How can we use AI copy to our advantage?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) copy is an eternal hot topic on LinkedIn and beyond, and never more so than now with the launch of ChatGPT.
It’s not just here, it’s evolving quickly, getting smarter with each upgrade. It would be unwise for copywriters and content writers not to consider the threats it might pose to their line of work.
But it’s never all doom and gloom. I strongly suspected that there were a wealth of opportunities in AI copy for writers to uncover and use to their advantage. So, I canvassed opinions from a range of talented wordsmiths in my network that I really respect, spanning editors, agency founders, translators, product description specialists, generalists, and SEO, fintech and SaaS writers. I gave them each exactly the same three questions, with no word count specified.
Everyone who took on my ridiculous deadline just a week before Christmas has secured their place on Santa’s nice list. I’m eternally grateful and yet not at all surprised by their generosity.
So, is AI copy a writer’s best friend or sworn enemy? Here goes… (they’re in alphabetical order by surname, or company name if that hasn’t worked – no favouritism here).
The translator
Nicole Fenwick – Coley Translates
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
If I had a pound for every time, someone said to me, “Aren’t you worried that you’re going to lose your job when machines and AI take over?” I would be a very rich woman. The answer is no, I’m not worried, and that’s saying a lot coming from a serial worrier. AI has its place, don’t get me wrong, and it can be a useful tool for a translator, depending on their field, but it’s just that…a tool or an aid. It can’t do the job for us…well, not yet at least.
A friend of mine on the payroll of one of the big tech giants once raised the issue with me and seemed to think that AI could make their lives easier and that we would cease to be useful.
AI has its place, but it also has a lot to learn. I’m a legal translator, and while AI can be useful to an extent, I think you’ll be lucky to find a law firm that is willing to entrust the translation of the paperwork for a multi-million pound deal to AI when they have a legal translator or lawyer-linguist like me at their fingertips. The only advantage of AI is that perhaps you would be able to extort more cash out of them if it comes out with some gobbledegook that makes no linguistic or legal sense because a massive AI entity is more likely to have more money in the bank than a lowly translator.
However, we lowly translators also have professional ethics and a conscience, which means we’ll work much harder to get you the results you deserve. A machine won’t lose sleep over it. I’m not a gambling woman, but my money is still on a trained legal mind with a deep understanding of the languages involved. And don’t even get me started on the confidentiality concerns related to pumping a machine full of highly confidential data.
What opportunities does AI copy present for copywriters and content producers?
I wasn’t born yesterday, and I realise I’m not superhuman. I’m more than happy to use AI as an aid if it makes my job easier and more efficient. Who wouldn’t want to achieve these things? If it can be used as a force for good, it means I can produce better work more quickly, making our lives easier. Some people will argue you can teach a machine more than a human because its capabilities are potentially endless.
In contrast, translators need rest, food and more time. However, there are always limits to the real experience of a machine. With its serious lack of feeling, it simply does not know how the copy will make an audience really feel. Oops, here’s me talking about the disadvantages rather than the opportunities. I rest my case!
AI Copy – friend or foe?
I’m going back to my roots here, and as a typical lawyer, I’ll say it depends. No, but really it does. AI can be a friend if it’s used as a force for good and helps to enhance the work of highly specialised and highly trained translators like me who have spent years studying the languages and cultures which enrich our lives. It’s also our worst enemy when it comes up with ridiculous marketing slogans that huge corporations use to market their products, only to be met by complete confusion because they haven’t read the room. Epic fail. A lack of cultural knowledge, perhaps? We mere mortals have so much cultural knowledge that really is priceless.
The agency founder
Rin Hamburgh – Founder and Director at Rin Hamburgh & Co
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
My concern is that AI copy undervalues the majority of what actually goes into creating genuinely effective copy. Because it isn’t just about being able to write articulate, grammatically correct sentences. That’s just a baseline.
To be effective, copy needs to go beyond ‘good writing’ and demonstrate expertise, change opinion, drive action. AI can’t necessarily do that, it’s just repurposing what’s already out there.
