AI Content Generation (The Pros & Cons)
Artificial intelligence is changing the world as we know it, and content generation is no exception. With AI-generated content, businesses can save time and money when delivering content to their audiences.
However, there are also some drawbacks to using AI for content generation. In this blog post, we will explore the pros and cons of AI-generated content so that you can decide for yourself whether or not it is right for your work or business.
What is AI Content Generation?
AI content generation refers to the use of AI writing tools to produce web content automatically. These tools use special algorithms to generate content based on data from the Web. They enable writers and businesses to quickly and easily create new content for their websites or social media accounts.
How Do You Use AI for Content Generation?
AI content generation tools vary in complexity and capabilities, but the typical process involves the following steps:
- You instruct or describe to the AI tool what you need to write
- The AI tool collects information related to the topic you want to write about
- It generates text or other forms of content based on the training of the AI model in use
- You review and edit the generated content
AI tools can learn the best way to create the content you desire from how you command them. So, your input should be precise for you to get good results.
The Pros of AI Content Generation
Cost-effective
Producing content manually can be time-consuming and expensive for businesses. But with AI content generation, businesses can save money.
AI writing tools are generally cost-effective and they don’t require businesses to hire additional staff. Neither do they have to outsource content production to freelancers or part-timers.
Let’s compare the costs of human vs AI writing. On average, a freelance writer would make a business spend around $15 to $40 every hour for content.
If you use a tool like Jasper, the price starts at $49 monthly for Creator, a suitable plan for bloggers and marketers. In other words, you could spend in a month on AI an amount you’d have spent for one piece of content from a well-qualified freelancer.
Time-efficient
AI writing tools can quickly generate large amounts of content, allowing businesses to produce more content in a shorter amount of time. This means that businesses can publish new content more frequently and keep their audiences engaged.
In fact, most well-designed AI tools can produce paragraphs of content in just seconds. You could have your draft 10x faster.
Accuracy in grammar and spelling
AI content generation can help businesses ensure that their content is accurate and free of grammatical errors. The reason is that many AI writing tools are able to detect any spelling or grammar mistakes in a piece of text before you publish.
This eliminates the need for doing significant manual editing and proofreading. It saves you time and effort.
It fixes writer’s block
Writer’s block is a very real issue that many content creators face. AI writing tools can be used to help overcome writer’s block by generating new ideas and suggesting different approaches to creating content.
You can use AI writers to get blog topic ideas, their outlines, or even the actual text. All you do is simply guide the tool on what content you need.
The Cons of AI Content Generation
Lack of creativity
Although AI writing tools can generate content quickly and accurately, they lack the human touch that makes content engaging. AI-generated content may be factual and informative.
However, it’s often formulaic and lacking in creativity. This can make it difficult for businesses to stand out from the competition with their content.
Lack of personalization
AI content generation is not tailored to a specific audience, and the content it produces may not be relevant or appealing to readers. It can also be difficult for businesses to customize their content when using AI writing tools, as most of these tools are designed to generate generic content that can be used across multiple platforms.
Algorithms may produce inaccurate data
AI writing tools rely on algorithms to produce content. Although most quality AI text generators have little to no grammar and spelling issues, the algorithms may be inaccurate at times in terms of concept.
You may find that an AI tool generated outdated information. This can lead to content that is factually incorrect or contradicts existing data, which can damage a business’s credibility.
Not SEO-focused
Most AI content generation tools are designed to generate content based on information pulled from various sources online. The content isn’t optimized for SEO.
Any blog post of substantial length would require tens of well-researched keywords in it. This is something that AI (if not a proper content optimizer like Surfer SEO) may not be able to achieve.
This means that businesses may have difficulty getting their content to rank higher on search engine results pages. So, it can have a negative impact on their online visibility and web traffic.
When Should You Use AI for Content Generation?
AI content writers can be helpful in many ways. Here are some instances where you can use AI content generation in your business:
- Require several quality pieces of content within a short time
- Want to lower your content creation budget
- Have no idea what to write about on your blog or site
Generally, AI is great for writing marketing copy rather than blog articles. The reason is that blog posts require more human touch as well as strategic keyword insertions and other search engine optimizations to rank well.
So, you can confidently use AI to write ads, social media posts, product descriptions, and other promotional content that can convert. This is without the risk of a negative SEO impact that you’d get if you auto-generated SEO articles and messed up.
Look at this Jasper AI sample writing of a description for a new (imagined) AI writing tool called Focus Writer:
“If you’re like most people, you understand the importance of writing well. After all, good writing skills are essential for success in school and in your career. But if you’re not a natural-born writer, don’t despair! Focus Writer is here to help.
Focus Writer is a new AI writing tool that can help you write better, faster, and with more confidence. Here’s how it works: first, you type in a few basic details about what you’re writing. Then, Focus Writer uses its artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze your text and offer suggestions on how to improve it.
Whether you’re struggling with grammar, spelling, or just need some inspiration, Focus Writer can help. And because it’s powered by AI, it gets smarter the more you use it. So why wait? Try Focus Writer today and see how it can help you take your writing to the next level!”
The copy is pretty good. It sure can turn some of your web visitors into recurring customers for your business.
Still, there are various ways to humanize AI text and remove robotic language. But any quality AI tool will provide well-articulated content that’s almost indistinguishable from human work.
Tips to Use AI for Content Generation
You can still be able to produce valuable long-form and SEO-optimized content for your blog using AI if you follow these tips:
Don’t use low-quality AI content generators
If you’re a regular Internet user, you know that “free or cheap” doesn’t work best. So, you should strive to only use AI writers that are well-established and have decent pricing to them. It wouldn’t hurt to send a few dollars so your business can actually benefit from new technologies.
Research AI software and platforms before you invest in them
You need to test a specific tool so you don’t end up wasting money on mediocre content. Go check reviews and ratings for actual users and bloggers online with expertise on the topic.
The good thing is that most paid tools nowadays offer free versions and trials. Use such opportunities to test a specific platform to know if it can work for you.
Optimize your content
You could make sure the AI content generator you choose follows the principles of SEO. But the best approach is to double-check everything.
So, ensure you place the keywords you’re targeting in the right parts of your content. These include the intro, subheadings, and body. Make sure the keyword density is right too to avoid stuffing, a harmful SEO practice.
Also, several SEO content optimization tools can make your work easier here. They provide automatic suggestions on what you need to add or remove from your article to rank better.
Proofread and edit
Just because most current AI tools rarely have grammar issues doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go through the text. There are other things you need to watch out for, such as:
- Repetitive texts and ideas
- Non-factual information like company data, statistics, and quotes
- Lack of proper headings from levels H1 to H4
- Non-originality
So, it’s crucial to remove any phrases or concepts that appear several times in your document to make it look natural, verify and correct any data included in the content, structure your piece using appropriate headings, and use a plagiarism checker to keep it all original. It would be great to make such changes on the go rather than waiting for AI to jot down the entire document.
This way, your blog content will be valuable to readers. And when Google notices that people like the post, it’s likely to send more of them your way.
Conclusion
AI content generation can help improve and speed up your work process. However, if you want to get the most out of it, you need to use the right AI tool. Also, make sure to optimize your content for SEO purposes while proofreading and editing it.
That’s how you’ll be able to create meaningful blog posts and other content that will attract readers and potential customers. So, don’t be shy to give AI content generation a try!
