On Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Content Creation . . .

Lately, it seems like everywhere a writer and language facilitator (or teacher) looks, there’s more discussion about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it’s changing the landscape for content creators.

Once termed “luddites” would shudder at the prospect of displacing creative effort with machine made intelligence. But the technological improvement of AI sources like “ChatGPT” are urging tech-aware contractors like me to get onboard.

American marketing guru (and professional speaker), Jennifer Darling, published a blog posting last week on “using AI for Content Creation” whose tips could streamline the process of researching, writing and editing content. These are her most salient points:

  • We can use AI to conduct research for us; find relevant articles, data and statistics faster and easier—Content writers and copywriters need to do research to find industry insights, relevant articles, and data or statistics. Darling leverages AI to reduce the time involved in the search for these resources: “AI powered tools can quickly scan and search through thousands of sources to provide highly relevant results in a fraction of the time that manual research would take.” By accelerating the speed of our research, AI can take care of the mundane and free us to focus on creative aspects of writing (concepts, strategy, sensory language, etc.).
  •  AI can format our content to give us consistent tone and readability—AI can format prose to keep its tone consistent and easy to read. Here, too, the technology saves time and ensures that our writing is accurate and “has the same feel” (formatting) across all pieces of a project (and from project to project)–beginning to end. This keeps our content better organized and improves production speed without sacrificing quality.
  •  We can use AI to brainstorm ideas for content—AI is growing in popularity because it can help us think of innovative ideas. If we use the right prompts on an automated platform, we can develop content that’s “both captivating and relevant.” For those who fear we will lose our creativity, Darling and other proponents suggest that AI can leave “more time to develop more original content . . . and spark [our] own creativity.”

Some of the projects that Darling has leveraged AI for include creating images for presentation and creating social media banners; writing simple blog postings in 15 minutes or less; and designing “flipbooks” in less than five minutes.

Like most content writers, I hear warning bells when I consider how AI could circumvent the human processes of dedicated thought and expression. But I want to stay open to advances in technology: there is no future in a “head-in-the-sand” (or “luddite”) defense against machine-based work. The question becomes how we can control the terms and conditions by which we use AI.

And now it’s your turn: Have you used AI for any of your projects? What advantages and limitations have you found through it? Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you.