But a novice might not be able to see the difference on a surface level, so my fear is that there will be a period of time when brands will try cheap AI products over investing in copywriters – that said, I think they’ll soon be back when they realise it’s not as effective as they hoped.
What opportunities does AI copy present for copywriters and content producers?
AI presents huge opportunities for copywriters. Even I enjoy the way that Google Docs will sometimes suggest the next few words of a sentence and I’ll think, “Yes, that’s a good choice of word.”
AI can prompt ideas and gives shortcuts. It can also be really effective when it comes to things like SEO benchmarking.
For me the ideal version of the future is one where copywriters and machines work together to create something better – or at least faster – than either could create on their own.
AI Copy – friend or foe?
I think that in the hands of a copywriter, AI copywriting tools have huge amounts of potential for good. I just hope that novice writers will be cautious about the promises that are currently being bandied around.
It is possible to write a blog post in minutes using one of these tools but it’s not possible to write a blog post that is unique and demonstrates expertise and builds a strong brand reputation.
The technical copywriter
Bill Hinchen, Scientist & Copywriter, Bill Hinchen Copy
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
My biggest concern about AI copy is that it will never not be a source of LinkedIn posts!
But seriously, my main concern about AI copy is that companies and organisations turn to it after giving in to the “You need a new blog at least every week!” trope. We’ve all been on the other end of some C-suite exec explaining how we need more regular content, more blogs, more posts, more stuff going out. And despite our best efforts to explain that it’s quality over quantity, there’s always someone who just wants to push out as much content as possible. Right now, that’s limited to how hard they can work their poor junior writers. But with the advent of AI copy, they’d have the power to churn out a huge amount of impersonal, insipid and potentially irrelevant content (and nobody wants that!). Good content comes from personal experiences. AI can absolutely generate logical content that ticks a lot of boxes, but it’s forever soulless.
ChatGPT says:
“One of the biggest concerns about AI copy is the potential for it to be used to produce misleading or false information. Because AI-generated text can be difficult to distinguish from human-written content, it is possible for malicious individuals or organizations to use AI to create fake news or propaganda. This could have serious consequences, such as undermining public trust in information and media sources. Another concern is the potential for AI-generated content to replace human jobs, such as in the field of journalism. This could lead to a loss of livelihoods for many people.”
What opportunities does AI copy present for copywriters and content producers?
AI can be a good starting point. When you’re stuck for ideas and can’t even get the ball rolling, AI can quickly spit out some lines of copy for you to riff off. Need five ideas for blogs about why otters are better than hippos? AI can give you those in seconds. But it’s up to us, as writers, to go away, do the research, and add that human element. AI can be a great creative nudge, but we still need to do the heavy lifting.
ChatGPT says:
“AI copywriting technology presents a number of opportunities for copywriters and content producers. One potential benefit is the ability to generate a large amount of content quickly and efficiently. This could be useful for time-sensitive projects or for meeting tight deadlines. Additionally, AI copywriting technology could be used as a tool to help writers generate ideas or to quickly draft initial versions of a piece of content. This could free up time for writers to focus on other aspects of their work, such as researching, editing, and revising. Finally, the use of AI in copywriting could also help to improve the accuracy and consistency of written content, which could be beneficial for businesses and organizations that need to maintain a high level of quality in their written materials.”
ChatGPT also says:
1. “5 reasons why otters make the best pets (and why hippos don’t)”
2. “Why otters are the superior aquatic mammal: a scientific analysis”
3. “The top 10 reasons why otters are better than hippos (according to otter enthusiasts)”
4. “Otters vs. hippos: which one comes out on top in a battle of brains?”
5. “Why otters have stolen our hearts (and why hippos just can’t compete)”
AI Copy – friend or foe?
AI copy’s that boring but nice friend who’s happy to help but never brings any good banter to the pub.
