How often is AI wrong?

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In content creation? All the time. That’s true for creating content from scratch and using AI to analyze and summarize existing texts. And when it comes to how often is AI wrong I’m not just talking about typos or grammar slip-ups, it happens. We’re talking full-on, “Wait, what?” moments of pure fiction. Completely unprompted. See…

And the problem is that if you use AI for any part of the content creation process, you – the human need to catch the errors. After all, AI is like that overconfident friend who always has an answer, even when they’re totally clueless. It creates content from scratch or summarizes existing stuff, all while wearing a poker face that’d make Vegas pros jealous.

But here’s the million-dollar question: How often is AI actually wrong?  More often than tech bros would like you to believe. So AI will likely not replace GOOD human writers soon.

And why?

AI-generated content is like a digital smoothie. Throw a bunch of internet data into a blender, hit the “create” button, and out comes a seemingly coherent piece of writing. Sometimes it’s tasty. Other times? Well, let’s just say you might want to spit it out. It all depends on who is making it, I suppose.

There are plenty of AI writing tools that promise to churn out blog posts, articles, and even books faster than you can say “plagiarism checker.”

The result? Content that looks legit at first glance but isn’t.

Read next: What is licensed content and do I want that as a creator?

When AI goes off the rails

A couple of common use cases here.

Writing content from scratch

Going to any AI tool and saying: “Write me an article on xyz” is a disaster waiting to happen. Where does the content even come from? Is it accurate? How do we know? Even with Perplexity, which lists sources, how do we know the sources are accurate?

Heck, I just updated somebody’s Wikipedia page, and yes, it had a supporting link, but, but, but…

In this scenario, the content has to come from somewhere, and at times, AI has to hallucinate to get there. Not a good scenario if you want to publish that content. Plus, it’s not your unique story, and it will be hard – if not impossible – to stand out.

The downside really outweighs the upside.

Writing from source content

Another way to create content is to upload your own source content and then ask AI to wrangle it. How often is AI wrong in this scenario? Still, way more than should be the case, to be honest.

It takes the content, but based on the prompts, it might try to expand on a topic, and that expansion can be quite wrong.

How AI gets it wrong

When an AI model starts spouting gibberish, we call it “hallucinating.” It’s like the AI equivalent of your uncle’s wild stories at Thanksgiving dinner – entertaining – perhaps – but not exactly reliable.

These hallucinations can range from mild embellishments to full-on fabrications. An AI might take a kernel of truth and spin it into an elaborate tale that’d make seasoned fiction writers blush.

The leading question (aka prompt) can be at fault actually.

AI is like a people-pleaser on steroids. Ask a leading question and it might give you the wrong answer, though models are getting better all the time and don’t just agree. See…

This phenomenon, known as “confirmation bias,” isn’t unique to AI. Humans do it too.

How to be truthful

Now, before you swear off AI-generated content forever and go back to chiseling your blog posts on stone tablets (or on a typewriter keyboard – though these are cool!), there are ways to use AI for content creation without falling into the trap of AI-generated nonsense.

1. Human oversight is key

First and foremost, don’t let AI run wild without adult supervision. Have real, human experts review and fact-check AI-generated or wrangled content. Think of AI as an enthusiastic intern – full of energy and ideas, but needing guidance and correction.

2. Cross-reference

If an AI tells you something that sounds too good (or weird) to be true, it probably is. Cross-reference with reliable sources. Also, check accuracy against YOUR source content that was used as the foundation.

3. Give clear, unbiased instructions

Ask better prompts. And follow up. Hardly ever is one prompt the goalline.

4. Use domain-specific AI models

If you’re writing about rocket science, use an AI model trained on aerospace engineering data, not one that learned from celebrity gossip blogs. It won’t eliminate errors, but it’ll reduce the chances of your rocket science article claiming that the moon is made of cheese.

5. Understand AI limitations

There are clear things AI can and cannot do. Know what those are and how they fit into your strategy and goals.

The human touch: Still irreplaceable

Here’s the bottom line: AI is a tool, not a magic wand. It’s not ready to replace human creativity, critical thinking, and fact-checking.

And afterall, audiences relate to stories that are relevant to them. Those stories come from other humans. This is true for B2B and B2C. People connect and relate to people. That’s why marketing content needs to be on that human level, and AI can certainly help with some things in the creation process, but it can’t be set to autopilot because it might fly you to Paris, Iowa, when you were trying to go to Paris, France. 

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