged as spam. It’s best to avoid any penalties by steering clear of using content-generating AIs in place of a human to write your content.
Reasons To Resist The Temptation Of Content-Generating AIs
Why hire a content writer when you can just give a content-generating AI a few prompts and have it spit out a page that passes plagiarism checkers? While art AIs steal from artists in order to generate images, so much content out there is basically the same, spun in different ways. What’s the harm?
Aside from the most important fact that content-generating AIs go against Google guidelines, there are a few other reasons why you should stick with humans to write your content for you.
#1. It Reguritates What’s Already Out There
Content-generating AIs can only generate simple pieces of content about things that are widely agreed upon. They cannot add new insights, nor keep up with current events. They can display outdated biases. If you want something more specific, they can start repeating themselves over and over and go completely off-topic.
A human writer, on the other hand, can provide new insights into topics. They can go into detail about things that most people don’t know. If you want your content to be more specific and detailed than what can easily be found on Google, you can share your industry insight and expertise with your content writer.
Content writers can also do in-depth research into publications and consult with industry professionals in order to write on more nuanced topics.
#2. There’s No Uniqueness
Sure, content-generating AIs can automate a blog that will pass a plagiarism check, but that doesn’t mean it’s unique. You may argue that humans can do the same thing, by spinning articles that have already been written and just changing a few things here and there so that they can pass a plagiarism check.
Unfortunately, people who just take what other people have done, make tiny adjustments, and pass it off as their own are always going to be out there. Fortunately, though, this is something that Google is aware of. The Helpful Content Update addresses this issue.
The Helpful Content Update encourages unique content that is actually helpful. When you have a human write your content for you, they can create just that. They can write content that has original insights, narrative structure, evidence to back up points, and new information. This is especially good for when you want content written about something that isn’t very Google-able, such as for niche topics and industries.
Can AI Be Helpful In Content Writing?
AI is constantly changing and improving, especially as more people use and train it. It could be helpful in some aspects of content writing, such as in helping writers with brainstorming topics to write about. However, it’s important to adhere to Google guidelines.
Performance Driven Marketing provides professional content writing services, SEO services, and more. We offer free website consultations to help you pinpoint how you can improve your site so that it works better for you and your business. Contact us today to learn more about our services or to schedule your free consultation.