ChatGPT says:
“It is not appropriate to classify AI copy as either a friend or a foe. AI is a tool, and like any tool, it can be used for good or bad purposes depending on how it is employed. Some potential uses of AI copywriting technology could be beneficial, such as helping writers to generate ideas or produce high-quality content quickly and efficiently. However, there are also potential risks associated with the use of AI in copywriting, such as the potential for it to be used to produce misleading or false information. Ultimately, the effectiveness and potential risks of AI copywriting technology will depend on how it is used and who is using it.”
The SEO copywriter
Kate Ingham-Smith – Keep it Simple Copywriting
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
From a copywriter’s perspective, I’m not overly concerned about AI copywriting. It’s not going to take the place of human copywriters anytime soon.
However, will clients become overly reliant on it for their content? Why pay an SEO copywriter to do your work when you can press a button and automatically get copy for low-cost or no-cost?
Given that Google has taken steps to detect and demote plagiarised and spammy web pages, businesses may find their SEO takes a hit when they become overly dependent on this type of content.
Currently, we have a two-tier system. Content that’s written by content mills and poorly-skilled writers, and content that’s written by high-quality copywriters. I think this will shift to content written by AI, and content written by humans.
What opportunities does AI copy present for copywriters and content producers?
In my experience with AI-generated content, it’s not good for long-form or well-optimised SEO content. When I’ve trialled it, I’ve had to go back and make extensive revisions to ensure that content will rank in the search engines.
Will it become better in the future? Probably, but it’s going to take time.
The benefit of AI copywriting tools as they currently stand? These tools can do the tasks that copywriters don’t want to do or don’t have the time to do, meaning they can focus on creating better content.
For example, AI can create a content structure, suggest headlines, or provide inspiration for a good blog introduction. I often struggle with writing a solid intro, so anything that can help get rid of writer’s block is definitely a good thing!
AI Copy – friend or foe?
AI-generated content is here to stay whether we want it or not, so we might as well use it to our advantage. Rather than treating it as a friend or foe, treat it as an acquaintance you occasionally say hello to!
We will still need human writers to edit and refine content, not only so it has empathy and nuance, but so it focuses on the right keywords.
The product description specialists
Silvie Lowe & Celia Anderson – Directors, Siblinc
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
Although the concept of AI will be an appealing one for brands looking for content, we believe they’ll need to think very carefully from a customer perspective. Much like most savvy consumers can immediately tell if a piece of copy has been translated by Google Translate and not by a professional translator, it will be obvious when a brand has cut corners by using AI rather than using a professional content writer.
As a specialist product description agency, we work with high-end, luxury brands that attract a particular demographic of customer. The customer seeks quality and the tone of voice in a product description needs to be written in a respectful, informative way. If AI is used to generate product descriptions for ecommerce brands, it’s likely that tone of voice and brand personality will be lost in translation. AI cannot replicate the human touch.
What opportunities does AI copy present for copywriters and content producers?
If a brand is looking to generate blog posts or content that’s purely designed to boost its Google rankings then it might get away with using AI. However, for any content that’s designed to enhance a consumer’s experience or to reinforce a brand’s expertise, we believe brands will quickly learn that AI cannot replace a professional human and that they will need to be selective when choosing to go down the AI route.
From our own research, a single spelling or grammatical error in a product description can put off the majority of online shoppers, especially when they can easily buy a similar product from a competitor at the click of a button. Our research also demonstrated that consumers are looking for very specific product information when shopping online. If this information isn’t provided or presented in the right tone of voice and in the right way, they are unlikely to make a purchase. With this in mind, it’s likely that there will still be plenty of work out there for professional copywriters working on any content that’s designed to attract and retain customer loyalty.
AI Copy – friend or foe?
Depending on the purpose of the content, AI can certainly offer a cost-effective way of generating copy. However, for the purposes of product descriptions, we believe AI will not be able to match the skills and expertise needed to generate informative, compelling and persuasive product descriptions.
A product description is designed to replace the tangible, physical shopping experience that’s lost when shopping online and it’s easy for a customer to be put off by missing or incorrect information. When the stakes are this high and a customer can easily shop elsewhere, we believe AI is not a wise replacement for a product description written by a human.
