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One of my clients (agencies) is embracing AI, but can it be done? (Discussion)
Posted by on January 13, 2023 at 1:43 pmI’m a stay-at-home dad with a special needs kiddo who does freelance writing to help pay the bills. I’ve worked for a few content mills and now have some good “clients” that keep me busy. One of them is kind of like a content mill, but I’ve come to terms with it.
This niche agency set up a meeting with me to discuss a new program. They’ve asked me to test using AI for article writing. Leadership believes that the industry will move in this direction, so they want to explore it before falling behind. They admitted that the goal would be to use AI to reduce their operating costs (paying writers). It seems they want to bring the writers on to do other things (sales, customer service, etc.) and help with articles AI can’t do.
I have to admit that it’s interesting and a little scary. My colleagues and I could be out of work with this particular company if this works. Obviously, there are some challenges: AI detectors, the lack of personality in AI content, etc.
I’ve been tasked to see if there is a way to get around it, like…how much do we need to change an AI piece so that it passes detection? Is there a way to produce content faster (cheaper) and still hit the quality they want (which isn’t a very high bar for this niche).
I’m not one who thinks AI will replace writers…just like machines didn’t completely replace crafters and handmade goods. AI might replace the lower rung or writers: content mills, etc. For now, I don’t see how AI can replicate good old human creativity, but it’s certainly trying.
Curious to see if anyone else is running into these kinds of discussions with their clients. One of my other clients put out a statement suggesting anyone caught using AI will be terminated…but is it only a matter of time before someone figures out how to mask it?
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1 Reply
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We have discussed this in-house. We are currently testing AI for video content. For any company in an industry that requires expert knowledge (YMYL category), it requires a lot of editing after ai content is generated
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Most are familiar with ChatGPT and base all their opinions on that, but it’s far from ideal. Those who make a killing with AI content have their own fine tuned models that create very good content that’s rather difficult to differentiate from human written content.
Sure, it’s not one input and takes multiple prompts, adjustments, etc., but you can create very good content with these models.
Wouldn’t worry much about detection as the testing tools mark plenty of human content as AI generated while content generated by good models passes easily as human written.
Google is not checking the content for AI generated or not, nor should they care really either. It’s just not worth the resources on their end to do it on a large scale.
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First it is not AI,,,it is programmed
second, I am waiting for the next google update that sinks all those sites who use it, as the algorithm they use will be fairly easy to sniff out as the syntax will all be the same, as it is infact…not AI
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I totally hear you, and yes we have already implemented many productivity tools that include some level of AI. However, keep this in mind:
Every process of marketing, sales, BI has been transformed over the past 20 years, each time “ending” a particular discipline, while also opening up numerous opportunities and or increasing profitability through speed and efficiency.
This is true for virtually every industry.
Video killed the radio star, right?Ai presents the exact same change agent as did photoshop, quickbooks, dreamweaver, wordpress, soundloops, spotify and so on, however with a significant difference – velocity of change. Ai has the possibility to totally shatter traditional models in very short period of time and continue to do this continuously. Change is becoming exponential and no longer incremental.
Focus more on how to become the conductor of an amazing symphony, instead of learning how to play the cello.
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The skill you want to master is called prompt engineering. Content generated by AI will be as good as the skill of the human giving it the instructions.
I believe that people who master this craft (for instance, look at some of these folks who crate masterful art from text prompts in tools like mid journey) will be MORE valuable than most current copywriters because you can provide EXCELLENT content FASTER, not CRAPPY content CHEAPER.
Completely different value proposition that warrants different economic rewards, my friend. The last thing this world needs is more low-value content that’s written primarily for SERP
So, if I were *you* I would focus less on the efficiency argument of the AI equation (which is how many people, including many agencies, approach AI writing tools today) and more on learning to get the results from AI you want. This skill will be scarce, broadly marketable and justify premium rates.
AI is a hammer. Everyone can buy a hammer and most people will never pay a premium for a hammer. What people will pay for, however, is the skill of carpentry.
Become a carpenter, not a hammer salesman.
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You do not need to worry about AI detection. You just need to worry about the quality of the content and if it adequately answers search intent.
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If you’re a good writer, AI will make you faster. Google’s policy is that content written by non-humans is not allowed, so that would include translation software as well as AI. Using AI writers as a tool in the process is useful to people with good writing and editing skills who want to improve their speed, flush out outlines, and come up with new ideas that they might not have thought of alone. The most critical part is the editing, which has to be done by a human. I like to think of AI as a writing partner who doesn’t get offended when I don’t like it’s work. It’s just a tool in my process. I like it. It’s not for everybody.
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