Using AI for Content Creation? Here's What You Need to Know About Its Limitations
Good marketers are scientists - always testing, trying new tools, reviewing and improving. You know who you are! And working with AI is no different; experiment, review, and retry. You don’t know what works until you dive in and give it a go, in real life, on your own accounts!
However, there are things that I think we must consider to make the most of how we test out using AI: to make sure we're using reliable and relevant information.
But before diving into that, let's look at some of the benefits first, because there really are lots of them!
AI has been brilliant for my business so far;
⭐I use it to format my hashtags.
⭐I use it to generate blog title ideas that are SEO rich, and researched wider topics based on my target audience's needs.
⭐I looked at copyrighting formulas to help me structure my own writing.
⭐I especially love this one; I generate a list of industry FAQ.
⭐It's a great starting point to eliminate writer's block, and sits nicely along side my already tried and tested methods of generating ideas!
⭐And I LOVE it for using as an editor. I ask it to look at my clients copy and check for grammatical errors. It makes a great extra pair of eyes on content before it even gets shown to my clients for approval.
(To see a more full list, check out this blog post here: https://www.sheldon.social/articles/unlocking-the-power-of-ai-in-marketing-opportunities-and-benefits)
The benefits of AI are seemingly never-ending, with it assisting in research, taking over search engines, answering complex coding questions and loads more.
But with technology so advanced comes new issues, not to mention the speed at which AI, particularly AI based on the GPT model, is moving...
Some of the cons of using AI and tools like Chat GPT;
The biggest drawback of using AI like this, in my opinion, is that it can only create based on two things:
What has been inputted, which also includes any bias in the source material.
It can only create based on what has existed before. The AI we have access to is not capable (yet) of original thought. It has to pull it’s data from somewhere. (Hnady tip: you can get Chat GPT to provide its sources if you ask it to!)
Which means if you rely on the technology as your writer, you are not going to get any original though. No new viewpoint.
Of course, you can ask it to give you unpopular or unusual opinions on your industry, but it isn’t quite the same as original thought.
I also want to point out, that I don’t want AI to be capable of original thought, I don’t think, with all I know so far, that that is of benefit to humanity. But it does prove to be a drawback when you are relying on the tech as a writing tool.
Another big drawback I see many marketers talking about, is that AI will threaten our jobs. I have a few thoughts on this!
AI doesn't have its own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, or experiences, so it can only talk emotively through content that has already been written. That does not replace good storytelling, brand stories, emotive storytelling, and the power of connection we human marketers can create. I think our roles are safe. Even if we use AI to create copy, we are going to need to be heavily edit, and
AI cannot be a decision-maker. It produces its output based on our input, but it can't do anything with that. It can't choose the best option for your client. The decisions have to be made by people since AI is limited by its programming and training. It also can't manage accounts, upload blogs, or do many other tasks marketers do for clients. it took me about 4 minutes to try to reason with my Chat GPT to name itself! Decision-making is safe in human hands!
(She called herself Ava in the end)
And lastly, ChatGPT can't be relied upon entirely for real-world tasks due to its propensity to generate convincing-looking nonsense.
➡️So, always fact-check and cross-reference!⬅️
Of course, the better your prompt architecture, the better the outcome, but still, worth a good check!
But one thing is certain: AI is not going anywhere, and we must embrace it to keep up. The future of AI in content creation is an exciting area of development; it is not a technology to replace us, but it is changing how we tackle our marketing tasks. Not forgetting that it is not new tech, its been around a number of years, but it is now in the mass consciousness, and a bit of a buzz word in the business world.
My recommendations to help you make the most of how you use AI.
⭐Use fact-checking resources:
You must keep in mind that ChatGPT is a language model and does not have a built-in fact-checking mechanism. Therefore, it's imperative to use external resources to verify its accuracy.
You can ask Chat GPT to fact check itself, and provide sources, and you can also use resources such as Snopes, PolitiFact, and FactCheck.org to verify any claims or information provided by ChatGPT.
⭐Be specific in your questions:
AI models work best when you provide specific questions or prompts. The more specific your question is, the better the AI tool will be able to provide you with relevant information. If you ask a vague or general question, you might end up with irrelevant or inaccurate information. Be warned!
⭐Review information for errors:
AI tools make errors! Therefore, it's essential to review all information provided for inaccuracies. Only today did I get Chat GPT to look over copy for an upcoming clients webinar, and Chat was adamant that Tuesday the 16th may was actually a Monday!!
⭐Use AI as your starting point:
These tools can provide you with a lot of information, but using it as a starting point rather than a definitive source is important. I’ve seen a number of posts on social media where you can tell it has been written by AI as the person hasn’t checked what they actually copy and pasted.
Overall, AI has become an almost essential tool for modern businesses, providing new insights, streamlining operations, and improving efficiency. However, while AI offers significant benefits, it's essential to recognize its limitations and use it as a complement to human expertise only.
By being mindful of AI's potential biases, reviewing results, and incorporating human judgement, businesses can tap into the power of AI to drive growth and innovation, and just work more efficiently. And as AI continues to evolve and become more sophisticated, it will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of businesses worldwide. The marketing world in-particular, will need to stay on its toes to keep up! But it is never as a replacement for a human role, or job. We definitely need to be fully involved in the process, despite the many new AI powered tools popping up what feels like daily!
I have a lot more to say on AI and tools like Chat GPT. To read more, you can head over to my blog here: