When generative AI tools like ChatGPT gained popularity in 2022, my writing buddies and I decided to test its capabilities compared to human effort. We were astonished at its delivery speed to different writing tasks.

We even joked that machines had begun to take over the creative industry. Fast-forward to a few years, this light-hearted perspective has become a serious topic.

Fascinated by its speed and efficiency, different businesses have continued to adopt generative AI. A report by Goldman Sachs estimates the global AI market will reach $200 billion by 2025. At this rate, will AI replace content writers?

Well, you have no reason to panic, human writer. While AI may promise speed and efficiency, it still requires skilled human input. Its output also shows a deficiency of creativity, flair, and empathy that humans are capable of.

Adaptations will be necessary for productivity, but if you’re good at your bit, fellow human writers will remain your rivals.

How can AI be a threat?

Imagine you had a colleague who could create fast content in high volumes, never experienced writer’s block, required no leave, and worked almost for free.

It’s a no-brainer that such a person would be a management favorite and a threat to other writers. That’s the kind of scenario that AI marketing represents in the content space.

Why is there no need to Panic?

There are many things that can scare a writer, like a missing manuscript, a corrupted document, or a rejected story draft. However, AI isn’t in that category yet.

While AI can research, write, edit, and organize content quickly, it still lacks the creativity to connect with readers. Good human writers can captivate readers with similar experiences and relished writing styles.

Also, AI’s content requires the input of human writers to get the required writing style, tone, and accuracy. As a writer, you should see AI as another work tool, like your laptop.

How AI is changing the future for writers

Before generative AI became mainstream, issues like writer’s block could take days, sometimes months, to overcome. Nowadays, you can have a solo brainstorming session with AI tools for inspiration.

These tools have also improved writers’ speed and style in areas like research, outline creation, citations, and editing. A tool like Grammarly can help writers edit and create content in a fraction of the time it required before.

Therefore, writers must recognize and make AI a writing assistant rather than a competition.

Benefits of AI for Content Writers

1. Faster Writing

   Most times, content writers have numerous tasks to deliver. While your boss will advise you to prioritize, every task still holds a level of importance.

   AI tools help you to work on projects simultaneously. They give you the luxury of focusing your creative energy on important writing tasks by helping with tasks like new topic suggestions, keyword research, and content outline creation.

   There are even tools that offer live edits as you write. All of these contribute to the delivery speed.

2. Better Writing Quality

   AI can help writers maintain tone and writing style and check grammar where necessary. It can also help to maintain content consistency, clarity, and readability throughout the content.

   Some AI tools can even address writing issues automatically, while some can give the writer feedback. All these contribute to improving the quality of content.

3. Improved SEO Efforts

   There are AI tools that can suggest high-ranking keywords and improve content structure to ensure that a blog gets proper online visibility. Some notable examples include Google Keyword Research, SEMrush, and Moz Keyword Explorer.

   Writers can easily discover relevant keywords to help their content gain visibility on Google and other search engines. This can fast-track the company’s digital marketing efforts.

4. Improved Relationship between Writers and Readers

   Always ensure your writing is relatable to readers. Good writers build their writing approach around the audience’s persona to ensure relevance. AI can assist the writer with research by gathering information about target readers

   It can also help the writer analyze the reader’s behavior and preferences and suggest ways to improve audience engagement.

Challenges of using AI content

1. Quality and Originality

   Many critics have faulted AI for its easily noticeable style of content creation. Since AI relies on existing information to create its content, its default results are usually similar in approach. In other words, its content can be generic and bland.

   Writers are relied on to improve content quality. Of course, this takes time and raises concerns about the efficiency and productivity that AI promised.

2. SEO and Ranking

   You may wonder why AI content faces SEO challenges when it’s also a tool to improve SEO. Well, AI in this area is tricky, and its usage determines whether it’s a benefit or a challenge.

   AI can help writers research relevant keywords and strategies to rank well. However, while human writers will look to ease these keywords into the writing, AI may attempt to use them all regardless of how they fit into the content.

   Meanwhile, stuffing keywords can be counterproductive to your online ranking efforts.

3. Limited approach writing style

   Human writers can creatively approach old topics from a new angle. Their unique experiences can be great storytelling tools to appeal to their audience’s emotions.

   Unfortunately, AI still struggles with this aspect because it creates content based on what it learns online. AI’s content generation approach mostly mirrors others’ work. The result will be content that lacks empathy.

4. Ethical Concerns

   Since AI relies on existing online content to function, there are debates on its approach to the intellectual property of other writers.

   This means that AI content can get flagged as having issues with copyright and plagiarism. As a writer, you must ensure that your AI-generated content is free from plagiarism and copyright issues. Unfortunately, this process also adds to the writer’s workload.

5. Relies on Human Input

   From the points above, it’s clear that AI needs human input to produce the right results. Some of the areas include prompt creation, grammar editing, plagiarism, error, and fact-checking.

   While you may have your content generated in a flash, you might spend much time editing it to your standard.

How writers can adapt to an AI age

AI isn’t going away anytime soon, so you should change your approach to it. It relies on you to function properly. So, use it as an assistant or tool to improve productivity.

Allow it to work on your repetitive tasks like researching, outline creation, and editing. Then, invest your extra time in developing skills AI struggles with. Some aspects, like storytelling and emotional connection, will help you write great content.

Finally, you must be abreast of the latest AI tools, trends, prompts, and their optimal utilization. This will make you a sort-after content writer among your colleagues.

Will AI Usage Affect Writers’ Originality?

There’s a debate that writers’ adaptation of AI tools could negatively affect the future of writing in areas like unique writer voices, styles, and unpredictability. However, if AI takes tasks like researching and proofreading off readers, they have more time to build on their creativity. We may get to see compelling storytelling and audience engagement techniques.

This human-AI collaboration can also help diminish guesswork content.

Which AI tools should Content Writers Explore?

1. Grammarly

   Grammarly is an AI writing assistant that helps writers improve content correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery. It also offers live feedback and plagiarism checks.

2. Jasper AI

   Jasper helps writers analyze and create relevant content for their audience. It simplifies the content creation process and even offers automation for tasks like email responses. Despite its advantages, its results aren’t always perfect. It’s a paid AI tool.

3. Surfer SEO

   Writers can quickly analyze and get SEO keywords and optimization suggestions with Surfer SEO. It can also analyze competitors’ pages to suggest keyword opportunities.

4. ChatGPT

   ChatGPT is one of the most widely known AI-powered content tools. It relies on prompts to generate content. To get the best results, ensure that you feed it quality prompts.