With new AI tools, how can writers adapt to changes?

Moolaram Mundliya puts forward ways in which SEO Writers can adapt to the new normal; by adding AI Tools to their daily life. He shares is a 'AI and Humans' situation and not a 'AI or Humans' situation.

Remember the movies of yore that predicted the takeover of the human race by AI? Apocalyptic films that showed us the power of AI almost always had devastating results! Well, AI is here to stay, but is it apocalyptic? Well, that’s for us to decide! We are at the cusp of an AI revolution, especially in the SEO content writing space with the introduction of ChatGPT and similar tools.

Today, various AI tools are used to generate content or improve the quality of existing content. However, these tools create a state of concern in writers who are left wondering if their industry is safe from an 'AI takeover.' SEO Content writers today are an anxious lot. Are they going to be rendered redundant? Is this the beginning of the end of their writing careers? To be honest? Not really. If they play their cards well, they can surf-ride this wave and have a smooth landing at the end of it.

Contrary to popular belief, these AI tools can be a boon for SEO writers. They can help curate superior content, provide real-time analytics, and improve a website's ranking. But do we really feel that artificial intelligence truly outsmarts writers? Let’s explore. 

AI and content, more like two peas in a pod!

AI writing or artificial intelligence can be defined as a text generator that operates based on user keywords and prompts. Over the past few years, AI has progressed remarkably and significantly, producing information that is becoming increasingly similar to human-generated content. There is a flood of AI tools that can be used to generate SEO-friendly content, including Chat GTP, Copy.ai, write sonic, and word AI amongst others... The USP of these tools is that they can help generate large volumes of content within minutes if not seconds. 

AI tools have been around for a while, but to understand their popularity, SEMrush conducted a large-scale study called the 'State of Content Ops & Outsourcing Report 2021' It investigated how organizations of all sizes and sectors manage their content operations, including content authoring. SEMrush conducted more than 20 in-depth video interviews with credible marketers for the report. One of the study's results revealed that 12% of respondents confessed to employing AI tools for writing articles. And this was before the ChatGPT tsunami!

AI and Google's Helpful Content Update

Despite the growth in the popularity of AI writing tools for SEO, there is an overall threat to the ratings of websites using AI-generated content because of Google's recent and practical algorithm update. This update came out on 5^th December 2022 and is dedicated to improving their classifier, affecting content written globally in all languages. As per Google, this update promotes content that is "authored by people, for people."

Because of this, many people believe that this update will specifically target websites with AI-generated content - but that might not necessarily be true. The update is meant to target generally lousy content that is created mainly to rank better in search engines rather than to deliver helpful content to consumers. To avoid the adverse effects of this update, it is recommended that websites focus on improving the overall quality of their content.

Also Read: Writer’s Corner: K-Drama product placements – Endless loop of unskippable ads that we can’t stop watching

How can writers adapt to AI tools?

Step number 1 would be to first embrace this development. Once that is done and dusted, it’s time to explore the almost magical world of AI writing. SEO writers need to upskill and equip themselves with all things AI.

Understand the various tools out there, play around and see which prompts yield the best results. AI tools can be used to create SEO content - but one needs to avoid using it for web pages and blogs, rather use it for social media posts, PPC copy, ad copy etc. Keyword research and analysis too gets done in a jiffy as well as the generation of SEO titles. AI tools like ChatGPT are smart enough to write meta descriptions and debug code! Writers are will be able to save hundreds of work hours by employing AI in their writing. But there’s a catch - you can’t leave it all up to the machines - you have to check, recheck and check again.

SEO writers can use AI tools to analyze industry trends, interpret data, and generate keyword-specific content. This will help them gain in-depth insights and use the information effectively with their own viewpoints and personal touch. The tools can also be used to see what type of content is performing well online so that the writers can deliver niche content to their audience.

Writers can further partner with developers and data scientists to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the AI field. This will ensure that they use the best practices, techniques, and strategies. It will also enable them to stay relevant and effective with their content from an SEO perspective. Let us consider an example. Mentioned below are two paragraphs - one written by AI, and the other by a writer. 

AI: 

Content Writer

AI writing tools are a force to reckon with. Although they can appear to be a risk to content creators at first glance, if you look closely, these tools can significantly help everyone in terms of research, editing, language, productivity, and so on. When used properly, these AI-powered technologies can:

1. Speed up and improve the content creation process, thereby improving productivity. 
2. Be helpful for businesses to generate better content that is highly relevant to the audience's needs.
3. Help create tailored content ideas to boost personalization since it helps generate conversions and develop consumer trust for firms.

So, coming back to our first question - ‘Will artificial intelligence replace content writers?’ Well, no. Generative AI has immense scope for development and will take over many more industries in the years to come. Consequently, AI will tremendously help in the content creation process. However, AI will not be able to replace the wisdom, thought process, and expertise that come with a content writer. So, while your questions and fears are rational, they might need a fresh chain of thoughts. Anybody denying the growth of AI is a far cry away from reality, but all things considered, we are still years away from AI becoming as relevant as writers. The fact of the matter is, we are on the brink of a revolution and only time will tell whether the outcome is utopian or dystopian!

This article is penned by Moolaram Mundliya, Group Head SEO, AdLift.

The views expressed in the article are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publication.*