Artificial intelligence copywriting is useful when you don’t have time for the human touch. It can provide you with an initial draft so that you can start thinking about whether it works, or tweak it to suit your own needs. Of course, we should all be using AI in our roles as marketers and copywriters as it is a great way to automate repetitive tasks.
AI copywriting is not only faster than human-written copy, it's also more effective. With AI copywriting, you get high quality content at a faster speed than ever before.
Could you tell that the above two paragraphs were written by an AI copywriter?
Well, we could.
Firstly, the phrasing of “human touch” when talking about writing blogs, emails, or other forms of copy is just a bit different. Your average, run-of-the-mill copywriter probably wouldn’t use those words, but it’s not a massive blunder.
Grammar seems to be the main issue regarding AI copywriting, as the tool effectively copies phrases and sentences from the interweb and then restructures them to form complete sentences.
From an initial glance, we noticed three grammar errors/mistakes in the first couple of paragraphs of this blog:
- You don’t necessarily need the comma in the sentence “... about whether it works, or tweak…”
- There should be a comma after “copywriters” in the sentence “... as marketers and copywriters as it is…”
- There should be a hyphen in between “high” and “quality” in the last sentence
Now, most people would just read past these mistakes without thinking too much about them, but as copywriters, our eyes have been trained to pick up mistakes within pieces of text. It’s a serious curse.
But is AI copywriting worth it? We’d say no. Nonetheless, if you’re interested in learning a little more about AI copywriting, keep reading as we break down what it is and why we’re still a little while away from it taking over.
What is AI Copywriting?
When it comes to AI copywriting, you can essentially think of it as AI copies writing because that’s precisely what’s happening.
AI copywriting tools are machine-learning, meaning they scour the internet and look for certain patterns between words to then form a full sentence. Anything that’s available online is subject to an AI copywriter’s learning and usage. Yes, even the words in your annoying Uncle’s Facebook rant about the local bakery running out of pork pies are subjected to an AI copywriter’s scanning.
If you were to use an AI copywriting tool, all you’d have to do is fill out a few prompts and leave it to do its thing. Most of the time, you can get full sentences or even paragraphs in just a few seconds.
Above everything else, AI copywriting is a much, much, much faster way to write headlines, blogs, and everything else in between. Writing and editing copy can be a very lengthy process, especially if you have other tasks that take precedence.
This all sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, we’re still a *very* long way away from AI copywriting becoming the norm. Here’s why.
Why AI Copywriting Is Still a Work in Progress
Proofreading
A big issue with AI copywriting is proofreading, in that there is none. In the later part of 2022, KFC Germany was forced to apologise for an AI-generated app notification that was deemed "insensitive and unacceptable".
The tweet in question referred to Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass, in which Nazis carried out pogroms against Jewish individuals in Germany and Austria on the nights of the 9th and 10th of November 1938.
The fast-food chain released the notification, "It's memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!" after automating notifications from a bot linked to national observances.
The AI-generated app notifications were quickly suspended, but plenty of people saw this one before KFC could intervene.
Tone of Voice
Everybody writes and speaks differently, meaning that all copywriters will write their blogs, emails, and even text messages in a different tone of voice to the next one.
AI algorithms generate content based on patterns and data across the internet, and while they can produce content at incredible speeds, it's often lacking in creativity and originality.
AI copywriting tools all write in the same way. Sure, you can include in the tool's prompt for it to write in a humorous, spooked, sophisticated or sarcastic tone, but you could get every other AI copywriting tool to write in those TOVs, and it would sound pretty much the same.
Misleading Information
As mentioned above, AI copywriters scour the internet for patterns in order to form sentences. If the algorithm comes across some false information in its hunt to accomplish your prompt, it won’t stop at using that information to its own benefit.
And then, if you decide not to proofread the work that the tool has presented to you before uploading it somewhere, you’re putting out false information with your name on it, which could spark some negative backlash.
There are plenty of free AI copywriting tools online, so you can have a bit of a play-around if you want, but we’d always recommend the real deal and utilising the work and efforts of real-life copywriters.
If you’re on the lookout for an expert digital marketing agency (with a killer copywriting team), then get in touch with us today!
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