Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve most likely heard people rave or complain about AI’s aid in content creation. With tools that automate content generation, repurposing any existing asset, and predicting trends, businesses can work to streamline their output and provide a broader reach. However, as AI handles more steps of the content creation process, an essential question continuously gets brought up: Where should the human element step in?
Yes, AI will help in a ton of areas when it comes to content creation, but human oversight remains indispensable for making sure your content has authenticity, emotional resonance, and strategic alignment. Today, we’ll run through the balance between AI and human creativity when it comes to content creation and strategy.
Generating Ideas and Trends
Research and general brainstorming for content ideas has become easily streamlined due to AI. Algorithms can now analyze social media trends, search behaviors, and competitor content, predicting which topics will be relevant to specific audiences. For example, BuzzSumo or Crayon use AI to identify trending content themes by analyzing large batches of articles, videos, content, or blogs all at once.
But, when it comes to nailing down what exactly to choose, humans are essential because the content/topic has to align with the brand’s voice, goals, and values. AI doesn’t know what that is within your brand’s ecosphere. Human review also allows you to ensure your content doesn’t sacrifice uniqueness in favor of replicating what’s trending so at the end of the day, you can close your laptop knowing you’re still authentic.
Don’t take our word for it either, the Content Marketing Institute found that 84% of marketers say that data-driven insights help steer their content strategies. However, 71% also agree that maintaining a unique brand voice is key – which will require some sort of human input.
Drafting Content and Editing for Authenticity
AI-powered tools such as Jasper and Copy.ai can generate substantial portions of text, particularly useful for repetitive content such as product descriptions or any sort of metadata. These tools boost efficiency and allow your content team to scale production. Even though that all sounds great, and it seems as if there’s no downside, AI-generated drafts neglect the emotional nuance and storytelling which human editors add value.
An AI cannot resonate with other humans on an emotional level and it can’t speak directly to your audience’s pain points and aspirations. Emotional nuance, humor, and the subtlety required to build brand loyalty are areas in which AI fails to meet its own set quota – or whatever we’d call it. Human editors are needed to make content relatable and memorable. Also, keep in mind most people can read a piece of content and tell relatively quickly that it’s been AI-generated. Don’t be that person or we’ll call it out ourselves. Just kidding.
On a more serious note, we can take some advice from Accenture who found that 75% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that push for more personalized content, which usually includes human intervention to provide content revisions to make the content speak directly to the consumer.
Accurate AI Content
AI can spit content out faster than you can say “Mississippi,” but there are ethical considerations that come to mind when we think about just how fast content can be generated, especially regarding the accuracy and representation of information shared. In news or educational content, it’s important to make sure information is reliable and free of bias. AI is trained on historical data, which more times than not carries biases, leading to unintentional misrepresentation or inaccuracies.
So, as the human running the show, you’ll have to fact-check your AI-generated material. Reuters Institute’s News stated in a report that 55% of readers are concerned about the accuracy of AI-generated news content, emphasizing the need for human input to verify facts and make sure there aren’t biased narratives.
SEO-Optimized Content
AI-powered tools such as Surfer SEO and Clearscope can optimize content by identifying keywords, ideal word counts, and more which can aid in the aspects humans have to do a lot of work in order to get it right. However, humans still bring a strategic perspective, making sure your content is serving the audience’s intent rather than solely focusing on ranking.
For example, while AI might recommend keyword stuffing to achieve better rankings, human creators understand that readability, flow, and overall quality ultimately determine user engagement and retention. By balancing SEO recommendations with user experience, humans optimize content in a way that serves both search engines and readers.
Takeaways
Using AI in your content creation process will give you unlimited advantages when it comes to efficiency, consistency, and scalability as a whole. Yet, when it comes to authentic content, emotional resonance, and ethical oversights, a human editor or creator remains essential. As AI tools become more sophisticated, the optimal content strategy will be one that uses AI to its strengths while making sure human involvement in the right areas benefits everything.
Finding the right balance between AI and human effort isn’t about competition but collaboration. An AI tool shouldn’t replace your content process, it should aid.
By combining AI’s analytical power with human insight and emotion, brands can create content that is not only effective but also meaningful and engaging.
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