12 do’s and don’ts when using AI to create content
10th, Sep 2024
If you haven’t tried ChatGPT, Copilot or other generative artificial intelligence tools, now is the time. One way to use them is to help efficiently produce educational and marketing content to attract more clients. There are legitimate concerns about AI but the key is to treat it as a tool that can aid in content creation rather than as a replacement for human writers.
Here are a few dos and don’ts when using AI:
- DO use it to assist with market research. Get help with researching, analyzing and summarizing information about clients, competitors and trends in order to create more relevant content.
- DON’T rely on it for factual research without verifying accuracy. AI tools can “hallucinate” and provide incorrect information that sounds real, including citing nonexistent source material. Information may also be out-of-date.
- DO brainstorm with it. Ask your AI tool for feedback on your ideas and to make suggestions for improvement. Use it to come up with topics, titles, headings, email subject lines and the like.
- DON’T limit it to text-based content. Some AI tools can help develop and/or edit video, images, graphics and charts to stand alone or complement and give more impact to text.
- DO use it to edit/refine content. You can get a second opinion on the content you wrote by asking your AI tool to recommend changes to the substance, structure, tone or style of a piece, proofread and check grammar and otherwise help polish the material.
- DON’T let AI speak for you. It’s fine to get suggestions from AI tools but your content should always be in your voice. People who know you and have seen AI-generated text before will realize the content isn’t from you and it will reflect badly on you. Plus, AI text tends to sound formulaic so it won’t help you engage with readers.
- DO use it to repurpose content. Existing content can be repurposed for different audiences, marketing platforms (ex. social media, email, website) and formats (ex. text, video, graphics) using AI tools.
- DON’T forget to provide context. When asking your AI tool for help, share relevant background information about yourself and your audience, needs and goals. The more context you provide, the better content you will get.
- DO check all results. AI-generated text and images must be carefully reviewed and vetted, not just for accuracy but also for bias, intellectual property concerns and other issues.
- DON’T hide the use of AI. Internal policies should be adopted to ensure that any employees using AI in their work disclose it to the appropriate manager. It may also need to be disclosed to clients and other parties.
- DO be concerned about privacy, confidentiality and ethical issues. AI tools learn from your queries and the data you provide, so you must take care what you reveal. There are some solutions which may help but they should be carefully vetted.
- DON’T use AI results ‘as is.’ An AI-prepared draft can provide a starting point but should not be used as a finished product because of the problems with AI discussed here.
As AI evolves, the opportunities and risks will only increase. Don’t be afraid of AI but use it thoughtfully to save you time and effort while enhancing content for your marketing.
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Tagged: editorial strategy and planning, writing