The freelance copywriter
Graeme Piper – DropCapCopy
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
As AI copy continues to gain traction and popularity, the main concern as a copywriter is that many businesses won’t use our services anymore. They’ll need them, but they probably won’t use them.
Tell someone they could spend a few hundred pounds and get a lifetime of blogs, web pages, or product descriptions written for them just by entering a few keywords and topics and they’ll be, I suspect, very much up for it.
The issue is that, from a professional point of view, the copy could sound robotic, lacking any natural wit, wisdom, or flair, let alone incorporating brand tone of voice or knowing the audience it’s writing for.
Those little nuances that can make people instantly connect with what they’re reading – the subtle pun, the cheeky double-entendre, or that well-crafted, heartstring-tugging strapline – will be lost. And as for any kind of SEO…
But I fear that people using AI copy will think the content it produces will be good enough for their needs. Content for content’s sake. It will likely be low grade, but they’ll think it will do the trick.
AI copy throws up plenty of other issues too: a lack of facts, stats, sources, expert quotes, good grammar and spelling – all things that will get overlooked.
As a copywriter, I know AI can never truly replace the human-written word. What software could ever replicate the lengths copywriters will go to to produce good content?
What opportunities does AI copy present for copywriters and content producers?
There could be times when AI copy generators might be of use to help copywriters and content writers, mainly as an idea producer. If you’re stuck on where to start or what to say, firing up an AI copy generator could give you a flash of inspiration in different ways. But it will still be down to human copy and content writers to join the dots, pull things together, and enhance, improve, and even change things to create the compelling and engaging copy required.
AI Copy – friend or foe?
Right now, it’s difficult to say. Many businesses will say ‘friend’ because AI copy will save them time, money, and effort. While many copywriters will say ‘foe’ because the generated copy will be sub-par at best and put them out of a job at worst.
But as with most things, there’s a potential balance to be struck with AI copy without having a reliance on it.
And there’s no doubt you’ll need a pro copywriter to add finesse and polish whether it’s come from an AI copy hole or the business itself.
Friend or foe? Shall we say a cautious and wary ‘acquaintance’?
The copyeditor and proofreader
Jessica Runyard – Runyard Editorial Services
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
I personally worry that it could become a bit of a fad, with the risk of initially pulling work away from copywriters etc. However, one of my biggest concerns within this potential fad is that it may massively reduce the human emotive element within copy and content. This will impact a wider range of people as it will be harder for a wide audience to connect with copy and content that lacks the human element; with copy lacking things such as empathy becoming a potential issue.
What opportunities does AI present for copywriters and content producers?
As a copyeditor, we’re ahead of the game here. AI tools like Grammarly have already ramped up the quality of improving readability etc., and yet we’re all still in work! Computers can only get you so far, and the editorial eye is arguably more important than ever for spotting issues that not even an algorithm can find.
Although I have concerns around AI copy, I believe it offers great potential in potentially speeding up process. If, for example, AI copy is what is initially generated and then the copywriter or content producer can build upon this, amending where necessary, adding in a more human element, and ensuring that the copy isn’t just fit to the initial brief but also for the intended audience. Although this may be hard to achieve and work with at first, a process such as this could allow for quicker turnaround times and thus a potential for higher earning opportunities, as well as the potential for copywriters and content producers to be able to take on more retainer and longstanding working projects.
AI copy — friend or foe?
Currently, I feel this is a trick question; I believe it has the potential to go either way, as explained in my previous answers. For the most part, I believe that whether AI copy becomes friend or foe will depend upon how we work with it. I personally believe that if we ignore it completely and work against it, so to speak, then it has the potential to become foe. However, should we learn to work with it and capitalise on the potential that it could give us in upscaling working processes then in time, although it will take work and adjustments, it can become a friend.
The SaaS copywriter
Barry Sheelan – Copywriter & Content Writer, BarryS Content
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
One of the biggest concerns I have about AI-generated copy actually relates to the factual reliability of the copy and the potential risks this holds for the future.
Sure, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is impressive. After all, it only needs one simple starting point or prompt in order to instantly create lengthy human-sounding copy that’s both coherent and relevant to your original query or prompt – this gives it huge potential for a whole range of language-based applications.
