As technology advances at an exponential pace, the capabilities of AI in various fields have grown remarkably, including its ability to generate written content. However, amidst this technological revolution, one question remains pivotal: can AI truly match the ingenuity, creativity, and emotional depth of human writers?
Spoiler – AI wrote the above paragraph. The prompt was: “Write the opening to a newsletter discussing why human writers are better than AI.”
If I were to prompt Chat GPT to tell me why AI is better than human writers, it would quickly spit out an equally articulate answer.
Writers and marketers like myself have struggled to navigate the incredible capabilities of AI while acknowleding the reality of whether our work will remain relevant as AI grows.
We’ve asked the question of how to integrate it into a workflow to stay relevant without replacing the value of the human voice. Chat GPT had a point in asking, ‘Can AI truly match the ingenuity, creativity, and emotional depth of human writers?’
Of course, methinks not. Though I often use Chat GPT to help me brainstorm or get started on a blog, web page, or brochure for a client, it never functions as a replacement for pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.
When I think through what compels me to write, it’s always an opinion, a feeling, a conviction. Artificial intelligence, of course, can only emulate emotions or collectively gather a multitude of other opinions. Not to mention, computers often answer questions the same way for everyone, creating repetitive and thus invaluable content.
In a timely article by PR Daily, discussing Google’s new algorithm to combat the influx of ‘low quality’ content AI is creating, they quote a well-known media CEO, Derek Chew, “Suddenly, everything is just spam because the AI is probably going to write the same thing for you as for the 100th person,” Chew explained. “There’s really no uniqueness at some point when it becomes a mass adoption. Then it becomes very low-quality content.”
Search engine optimization, or SEO, prefers unique, original content. Original content ranks better because it enhances user experience by providing fresh and valuable information. Ironically, large tech companies may be counteracting good SEO practices by adopting AI.
The article goes on to say, “Since the dawn of SEO, Google has been fighting against spam. Though AI may have been thought a genius solution to create high-quality content, the high-quality content is now so repetitive and rote it’s become low quality. Google is now trying to solve a new problem that it helped create–filtering out high-quality spam. Insert the need for human thought and voice.”
I don’t doubt that as AI continues to evolve, its compatibility with search engines will follow. However, I urge marketers like myself to continue practicing and preaching the importance of human voice. In this new era, how can we strike the balance of using AI as a tool and not a crutch? As a marketing agency, TealHaus is continuing to explore using AI to enhance our client work, bringing value to them, without replacing genuine voice, strategy and thought.
