As a freelance content writer, I’ve been getting asked a lot lately about the impact of AI on content writing and how AI tools, such as ChatGPT, have affected my work (and how I feel about these tools in general). It’s something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about recently, too, and I’ve definitely gone through a few different phases already (this year alone) in terms of my personal thoughts and feelings about AI and content writing.
So, since I haven’t published anything on this blog in a long time — since I wrote about the future of remote work back in 2022 — I thought it would be a worthwhile exercise to put some of my theories, observations, and experiences related to using AI for content writing down into, well, writing.
Schools of Thought on Artificial Intelligence and Content Writing
In general, I think most content writers belong to one of three schools of thought on AI as it pertains to content writing:
- Fatalists: Those who think that content writers will inevitably be replaced by AI because businesses value lower overhead costs over quality when it comes to content, and AI will continue to improve to the point where it doesn’t make sense to hire actual writers anymore.
- Skeptics: Those who believe that using AI for content writing is a trend that will pass, because the content it produces is repetitive and of low quality and AI will never be able to replicate the creativity, critical thinking, empathy, and cultural awareness of human writers.
- Optimists: Those who feel that AI is a powerful tool that content writers can use to improve their writing processes in various ways, and who may themselves be early adopters of AI writing tools like ChatGPT.
I do also believe it’s also possible for content writers to hold opinions from more than one of these schools of thought on AI and content writing, or to change their opinions based on personal experiences. I myself am guilty of thinking about the matter fatalistically, skeptically, and optimistically at different times.
Will AI Replace Content Writers?
The question of whether AI will replace content writers entirely is a topic of ongoing debate, speculation, and discussion, especially within freelance content writing communities. For example, a quick browse of Reddit will turn up many posts about the subject in different writing subreddits. Reading some of these will quickly demonstrate how many content writers hold beliefs from the different schools of thought that I mentioned above.
While AI has certainly made significant advancements in the field of content creation, it’s important to consider the limitations of AI technology (in 2023) before jumping to definitive conclusions.
AI has certainly demonstrated remarkable capabilities in automating particular aspects of content writing, which I like to call the “busywork” that goes into content creation. For instance, AI tools can quickly generate topic ideas, article titles, and content outlines, as well as effectively summarize existing content to create bulleted lists, introductions, and conclusions. AI can also perform research, analyze data, and write simple informational articles, blog posts, and reports.
However, these AI-generated content pieces often lack depth of knowledge, human creativity, and context. While AI can mimic the structure and format of human-written content, it struggles to replicate the unique voice, perspective, and emotional intelligence that humans bring to their writing. AI-written content also tends to be very repetitive — if you keep giving it similar prompts, you’re going to get very similar content over and over again.
Language models like GPT-3, which powers ChatGPT, can generate coherent and contextually relevant text, but they lack true understanding and consciousness. They rely on patterns and statistical associations in the data they were trained on, and are not capable of independent thinking or generating original ideas.
Human writers possess a wealth of intangible qualities, such as creativity, critical thinking, empathy, and cultural awareness, that contribute to the richness and authenticity of their work (and that allow humans to produce content that is both informative and ranks well on Google).
Additionally, content writing often requires a deep understanding of a target audience and a specific industry or topic, as well as the ability to craft persuasive arguments and tell a story through content. All of these requirements involve complex cognitive processes that currently surpass the capabilities of AI writing tools.
That being said, it’s important to note that AI is continuously evolving (that’s what machine learning algorithms are built to do, after all), and we are still in the very early stages of seeing what AI can do in the realm of content writing.
I do not think AI will replace human writers (anytime soon, at least)
While content generated by AI tools, as they currently stand, may be suitable for specific use cases, such as short-form blog posts about somewhat general topics, AI is unlikely to replace the need for human content writers when it comes to more long-form content writing, especially in niche topic areas where quality and depth of knowledge are of high importance.
What I think we are most likely to see in the near future, and what is probably already happening, is AI replacing content writers for businesses that care about quantity over quality. In quantifiable terms, this probably means that companies that are paying content writers <$0.05 per word, or posting ridiculous offers of $5 for an entire blog post on Upwork and other freelancer platforms, are going to start using AI instead of human writers out of sheer penny-pinching.
Companies that want to be true thought leaders, and those that appreciate the value of having truly unique, personalized content on their sites (and are willing to pay what it’s worth), are going to continue employing human content writers for a long time to come.
How Content Writers Can Use AI Tools to Their Advantage
Even though I don’t think AI is going to replace content writers, I do think AI tools are going to find a permanent place in almost every content writer’s repertoire of tools.
Here are some of the ways content writers can leverage AI to improve their writing processes:
- Automating repetitive tasks: Content writers can enhance their efficiency by automating repetitive tasks, such as generating topic ideas and creating content outlines, so they can focus on the more creative, strategic aspects of writing.
- Aiding with research: Many content writers rely on Google for research, and produce content based on information aggregated from various existing content pieces. AI tools can aggregate information from infinitely more sources in a fraction of the time.
- Overcoming writer’s block: For content creators who repeatedly write about the same topics, it can start getting hard to come up with fresh ideas for articles and finding new ways to write about the same thing. AI can give writers the push they need to get over this hump.