What it can’t do though, is actually fact check or verify the accuracy of the copy that it generates. As the technology develops and grows in popularity, this could become a pretty big problem in a world that’s already plagued with misinformation.
At the end of the day, artificial intelligence is only as good as the parameters, or information, that us humans provide. In short, it’s us humans that write the code, provide the base data, and train the models that make up any AI system.
In the wrong hands though, who knows where potentially malicious AI-generated copy could lead us.
What opportunities does AI copy present for copywriters and content producers?
I believe that AI-generated copy holds huge potential for all kinds of writers and content producers to “up their game”.
I’m optimistic that if it’s used correctly, AI will become an invaluable tool that’ll help writers save time and focus on creating higher-quality copy. For example, AI copy could help you to put together some ‘bare-bones’ copy, which a good copywriter could then use as a starting point to create a truly great original piece.
As someone who often suffers from procrastination and writer’s block, it could be a game changer!
I also think AI copy will also raise the bar on copy in general, hopefully finally doing away poorly written SEO-driven content – the kind that’s written for the search engines and not for people.
AI Copy – friend or foe?
Friend.
I don’t believe that good copywriters should necessarily be afraid of AI copy; it shouldn’t be seen as the ‘competition’ coming to take your job. As a copywriter, I simply see it as another useful tool that I‘ll be able to utilise in order to get the job done.
The fintech copywriter
André Spiteri – award-winning fintech copywriter, Maverick Words
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
I have two concerns.
My biggest one is the further devaluation of copywriting as a profession.
In some ways, this has always been an issue — everybody writes (or thinks they can write). And with the proliferation of sites like Upwork the barriers to entry have never been lower.
But AI takes things to a whole new level.
We can talk about how it’s a tool that requires human input until we’re all blue in the face. But, whether we like it or not, the reality is that some people will — already are, in fact — using it in place of human copywriters to write copy on the cheap.
Of course, much of that copy will be bland and probably won’t do the job it’s meant to do — convert readers into customers. But it’s going to become even more challenging to persuade people who already have a hard time appreciating the value of good copy that they should shell out good money to hire a professional.
There’s also a risk, I think, of copywriters themselves getting complacent as they begin to rely more on AI as a tool. Creativity is a muscle. If you’re using a robot to do your thinking for you instead of doing your thinking for yourself, that muscle is going to atrophy.
The second concern I have is that AI may contribute to more misinformation on the internet.
From what I’ve seen so far, AI isn’t especially good at backing up what it says with sources. In fact, as I understand it, it only draws on the data its trainers have fed it.
I think there’s very clear jeopardy here. Anyone can feed an AI model whatever data they want. If we start cutting and pasting what AI says wholesale into blog posts, ebooks, and other marketing assets without checking where the info’s coming from and whether it’s reputable, we’re going to run into some very serious problems down the line.
What opportunities does AI copy present for copywriters and content producers?
The biggest opportunity is that it’s going to get easier to stand out.
A lot of copy, especially in B2B, is already quite samey and — let’s face it — bland. With AI, there will likely be even more sameness. So human copywriters who can write in a distinctive style are going to become even hotter properties than they are today.
The second opportunity, I think, will come from AI being used by inexperienced or untrained people.
A few years back, one of my clients at the time hired a new content manager who had the brilliant idea of putting every single blog post through a certain grammar-checking tool that shall remain unnamed, and accepting all its suggestions wholesale. The results were comically bad, and I eventually got called in to clean up the mess.
With AI, I think this is likely to become a much more common scenario. Someone knocks up some copy with AI, publishes it, and it either doesn’t bring in any business or it backfires spectacularly. Cue an email to a pro.
We see this all the time with DIY. More people than ever are DIYing jobs around their homes but it doesn’t seem to have harmed tradespeople. Quite the contrary. If anything, they can charge more money when they’re called in to fix the damage from the mains pipe you’ve cut through because you’ve no business using a multitool.
I think there are some missed opportunities too.
