Artificial intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to think like humans, mimic their actions and learn from their experiences. AI is continuously evolving and is seen in a variety of applications and industries. From chatbots to smart speakers like Alexa or Siri, AI can process language, operate vehicles, manage healthcare, automate investing, adjust home comfort settings and recommend music and videos.
Some worry that AI will edge humans out of their jobs and creatives are no exception. New technology has resulted in a variety of AI tools that generate content for chatbots, blogs, social media posts, articles, product descriptions and more. Should writers and marketers be worried that content creation will be taken over by machines?
History of AI-Generated Content
Natural-language generation (NLG) has been around since the 1960s but wasn’t available commercially until the 1990s. Some examples of early NLG include mail-merge templates that generated form letters or systems that understood human grammar. More commercial applications involve converting data to text. Examples of this include programs that convert weather data into forecasts for journalists or systems that convert stats from a sports game into a written play-by-play overview. AI can also generate captions for images by analyzing visual content and generating a textual description.
Early NLG wasn’t great. It didn’t read well and was easily identified as computer-generated. Systems required a strict set of rules and parameters to produce content. As computers learned to read better, they learned to write better. This means that AI now can produce more natural language tasks that mimic human creators.
How It Works
Every content-generation platform is slightly different, but the basic operation starts by identifying the type of content you seek. This could be a blog post, ad copy or call to action. Then, marketers and other creatives identify the topic and, in some instances, additional parameters such as keywords. After receiving its instructions, the system generates content by searching similar content from around the web and turning it into something new and (fingers crossed) free of plagiarism.
What AI Content Looks Like
We tasked four content generators with creating an introductory paragraph for a blog on content marketing for manufacturers. Here is what we got:
Manufacturers have a unique opportunity to create valuable content for their customers. Content marketing can help manufacturers build trust with customers, differentiate their products, and drive leads and sales. There are many different types of content that manufacturers can create, including blog posts, infographics, e-books, case studies, and videos.
Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach out to customers and to generate leads. It can also be used to generate more revenue and create a better customer experience. Manufacturers should take advantage of this channel by creating content that is relevant, valuable, and engaging. They can use content marketing as a way to educate their customers about the benefits of their products or services, as well as how they work.
Discover how you can leverage the latest content marketing research on manufacturing to develop a marketing strategy that fits your industry and your business model. Understanding content marketing for manufacturers as opposed to other industries can help you build successful strategies for your company. Using industry research into your manufacturing content marketing strategy can positioning you as a valuable partner. When done correctly, a smart manufacturing content marketing strategy can bring tremendous benefits to your company, especially driving qualified traffic to and conversions from your site, to help maximise [sic] ROI.
Manufacturing is a complicated business. There is so much to consider as an individual or company navigates the nuances of the industry. As if that wasn’t enough, there are also constantly new technologies emerging with equally new challenges to consider. The manufacturing industry has always been one that requires constant innovation and adaptation. In this digital age, it’s even more important for manufacturers to stay ahead of the curve in order to remain competitive and relevant. So how can manufacturers best do this? The answer lies in content marketing.
Pros and Cons
Automated copy generation has a time and a place. Before using it, consider these pros and cons.
Pros:
- Saves time by analyzing data and crawling the internet faster than humans
- Frees marketers up for more demanding tasks
- May be good for producing large quantities of short-form content such as product descriptions or headlines
- Develops unique social-media content specific to each platform’s requirements and style
- Alleviates writer’s block by brainstorming ideas or generating copy as a starting point.
Cons:
- Doesn’t write anything truly original and plagiarism is a concern
- Unoriginal content can threaten search engine rankings
- Can’t replicate human emotion
- Ideas are typically one-dimensional and lack depth
- Requires proofreading to correct inaccuracies or awkward phrasing
See AI as a Tool, Not a Threat
If you’ve ever used autocomplete in Word, a Google doc or a text, you’ve used AI for content creation. AI content tools can be helpful for performing short, repetitive tasks. If you are looking to generate ideas for a new blog or are having trouble writing a compelling headline, AI copy generators can be an excellent resource. At the end of the day, nothing replaces the skill and emotional intelligence of an expert (human) copywriter.
If the Google algorithms have taught marketers anything, it’s that when companies produce quality content that prioritizes end users, they will be rewarded. Human-generated content has the unique capability to raise an argument, give an opinion, demonstrate expertise and elicit emotion in a way no machine can. While AI content tools can offer support to busy marketers, they will never replace the human element that is fundamental to meaningful communication and connection.
