The Dangers of Letting AI Write Your Blog

Imagine having AI craft your next blog post while you relax with a cuppa. AI has certainly revolutionised many industries, and content creation is no exception. Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, a range of AI writing assistants like Bard, CoPilot and Anyword have emerged. These clever tools can generate various types of content, but before you hand over your blog to AI, let’s consider the potential drawbacks.

Brits and AI: A Growing Trend

The UK is increasingly adopting AI technology, according to a government article about 15% of businesses—around 432,000 companies—using AI in some capacity. The marketing sector, in particular, has become a major user of AI, ranking fourth in AI adoption. But how exactly does AI writing work?

AI: Your Digital Writing Assistant

Think of AI writing tools as supercharged research assistants. They use machine learning to mimic human intelligence, processing vast amounts of data to produce text that sounds human. This is done through Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Generation (NLG). You provide a prompt, the AI scours the web for relevant information, and it synthesises everything into a blog post or article. Sounds efficient, right? But, just like that quirky flatmate who borrows your clothes, AI content can sometimes feel a bit…generic. Let’s explore the pros and cons of AI blogging for UK audiences.

The Perks of AI: Speed, Savings, and Beyond

AI’s rise in blogging over the past six months is due to several appealing benefits:

• Lightning Speed: AI can whip up content in seconds, far faster than even the quickest human writer.
• Content Overflow: Need lots of blog posts? AI can generate them with minimal effort on your part.
• Budget-Friendly: Many AI tools offer cost-effective subscription plans compared to hiring a human writer.
• Precision Targeting: AI can tailor content to specific demographics and user behaviours, ideal for niche audiences.
• Beating Writer’s Block: Stuck for ideas? AI can quickly generate content ideas to spark your creativity.
• Time Efficiency: AI can produce large volumes of text rapidly, freeing you up to focus on other business areas.
• Grammar Whiz: Most AI-generated content is grammatically sound, reducing the need for heavy proofreading.

The Downsides of AI: Inaccuracy, Inauthenticity, and More

While AI offers significant advantages, it’s not without its flaws:

• Accuracy Issues: AI can produce incorrect information, especially if it pulls from unreliable sources. This can lead to a cascade of misinformation as AI tools might reference their own erroneous outputs.
• Plagiarism Risks: AI often blends information from various sources, raising plagiarism concerns and potentially violating Google’s guidelines against stitched content, which can harm your SEO.
• Content Quality: Google’s “helpful content update” prioritises human-created content, meaning your unique, human-written posts are more likely to rank higher.
• Creativity Shortfall: AI, despite its advancements, cannot match human creativity or generate truly original ideas. Content that emotionally resonates with readers and taps into current trends is typically beyond AI’s reach.
• Personalisation Problems: AI can identify certain user behaviours, but it struggles to personalise content to the level UK audiences expect. Relying solely on data, AI can miss user intent and those crucial common-sense nuances.

Experienced content creators often find that AI-generated text requires significant editing to ensure quality, creativity, and personalisation. This raises the question: is relying solely on AI for writing really worth it?

The Verdict: AI as a Helper, Not a Replacement

AI can be a fantastic tool for research, generating short pieces, and overcoming writer’s block. However, when it comes to crafting engaging, creative, and personalised content that truly resonates with your UK audience, the human touch remains irreplaceable. Think of AI as a super-powered research assistant, not a blog-writing superhero.