First, as a Best Practice Specialist for Website Marketing, my primary job does not currently intersect with AI.
Why? Because my primary function is to:
- Identify the changes on your website that will bring the biggest returns on your investment.
Why?
- Because some best practices are extremely easy to overlook.
- So that good intentions don’t diminish your returns.
- Because doing it right the first time allows you to compete in the marketplace.
But couldn’t AI do that?
Someday.
Maybe.
Right now, AI can’t crawl a website for this purpose.
Besides, after a seismic shift in market response, most data available to AI on the subject is outdated.
Why?
Because people buy on emotion and then justify with logic.
For AI, it’s enough to have all the required information available. Not for humans. We want things the way we want them. We can tell AI that, but it will never understand.
Now, if you choose to hire me to provide content, here is how I approach AI in my work.
We live in a digital world. Most of our tools are digital. Almost everyone constantly carries a digital computer around with them.
We call it a phone, but it is much more than a telephone.
There were, no doubt, those who refused to embrace the printing press when it was invented. That didn’t stop it.
Many complained about the coming of the steam engine trains that replaced horses.
Teachers used to refuse to allow calculators in class, saying, “You won’t always have access to a calculator!” (See Phones above)
AI is here; I see no choice but to embrace and learn to use it. The trick is to use it well and wisely. To ensure transparency, security, and the highest standards of quality and originality.
Here is the core of my policy:
· AI is an assistant, not a writer.
· I don’t put your confidential information into a public AI tool without your permission.
Here is a more detailed depiction of how I currently see and use AI.
AI is useful for:
· Research: Why waste a day searching for a quote that you can almost remember when AI can dig it out for you? Or checking a data point? It can also be used to check one AI against another for accuracy.
· Restating: Have you ever gotten stuck in wording something – whether a sentence or a story? AI can help blow through those writer’s blocks by suggesting a way to rephrase it.
· Brainstorming: AI is good for generating ideas.
· Outlining arguments or presentations: Computers can catch minute details that people might miss. Why recreate the wheel?
· Market Research: AI can gather and analyze far more data from the web than any human could. It collects data from social media, surveys, online reviews, and more.
· Summaries and transcription: AI can be used to transcribe. This work would otherwise be cost-prohibitive.
· Data Analysis: AI can look at big chunks of data. This gives insights into how people behave, what they like, and what’s trending. Copywriters can use this info to craft more targeted and effective content.
AI is problematic for:
· Originality and creativity: AI is fast. But it usually lacks that spark of true originality. Copywriters are needed for creative, unique solutions.
· Contextual understanding: AI is prone to missing subtle contextual cues or cultural nuances. Copywriters are needed to ensure your message is heard.
· Trustworthiness: AI can sometimes generate inaccurate or outdated information.
· Emotions: AI can’t feel pain or joy. So it can’t relate to its audience in a meaningful way. Since humans can experience emotions, skilled copywriters can write from their own experience. AI is forced to use the verbal equivalent of stock photography.
Your project is too important to entrust to AI.
Your message is directed at people, not computers. It must connect with people.
To accomplish this, you need human beings to create the content that communicates your message.
Again, AI makes a great assistant—except that it hasn’t learned how to refill my mug or pick up my dry cleaning. However, its limitations make it a poor substitute for a real copywriter.
Remember, people buy based on emotion, and then justify their purchase logically.
Your content is too important to entrust entirely to a computer.
I use my car as an assistant to get me to and from the store faster. I’ll use AI in the ways it can make my life and work simpler, too.
Thank you for entrusting me with your content creation needs. I look forward to discussing how we can collaborate to achieve your goals.