Tomorrow, nearly every article like this could be written by robots.
In fact, how do you know this was crafted by the yours truly, flesh and blood May Tran? As AI gains rapid momentum, the distinction between the two producers – human and machine – will grow ever blurrier. The question is, what role can AI feasibly play in your content creation today?
For one, content creation is time consuming. I say that with hand-on-heart empathy, as I pen this in the 26th hour of the day. It’s tough too, not just laborious. You need to come up with the topic, the outline, research the topic, write, re-write and then edit. Oh the joys of editing!
It can take hours, even weeks. Yet good content is a powerful tool for brands that want to establish a strong voice and create a genuine connection with their customers.
Content creation is the ultimate start-up paradox. There is no time, but there is also the obvious needstate for something utterly time consuming.
Enter AI.
I enjoy literature as much as the next person. The thought of replacing our greatest novelists and subject matter experts with machines initially seemed as absurd to me as swapping a delicious dinner for eatable bugs.
But then I came across Articoolo and AI Writer.
Articoolo and AI Writer are artificial intelligence content writers. After ‘briefing’ them with a subject they will ‘read’ related online articles, and use their new-found knowledge to write a unique article for you. All in just a few minutes.
Yep. By the time you’ve overcome the intimidation of the blank white screen, they’ve sent you a fully-fledged piece of content.
It gets better. These tools are very affordable. Articoolo will cost you $US1 per article, whereas AI Writer will set you back $US15 a month for 15–30 pieces of content.
Above: Getting started is very easy with Articoolo
Here’s an example of what Articoolo had to say about ‘Taking care of your clothes so they last longer’.
“How you look after your clothes will go quite a distance to determine how long it'll last.
BUY QUALITY – The initial step to having garments which will last long is to purchase quality. Not really that you should buy expensive garments or brand names, just go for quality clothing.
WASH LESS FREQUENTLY – Try to wash your garments less frequently as possible, not really that you should wear dirty garments, but the more you wash your garments, the more it loses its quality.”
The article is much longer, but you get the idea.
I don’t know about you, but I find editing a lot easier than writing something from scratch. At the very least, AI-written articles are a good starting point to get you thinking about what to include in your article. If you like it enough, you can even use the artificially written article as your own, with just a few edits.
I use both Articoolo and AI Writer when I write, mainly to get over the first hurdle of putting thoughts down on paper, and to see what’s already out there on the topic. Articoolo seems to be better at some topics, and AI Writer the others.
How should I use AI Content Writers?
As with anything new in life, I suggest with patience and reasonable expectations. AI writers are still relatively new. Don’t get me wrong, they’re useful, but they still have their flaws. If you ask Articoolo or AI Writer to write something, and they come up with gibberish, give them a second chance. These tools create content based on what they have ‘read’ on the internet – and so, the quality of the article depends on the quality of the inputs. If there isn’t an awful lot of information online about a topic or if the content is of poor quality, well, you get the picture. Take a breather, and give it a go on another topic.
But that’s today. It won’t be too long before you can rely on AI-generated content to help you with most of your writing. If you recall, only a few years ago, before Google Translate adopted its Neural Machine Learning Translation method, its translation was sketchy. A phrase like ‘A cat fish eats’ was not an uncommon output. But now, Google Translate does a better job than many human translators.
And for all the writers out there, fear not. AI won’t be replacing professional human writers anytime soon. The best performing pieces of content offer strong opinions, distinct personality and clever wit. Content should be as unique as the individuals who write it.
And don’t forget, AI writers generate their content based on existing content. To that end, we will forever need the fresh input of human-generated observation as the world continues spinning.
Article proudly written by marketing specialist and human, May Tran, with the assistance of ai-writer.com.