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AI is changing how we create content and do marketing. Heck, AI helped me with some of this content along the way. As AI gets better, many wonder will AI replace writers. And certainly, there’s that danger – especially the bad ones or the ones that do not adjust are in dangerous waters here. But let’s look at bit deeper.
- Probably not completely
- What AI is good and what it’s not good at
- The human touch
- AI, the helper
- Bossy humans
Probably not completely
AI probably won’t completely replace writers, but it will change how many work. AI can do a lot, but it can’t write truly unique or personal stories from scratch. It can help make my writing better, but I still need to make sure what I’m writing makes sense and stands out and is correct.
Jim Lecinski, author of “The AI Marketing Canvas,” said on “The Business Storytelling Show” that AI is a tool to help us reach business goals. It’s not a strategy itself.
Jeff Bullas, a well-known content marketing expert, said on “The Business Storytelling Show” that we should consider using AI as a tool, not a replacement for writers. As he puts it, we need to find the middle ground between human creativity and AI assistance.
What AI is good at (and what it’s not)
AI is great at some parts of content creation and marketing. It can:
- Write drafts quickly
- Come up with outlines and ideas
- Find grammar mistakes
- Suggest ways to improve writing
- Analyze data
In marketing, AI can help with predictions. Jim points out that marketing is all about predicting what customers want. AI can make these predictions more accurately and for more people than humans can alone.
Jeff notes that AI can make these predictions more accurately and for a larger audience than humans can alone.
But AI has limits, too. It creates false information, so you have to check its work. AI also struggles with personal stories or content that needs real-life experience. It can’t capture a unique voice or perspective like a human can.
“AI is crap at writing really personal true stories or stories that come from human experience,” Jeff added – a significant weakness in AI’s ability to create authentic, relatable content.
The human touch
Because of AI’s limits, human writers and marketers are still important. We bring unique qualities to the table that AI can’t replicate. We can use our own experiences in our writing, drawing from real-life situations and emotions that AI simply doesn’t have. When we understand our readers, this allows us to create content that really connects with people on a deeper, more personal level.
Sidi Lemine said on “Insightful Inspiration” that it’s important to remember that if you’ve never done research before, you might not know if AI-generated research is good. The same goes for writing – if you don’t know what good writing looks like, you might think AI writing is better than it really is. This shows why we still need human experts in content creation and marketing.
Jeff suggests that marketers should think of themselves as experimenters and predictors, not just decision-makers. This new way of thinking helps marketers use AI while still being creative and strategic.
Read next: The Pros and Cons of Human vs. AI Writing
Using AI as a helper
Instead of replacing writers and marketers, AI is becoming a helpful tool in our work. Here’s how I use AI in my job:
- Getting article ideas from podcast recordings
- Finding gaps in my content compared to high-ranking articles
- Checking if articles are too similar to others
- Coming up with catchy headlines or subject lines
- Making video editing faster and easier
AI is doing some of the grunt work. It helps me move quicker and be more creative.
Humans still need to be in charge
Even though AI can, in theory, create content and make marketing decisions quickly, it’s not perfect. We still need human editors and marketers to ensure that the content is good, accurate, and fits goals.
Jeff emphasizes the importance of human oversight in setting up AI experiments, interpreting results, and ensuring that we’re optimizing for the right metrics. For example, in email marketing, we need to decide if we care more about how many people open the email or how many people actually buy something.
Learning new skills
To stay “in charge” learning new skills that relate to the new tech certainly matters, including:
- How to give AI the right instructions (called “prompt engineering”)
- Understanding how AI works
- Knowing how to keep our own unique voice and style, even when using AI
In my daily work, I use tools like Claude AI, Opus Clips, Otter AI, and Grammarly. Each one helps me in a different way. Grammarly, for example, checks my writing across all the different places I work.
Read next: Can AI replace human creativity?
I don’t think AI will completely replace human writers or marketers. Instead, it will change how we work. The key is to use AI to make our human skills even better. In the future, I think we’ll see human creativity and AI working together to create great content and marketing strategies.
Jeff says it’s about “amplifying humanity rather than diminishing it.” He said the future of content creation and marketing will involve a symbiotic relationship between human creativity and AI capabilities.
I hope AI will make content creation easier and help solve problems in companies. But it’s hard to know exactly what will happen in the next year. AI has changed a lot in the past 15 months, and we might see more surprises.
Afterall, content creation and marketing are about connecting with people. While AI can help with many parts of the process, it’s the human touch – our experiences, feelings, and unique views – that really connects with readers and customers. As we explore what AI can do in content creation and marketing, let’s not forget the human element that makes our stories worth telling and our marketing truly effective.