A lot of businesses that sell AI tools present them as something that will do the hard work for you so you can ‘focus on what matters.’ But, from what I’ve seen so far, AI copywriting tools fail to address some pretty significant pain points.
Research is the biggie.
Imagine an AI that pulls the exact stat you need when you need it, so you can move on with your life instead of wasting an hour going down a rabbit hole of ‘The bumper list of stats for whatever year it is’ type posts.
Or an AI that can pull a list of authoritative sources you can refer to as you write about a niche topic. Or tell you what that word is that’s on the tip of your tongue.
Heaven.
AI copy – friend or foe?
It can be either, depending on the circumstances.
If I were pitching for jobs on Upwork for 1 penny a word, I’d be extremely worried about AI, because I’d no longer be competing just on price — which isn’t a very good strategy to begin with — but also on output.
Many of these jobs are about volume, not quality — five 1000-word blog posts in two days, or a 15,000-word ebook in a week.
Well, now you’ve got a tool that can do them in minutes, for free.
I think AI will also probably replace jobs where there isn’t much room for creativity, for example because you’ve got a very limited amount of characters and formulas to play with — like Google Ads.
Where it can be a friend is on jobs that require nuanced thinking, like thought-leadership or copy for a never-seen-before product.
My experience with AI so far has been that nuanced thinking and originality are its two biggest weaknesses, and there’s no way it can replace humans in that respect (at least for now).
But I’ve found it great for getting the creative juices flowing when I’m stuck and under pressure, for helping me articulate ideas I’m struggling with, and for trying something quirky or off the wall without losing a chunk of my day.
Ultimately, I think AI can go two ways. My hope is that people who develop these tools come from a place of genuinely wanting to make our jobs easier, not replace us. Creativity is what makes us special as a species, and it will be a very sad day when we can outsource that to a machine.
So… AI copy – friend or foe?
With enormous gratitude to my fellow wordsmiths for so candidly sharing their thoughts, I think we can safely say that while AI copy does pose some threat to the industry, it offers plenty of opportunities to be exploited, too.
And here’s my take on it to round things off…
What are your biggest concerns about AI copy?
I can’t picture a world where a robot will have the same sense of the ridiculous or the sublime as a copywriter. The wordplay, the finesse and the nuance just can’t be boshed out by an algorithm, no matter how sophisticated it is.
What opportunities does AI copy present for copywriters and content producers?
If AI copy can handle the jobs we don’t want to do, make our lives easier in certain areas, and help with the dreaded Blank Page Syndrome, that’s not a bad thing at all. I know it’s already being widely and successfully used for smaller, direct-response copywriting jobs such as producing Google Ad copy.
I recently read a post about computers making music. Someone – quite astutely I’d say – said something along the lines of, ‘When computers have depression and a drug habit they’ll put musicians out of business’. An extreme example perhaps, but as a writer, our superpower is our unique life experience.
I’d imagine that the lower-end blog/content producers will be knocked out of the game pretty quickly by AI, which I don’t think any committed writer will be sad about. I’ve noticed that, especially since the pandemic, there’s been a sharp rise in people advertising themselves as copywriters and content writers but are seriously lacking in the necessary core skills and experience – and filtering them out is overdue. I see the field being narrowed as the biggest opportunity for the writing industry as a whole.
I wonder if a new writer/editor role will emerge – one that transparently uses AI-generated copy and gives it some love and finesse for the human touch. That could well be one of the opportunities it creates for the mid-range industry, and for junior copywriters still cutting their teeth.
AI copy – friend or foe?
Friend.
It is our flaws as much as our strengths that make us creators, and it is not perfection that we seek in our work, but connection. I say let the robots worry about perfection, and we’ll crack on in our search for connection.
A big thank you to everyone who took part in this. The discussion will rumble on, but I’m convinced beyond doubt that AI copy is not to be feared; it’s just one more tool in our box of tricks.
Olivia Dunn is owner of brand copywriting specialists Profound Copywriting. Contact us today to turbocharge your content strategy for 2023 and beyond.