The Limitations of AI in Content Creation
Creating content can be a headache. So, of course, when ChatGPT burst onto the scene, Marketers everywhere breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally… the days of slogging out content were done. Our AI overlords can now take over.
But it's easy to get swept up in the excitement of all the possibilities and forget that AI still has its limitations. And that’s putting it lightly. While AI can improve certain aspects of content creation, it still falls short in many areas.
Here are a few of the primary limitations:
Limitation 1: Lack of Creativity
Have you ever read an article that’s been written by AI? It’s a bit of a snooze fest 😪
AI generates content based on pre-existing data sets and patterns, which means it can't create something new or out of the box. It’s a copy of content that’s already out there. That a human already wrote. But without any spice, personal knowledge, or new ideas.
If AI content were a spice, it would be flour.
Creative content requires imagination and an understanding of human emotions, nuances, and experiences, something that machines can’t replicate. And honestly, if they could - god (or whoever is running this gaff) help us all.
Limitation 2: Inability to Interpret Context
A worrying limitation of AI tools like ChatGPT is the inability to interpret context accurately. While, AI can analyze data and generate content based on it, but it can't always understand the nuances of a particular topic or context. Leading to content that’s inaccurate, offensive, or even dangerous.
ChatGPT gives this warning on its homepage:
May occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content
I mean we all saw iRobot.
But seriously, when writing about sensitive topics like mental health advice for teenagers, AI may lack the sensitivity and empathy to address the issue appropriately. Or it may perpetuate harmful biases and stereotypes, specifically if the data used to train the algorithm is biased or limited in some way.
But more on that later.
Limitation 3: Lack of Personalization
Without a doubt, AI is a powerful tool that accelerates content creation. But it's important to remember that it can't match the human touch when it comes to personalization. Providing tailored content is essential for effective content marketing and sales. And that's where we humans truly shine.
Sure, AI can give you a general idea of what your audience wants and point you in the right direction — but it will never truly grasp their unique perspectives and challenges. That's why it's critical to harness the power of both AI and human expertise to create content that’s helpful, enjoyable to read, and resonates with your audience.
Limitation 4: Ethical & legal concerns
There are plenty of legal and ethical concerns surrounding AI-generated content, like copyright infringement, plagiarism, and biases. If AI spits out content that's already been created by someone else… Well, it could lead to some serious legal issues and damage reputation.
But that’s just the start.
The ethical concerns, including the potential for the content to be biased or discriminatory, are particularly worrying. As AI systems are trained on existing data sets, they may reflect the biases in those datasets, leading to content that perpetuates those biases.
Of course, that’s not to say that humans aren’t biased. But while AI bias can be unintentional, it can be more difficult to detect and correct compared to human biases, which can be recognized and addressed through education and awareness. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure that AI-generated content is thoroughly reviewed by humans that know the subject matter before hitting the publish button. Or the consequences could be dire.
So, should you be using AI to create content?
Yes, you should!
While AI has its downsides, it has undoubtedly made content creation more accessible and efficient. I won’t lie. I used ChatGPT to help me draft this article because one of the aspects of writing that I struggle with is getting started.
And AI shaved a good 30 mins off the starting process, helping me to formulate ideas and structure the article coherently. I still had to edit 99% of it.
BUT ChatGTP is an EXCELLENT virtual assistant.
Here are some examples of how I use it:
- Making wordy sentences concise.
- Giving me variations on headlines or bullets.
- Researching terminology I'm unfamiliar with.
- Summarizing scientific or technical explanations.
To make creative, accurate, ethical, and personalized content, humans need to be involved in production. But by combining the speed and efficiency of AI with human creativity and empathy, we can create fab content faster. In many cases, AI tools like ChatGPT are truly helping creators to enhance their creative work.
And that’s what AI should be helping us with - the time-consuming and dull shit that no one wants to do. If AI evolves to become good enough at reflecting the human experience and reducing the need for human creativity. Like writing books, producing music, and making art…
Well, we have a problem on our hands.
(Not sure if anyone still watches South Park, but I noticed this at the end of last week’s episode).
But THAT’s a topic for another article.
As marketers, it's crucial to keep these limitations in mind when developing your content strategy and to find the right balance between AI and human involvement.
And that’s where I come in! 👋
Hey, I’m Phoebe - I’m a human that give SaaS companies a voice. I’m always up for new projects. So, if you want to collab, tell me a bit more about your content needs. We can set up a chat to see if we’d make a good team.
No email is unwelcome, and I reply to everyone!
