How to Use AI to Enhance Your Writing
Written by :
JOHN KILHEFNER
Posted on :
02.02.2023
Tags :
AI | Content
EXPLORING THE WAYS CONTENT CREATORS AND MARKETING TEAMS SHOULD START EMBRACING THE WAVE OF AI CREATION AND CONTENT RESEARCH - NOT FEARING IT.
Create Content for a Living? Take a Deep Breath...
I’ve been reading, researching and editing stories on artificial intelligence (AI) for several years now. And each time, I hear the same refrain about AI content creation stealing my job as an editor and writer. So, naturally I’ve been curious about the potential impact of using AI for writing on the creative industry. The launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3 has taken that conversation and amplified it ten-fold, extending the question to marketers, advertisers and anyone who works within the digital media landscape.
At this time last year, I was already experimenting with AI to become a better creative – whether it’s using AI to find grammatical mistakes so I can focus on higher-level editing, or using it to create art so I can A-B test stock photos versus original images. But OpenAI’s suite of products, particularly ChatGPT, has been the most eye-opening display of what AI can do for your entire writing team.
Whether your editorial staff is focused on straightforward reporting, blogging, or social media; Or if your marketing team is creating advertorials, or something else entirely. If you’re a publisher, executive editor, copy chief, or VP of marketing, tell your staff to worry not… the only thing AI will replace is your brand’s reliance on Google Search and their ability to focus on the things that matter most.
5 Ways to Use AI Writing and Marketing Tools
- Outsource Your Memory. Writers understand information bloat more than anyone – there’s stories to research and they’re not going to research themselves. Or are they? What if your writing team could spend 60% more of their time focusing on the Big Idea behind their story, rather than researching and remembering all that research in order to pull it all together for an article. For me, I started using an app called Heyday, which outsources your memory by using AI technology to remember articles you read online, messages you sent on Slack, or your profile and history throughout Google’s suite of products. That app alone helped me retain more information and made it easier to recall information later on, such as while writing a story I needed to churn out in under an hour. Importantly, this type of application of AI technology could have potential applications for people with memory impairments, such as dementia.
- Transcription and Summarization. Another time-saving use of AI is applying it to a long interview your editorial team may record for one-on-one’s or advertorials, or an intense script your marketing team may need to summarize to write additional ad copy for a campaign. Really, there’s no one way to use AI to save time here. I’ve used ChatGPT to tell me in a few paragraphs the relevant information in tens of thousands of words in a report. Or, if I need to finish other creative deliverables based on an article or report I’m writing/editing, I can ask ChatGPT to break it down for a specific audience (email, social media, text, etc.). It’s like having a super-smart editorial assistant on standby 24/7.
- Create Original Art in Seconds. If you’ve been in digital media as long as I have, then you’ve probably had more than a few bouts over Creative Commons usage. If just one writer on your team takes an image from another site without a proper license or attribution, you could be served with a takedown notice and forced to pay damages. And where there’s one, there’s likely more … so be prepared to scour your entire media library for proper licensing and attribution. Hope you’re handy with Excel! Artificial intelligence, however, can create an image from scratch, based on a single-sentence prompt, and have it ready to upload to your content management system (CMS) in seconds. Not only does this solve the problem of retaining a paid photo service, but it also makes your content more likely to rank higher in organic search. Why? Because users tend to click on original images more than they do stock images. That’s a signal that Google loves.
- Get Your Creative Juices Flowing. Is your writing team not producing as usual? If they’re mesmerized by the flashing cursor, don’t fret; It happens to the best of us. Snap them out of it by using AI art as a starting point for writing prompts. Creating captivating stories matter to writers and marketers alike, because they provide a way to connect with audiences on an emotional level. Stories can help to build trust and credibility, create a sense of relatability and authenticity, and inspire action or engagement. They can also help to differentiate your brand or product from your competitors and create a lasting impression. What’s more, stories can be used across multiple marketing channels, such as social media, email, and video, to reach a wide audience and drive conversions. I’ve used AI art to challenge myself through a mix of unconventional and conventional creative writing techniques, and to spark new ideas to create unique and thought-provoking leads.
- Streamline Your Content Marketing Schedule. It doesn’t matter if you’re leading a team of bloggers, SEO experts, copywriters or marketers, AI can augment your scheduling. AI can be used to analyze data, personalize marketing efforts, automate tasks, and improve customer engagement. There are several AI marketing tools that businesses can use to enhance their marketing efforts, including chatbots, predictive analytics, and natural language processing. These platforms essentially study behavioral analytics of your target audience, and interpret market trends to provide a real-time assessment so you can focus on executing on your campaign. If your main goal is audience reach, then you know how important data is to executing perfectly, on-brand and on-target. But humans make mistakes, and decisions not backed by data often get approval, wasting company budgets on vanity campaigns. With AI, that concern is a thing of the past. AI marketing tools can prepare high-converting emails and ad copy, as well as tell you the perfect time to deliver them for optimal engagement.
My 5 Favorite AI Marketing and Writing Tools
Look around the AI landscape, and you’ll find an assortment of niche AI tools. If you have a need, chances are there’s an AI out there that can do the heavy lifting for you. Here are my fav 5 right now (check back later for updates!):
|
AI for Writing & Marketing |
Category |
Price |
|
Content and Marketing |
Business plans starting at $499/month |
|
|
Generative Art |
Free beta |
|
|
Generative text |
Free beta |
|
|
AI-assisted Memory |
Starts at $49/month |
|
|
Content/AI email assistant |
$30/month |
Since I started using artificial intelligence tools in my work, I’ve been able to free up countless hours previously spent ideating content, slogging through Google Search to research my topic, getting inspiration from unlikely voices, editing errant typos and grammatical mistakes, and turning my content into text messages, outbound emails, social media posts, etc. … allowing me to focus more on the Big Idea and less on the small things.
Yet, many creatives and marketers are hesitant to try out AI tools. And those who do are too stuck in their ways to make good use of AI. There are some legitimate concerns, however, such as reduced privacy from AI tools analyzing more of your online content and history, or the perpetuation of social inequalities and biases. Regulation is necessary to curb such fears, but that’s a conversation for another Insight.
The biggest impediment to introducing AI to your team is that many writers and marketers simply do not fully understand how AI tools work, and they may be hesitant to use them for fear of making mistakes or producing low-quality content. The best way, in my experience, is to invite a knowledgeable content creator to train your team on best practices when using AI.
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