In an earlier post, Why Lifestyle Content is the New Frontier for Credit Union Success, content marketing is defined as “…providing exciting and valuable information for a defined audience.” Its goal is to foster “deeper engagement to build trust, thereby making the audience more likely to purchase products or services via the content provider.”
To accomplish this, marketers must maintain a consistent stream of content that constantly adjusts to meet their audience's evolving tastes. Producing fresh, creative output constantly and consistently can be challenging. As a result, marketers have started using a new tool in the ongoing battle for the hearts and minds of consumers: generative AI.
What is Generative AI?
Although artificial intelligence has existed for decades, it truly exploded into the public imagination with the release of ChatGPT in November 2022. ChatGPT is a generative AI model McKinsey and Company defines as “… algorithms that can be used to create new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos.”
Generative AI models are trained with massive amounts of data so that current versions can generate content that is difficult to distinguish from that created by humans. This underscores the fact that generative AI will present both rewards and risks in the future of content creation.
Generative AI Rewards
Generative AI can support (or supplant) human content creators in numerous ways:
- Generate Topics
Developing interesting marketing content becomes increasingly difficult over time. Generative AI can provide fresh perspectives based on its immense wellspring of data.
- Faster Topic Research
Research to support content creation was revolutionized in the 1990s with the introduction of search engines like Google. Generative AI takes content research a giant step forward by gathering and summarizing information in seconds. In this way, patterns and insights that may have been overlooked otherwise can be easily identified.
- Quick Outlines
Working from a well-developed outline often speeds up the subsequent content creation process. However, getting from an overall idea to a solid outline can take time. Generative AI can quickly produce an initial outline that the content creator can refine.
- Short-Circuit Writer’s Block
Content creators occasionally reach a creative impasse in the middle of a project. Rather than grimly plowing forward, some generative AI tools have an option that suggests further content when the creator hits a roadblock.
- Keyword Research
Part of optimizing web content is ensuring appropriate keywords are included to improve the chances of being ranked high on a search engine. Generative AI can quickly produce relevant keywords and help marketers fine-tune content to boost user engagement, manage bounce rates, and enhance social shares.
- Editing And Proofreading
Existing editing software like Grammarly has added AI features, so the tools also suggest style and tone changes and handle grammar errors and misspellings.
Generative AI Risks
The primary risk of generative AI for content creation is the absence of human intervention. Marketers can delegate various levels of content creation to generative AI. On one end of the spectrum, for example, it could generate topic ideas, develop outlines, or create first drafts that a human could edit to produce a final product. On the other end of the spectrum, AI could be allowed to publish content without human involvement. However, with less human intervention, there is a greater risk that generative AI will create unproductive, erroneous, or even dangerous content.
Here are two examples of issues that could arise from allowing too much generative AI autonomy:
- Information Inaccuracy
When generative AI models are created with vast amounts of data, the process does not automatically determine the authenticity of the data. Often, humans review the data to vet its accuracy before making it available to the public. Even with such interventions, there are potentially multiple points of failure:
- Misinformation and deep fakes
- Bias and discrimination
- Copyright And Intellectual Property
- Privacy And Data Security
Such inaccuracies potentially expose the company to financial, legal, and reputational risks.
- Brand Vulnerability
Marketers must protect their brands by exercising caution when using generative AI to create content. It would be a mistake to assume that generative AI output can accurately communicate the subtleties of a brand’s “personality.” Over-reliance on this technology may reduce human oversight and critical thinking, resulting in AI failures that could damage brands.
Conclusion
Generative AI can be a powerful and beneficial tool, but marketers must learn how to use it effectively. Human involvement in all phases of the content creation process is a necessity that cannot be overlooked when using this groundbreaking new tool.