- Assisting with grammar and style: AI tools can help content writers improve the clarity, coherence, and overall quality of their writing by providing real-time grammar and style suggestions to enhance readability.
- Proofreading and editing: AI-based tools can proofread and edit large chunks of content in a matter of seconds, detecting spelling and grammar errors and suggesting corrections (or making them automatically) to ensure error-free content.
- Optimizing content: AI can help content writers optimize their content for search engines by performing keyword research and providing suggestions for making their content more SEO friendly.
- Personalizing content: Writers are often faced with the task of changing their style and tone to personalize content for different target audiences. AI can help tailor content to make it more engaging and relevant for specific audiences.
My Experience With AI and Content Writing
I’ll be the first to admit that I was strictly anti-AI when the buzz around using AI for content writing started getting too loud to ignore in early 2023. That changed a few months into the year when a potential client suggested that they wanted me to come on board to produce regular content for them, specifically using ChatGPT to speed up my workflow.
I was skeptical at first, but the client is someone I used to work with and have known for years now, so I said I would be willing to experiment with it, and I started doing so.
What I’ve found is that using AI to write content doesn’t necessarily save time, but it does save me some brain power by taking care of some of the busywork that goes into writing, as well as saves me time on research by aggregating information for me. It’s also helped me vary my writing a bit more when writing repetitively about the same topics.
For example, I write a big chunk of blog posts every month for a particular client that I’ve had for years, so at this point I’ve written hundreds of these articles about similar topics in the same niche, and I sometimes start to feel like I sound like a broken record.
So, I tried having ChatGPT write about 500-750 words for me to get started on some of these articles, particularly when I’m feeling burned out and not very creative. I then heavily edit what the AI writes for me, remove repetitive general information, and add whatever’s missing from the content, drawing from the personal knowledge I’ve gained in this niche over the years and from my familiarity with the client and what they like. In some cases, I even delete everything the AI writes, and just use the content’s structure and general ideas as an outline to get inspired.
Using this process, I’d say it takes me approximately the same amount of time to write an article from start to finish as it would if I were to write it from the ground up (or from the H1 down?), but I feel a lot less burned out after producing a large batch of repetitive content than I would if I hadn’t used AI as a writing assistant.
Am I using AI for all my writing?
No, definitely not — I think there’s a time and place for incorporating AI tools into my writing workflows, but I still write the vast majority of the content I produce from scratch, using my traditional research and writing methods.
I’m also not comfortable turning in finished work that I don’t feel is completely my own, and I very thoroughly edit and revise any content that I use AI to help me write. I’d estimate that after I’m done with an AI-assisted article, maybe 10% of the writing is very similar to what the AI gave me, and the rest is written totally in my own words.
Should content writers disclose AI use to clients?
As long as you’re using AI as what it is — a tool — and not using it to skip out on work by sending clients copied-and-pasted content generated by AI, I don’t think it’s necessary to tell your clients outright that you’re using AI tools to help with your writing processes. After all, you probably aren’t providing a list of all the other tools and technologies you’re using to deliver a final product to clients.
I do think that if a client asks whether or not you’re using AI to help with your writing, you need to be honest about it and explain exactly how you’re using it to provide better work. As long as your clients are reasonable people and happy with your work, they shouldn’t have any problem with you using AI as part of your content writing toolset.
I also think that if a client explicitly requests that you don’t use AI when working for them, you should honor those wishes. The same goes both ways — if a client asks you to use AI to produce content for them, you should be free to decline, and the client should accept that you have your reasons for doing so.
The bottom line is that clients should trust in whatever writing tools and processes you decide to use, as long as you’re creating unique, high-quality pieces of content for them that are helping them meet their business goals.
Conclusion
If you made it this far, thanks for coming to my TED Talk. The idea for this post is something that’s been swirling around in my busy writer’s brain for a while now, and I finally felt like I was ready to write it.
After writing 2000+ words in one sitting, my brain’s tired, and I don’t think many content writers, me included, like writing conclusions, so let’s see what ChatGPT has to say:
“In conclusion, while the impact of AI on content writing is a subject of ongoing debate, it is unlikely that AI will replace human content writers entirely. AI tools can be valuable assets for content writers, automating repetitive tasks, aiding in research, and optimizing content.
However, AI currently lacks the depth, creativity, and context that human writers bring to their work. By embracing AI as a tool, content writers can enhance their writing processes and deliver high-quality, tailored content to their audiences. The relationship between AI and content writing is one of collaboration, where AI complements and enhances human skills rather than replacing them.”
-ChatGPT, 2023
Full disclosure: I also used ChatGPT to help me write portions of this blog post (mainly the “Will AI Replace Content Writers?” section, as I was curious what its response would be), following the process I described above of giving it a prompt, then heavily editing and revising the content it gave me to add my own creative input, analysis, and voice, as well as remove repetition and “fluff.”
So, let this post serve as an example of how content writers and AI tools are not mutually exclusive, and how AI can be implemented into content writing workflows without detracting from quality or removing critical thought from the end product.
Let’s just hope the relationship between humanity and AI stays amicable and doesn’t lead to our extinction, as some experts warn it could…