What is AI writing?

AI writing involves using artificial intelligence to create various forms of content. You can use AI writing tools to create blog posts, social media content, landing pages, and product descriptions.

AI software doesn’t replace human writers; it improves your productivity so you can create content faster. Researching and writing an article from scratch can take hours, but AI tools can dramatically speed up the process.

However, the exact capabilities of AI software will vary depending on the platform you use, and certain tools will be better for different types of content.

One of the biggest questions about AI writing is whether it will help or hurt your search ranking. According to Google, the answer is no — assuming you’re using AI tools to create high-quality, original content.

Google’s focus is on the quality of the content produced, not how the content is created. Using AI writing tools to create unique, helpful and relevant content for your audience won’t negatively impact your search engine ranking (SEO).

AI writing may not meet those requirements independently, so it’s helpful to understand how AI writing works and the pros and cons of using these tools first.

Benefits of AI tools for SEO

Here are some of the biggest benefits of using AI tools for your content production:

  • Improves efficiency: AI tools automate monotonous tasks like proofreading and SEO optimization, allowing you to create high-quality content faster. This is especially helpful for companies with small teams and a smaller marketing budget.
  • Creates high-quality content: AI writing tools can catch grammar and spelling errors and improve the readability of your content. It can spot lengthy sentences and awkward transitions between paragraphs and adjust the tone and style of your content.
  • Optimization for SEO:  AI writing tools can complement your SEO strategy by identifying the right keywords and phrases for your target audience. It can also integrate these keywords throughout your content in a way that sounds natural.
  • Data-driven insights: AI software provides data that will help you better understand your audience and engagement. It can help you spot gaps in your content strategy and continue to make improvements over time.
  • Training AI: You can influence the AI software on your writing style and preferences, which will help it generate content that aligns with your brand’s voice. If you give the software consistent feedback, it will learn from its mistakes and improve over time.

The limitations of AI writing

Many people have expressed legitimate concerns about AI writing — here are some of the biggest drawbacks to be aware of:

  • Maintaining a unique voice: AI often produces well-written content that is unoriginal, lacks creativity, and fails to connect with the audience. Producing a high volume of poor content won’t benefit your business.
  • Information may be inaccurate: AI software doesn’t understand nuance or context and is prone to inaccuracies, so you’ll have to fact-check anything AI writing tools produce.
  • Risks of over-optimizing your content: The danger of over-optimizing your content for SEO can make it sound unnatural.
  • Ethical concerns: When you use AI writing tools, you may be concerned about plagiarism since the software may produce content that is too similar to something already written.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and try AI in your content writing. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Article from Inc. Magazine Written by JOSEPH CAMBERATO EDITED BY CHELSEA BROWN FEB 8, 2024