By Phoebe Eileen

Anytime bots learn to do the things we humans can do, it almost always makes us uneasy. Automation gave way to the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and since then there have been apps that can do everything for us, including it seems, writing our own stories. Lately, my online feed has consisted of ads for AI-written blogs. Most promotions claim that copywriting AI is faster and cheaper. The jury is still out on whether the articles are actually well-written and understandably worth the risk, so we looked into it. In researching the robot threat to human copywriters, we found little cause for concern. However, website owners looking for a quick way to increase their blog post numbers at a decreased cost will need to think twice before entrusting their work to copywriting AI.

So what's all the hype about AI copywriting tools anyway?

What is all the excitement around AI copywriting? The ability to learn from human input and to recreate what people can do without supervision is fascinating. We all love WALL-E, Rosie from the Jetsons, and of course R2-D2, but is getting a robot to do your writing the best idea? AI writing programs rely on natural language prediction tools to generate text based on specific prompts that people give them. Some of the benefits that application creators claim come with applying this technology to copywriting include:

It allows many to reduce their workload by having AI do a good portion of it. For busy people with too much on their plates already, that's an instantly attractive feature. Surveys find that people prefer AI for the relief from work-related stress that it brings, according to Forbes Magazine. Here lies the promise of less work, allowing for more freedom and productivity for those otherwise engrossed in multiple activities. Given the option, most would not pass on this opportunity.
Copywriting AI is incredibly fast. The programs can generate rough drafts within seconds so long as the user feeds them the information. What's more, some tools claim to optimize the text for search engines, allowing blogs to rank highly in a google search when posted. How valid this is remains to be seen.
Copywriting AI is deceptively cheap. Some tools are absolutely free, while even the paid programs cost less than what you would pay a human copywriter. This factor has people flocking to use these apps in droves.

Having a bot create a blog for you at the click of a button sounds great until you take a closer look at the writing. Then you start to notice that some things are missing or the text feels robotic when you read it. Your AI-generated copy lacks human relatability.

Copywriting AI lacks a human touch

These programs can generate content in the blink of an eye, but give their blog a quick read, and it becomes obvious that something feels off. The text before you will make sense, but you will have a hard time resonating with it on an emotional level. That's because of the one thing humans can do that AI cannot: understand and replicate emotion in writing. Good writing is successful when it engages its reader emotionally. We refer to this as the human touch, a quality that makes the content relatable, intriguing and sometimes moving. Copywriting AI only analyzes bits of content, draws upon the topics relevant to prompts and produces the most basic copy.

Additionally, copywriting AI struggles with fact-checking where a human writer would not. These programs can only scour existing content online to piece together relevant prose, so the probability of generating factually inaccurate content remains high. Here is another instance where human copywriters will still have the upper hand.

Human writing still outpaces Copywriting AI tools in accuracy

Now that you understand how AI copywriting works, it's easy to see why it's still a long way to go before it can replace human writing. The elements that these programs struggle to create are the same things that an online presence for a brand cannot lack. The best they can do is help generate ideas and rough drafts. Professional copywriters can then comb through the results, verify the accuracy of the presented information and edit or rewrite it to make the content more engaging for readers. Not only can copywriting AI tools not do this, but they can also easily present inaccurate information in text. Remember that they scrape the internet for information that they reproduce as content. It’s an unreliable approach that could result in wrong information at best and plagiarism problems at worst. At least, copywriting AI is an okay support tool, not crutches that brands should lean on to create meaningful content for their target audience. Relying on AI is likely to produce plenty of subpar content, so it's best to prioritize quality over quantity. It's also important to remember that humans can write well-optimized blogs for search engines that are more readable and relatable. We can successfully balance the writing that markets our content to search engines without compromising its emotional resonance with our readers.

SEO and ranking are even better for well-written content

According to Google's Senior Search Analyst John Mueller, it's easier for search engines to index and rank pages containing important content. If you're a website owner, this means focusing more on the quality of your writing rather than its quantity. As much as these tools excel at creating content in bulk, the content's quality may make it harder for engines to identify and rank pages properly.

In this situation, the human touch is your best chance at producing excellent copy.

We bring the human touch to your web content

Not sure where to begin? Why not start by browsing through our copywriting portfolio, or browse through our blog? At Jane AF Advertising, all our content is created by a team of our best human writers.

We thoroughly research and write each topic to suit our clients’ needs, using SEO techniques to optimize it for high rankings in search engines. Our writing is true to the respective brands we've created for, and as great reads, most are very easily searchable online. Let's connect and create the kind of writing that the visitors to your website will benefit from reading.

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