Human vs AI vs Hybrid Content: The Risk to Content Quality

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology continues to evolve, it has become an increasingly important tool for content creation. However, the effectiveness of AI tools in producing quality content has been a contentious issue. With these tools offering the potential to automate and streamline content creation, it’s vital to consider the implications of incorporating AI into the content creation process.

Here we explore the potential of AI in content creation and the role of human authors and editors in ensuring quality. We also take a look at how AI is affecting the importance of authorship in content creation.

There’s no doubt that AI has revolutionized the field of content creation.  The vast range of tools and algorithms to automate and streamline the process offers content teams the opportunity to vastly improve their process.

However, there are concerns about the risk to content quality when relying heavily on AI-generated content. While AI content creation tools provide efficiency and speed, they may lack the human creativity and nuanced understanding that a human writer possesses. This poses a challenge for content marketing, as ensuring that high-quality content reaches the target audience is crucial for successful digital marketing campaigns.

AI-powered content creation tools such as AI writers and content generators have the potential to produce a vast amount of content, but it’s essential to consider the implications of solely relying on these tools. While they can save time and effort, an over-reliance on AI content may lead to a decline in content quality. 

Content generators often lack the ability to tailor content for specific audiences, resulting in generic and unhelpful content that fails to engage readers. Furthermore, AI algorithms may be biased and struggle with understanding context and emotion in written content. This can potentially leading to inaccuracies or insensitive content. 

So, while AI technology can aid in content generation, it is crucial to strike a balance between AI-powered tools and the expertise of human writers to maintain the quality and relevance of content.

Interesting Insights

• AI can be beneficial in content creation, particularly for generating outlines or repurposing content. However, it often falls short in generating high-quality, unique content.
• Editors play a crucial role in maintaining content quality, especially when AI is used in content creation.
• The rise of experience, expertise, authority, and trust (EEAT) in Google’s search algorithm makes all content a high stakes game.
• Authorship matters in content creation and can influence how well a piece of content performs.
• The more automation and technology we use, the more human the content needs to be to engage audiences effectively.

Takeaways

AI can enhance content creation without eliminating human writers

Rather than replacing human writers, AI content tools can streamline the system by automating time-consuming tasks, thus allowing them to focus on crafting high-quality content. Brenner emphasizes that incorporating AI into the content production process doesn’t mean sacrificing quality or delivering mediocre content.

“Trust but verify. We’ve tried all the tools out there… We’ve been using tools in marketing for a decade, and so I’ve been pushing our team to figure it out right from the very beginning,” said Brenner. He further explains how AI can supplement the human writing process, “We utilize tools in all of our activities, whether it’s project management or keyword optimization or on-page optimization or email automation.”

Brenner stresses the importance of maintaining quality, “We owe it to our clients to check out AI and see if we could save. So we’ve been open, if not a little skeptical of the hype about this technology from the beginning.”

Hybrid content creation process can be beneficial

A hybrid approach, combining AI and human efforts, can be an effective way to produce high-quality content. However, it is essential to ensure that AI-generated content matches the brand’s voice and exhibits the necessary expertise to build trust and authority.

Brenner details their hybrid approach: “We looked at all the different generative AI writing solutions… We utilize tools in all of our activities… We’re pushing our team, like, hey, if you can save 15 minutes out of a three-hour blog post process, then save the 15 minutes.”

He further elaborates, “For content writers, now you can focus on strategy. What posts are you going to write? Where are you going to distribute it?” However, he cautioned that even when AI is helpful, the content still needs to be checked for quality, “We do not believe, and trust me, we’ve tried. We’ve asked, like, hey, do you want to just become heavy editors of AI generated first drafts.”

The value of authorship in content creation

In the era of AI content generation, the importance of human authorship has become a prominent discussion. Brenner emphasizes the significance of maintaining a human touch in content writing and the role of editors in ensuring quality and authenticity.

“Authorship really matters. And so that has a lot of implications for, I think, especially large companies and how they’re sourcing and telling the stories and the expertise that they have,” says Brenner. He further notes the need for authenticity, “People will engage more with human-written content that has a certain quality.”

Brenner concludes, “Personality wins, I think, when it comes to this kind of stuff. So, yeah, just have an author.” He highlights the need for content to express expertise, authority, experience, and trust, which can only come from a human writer, not a brand.

Key Quotes

“The Paradox of AI means that the more automation and technology we use, the more human the content and the brand perception that we want to convey needs to be because people are always going to want to do business with other people, not with robots.” – Michael Brenner

“If you can save 15 minutes out of a three-hour blog post process, then save the 15 minutes. Or if you can just focus your time on the quality of the writing in a little bit more than having to solve that blank page problem.” – Michael Brenner

“Your content needs to be authentic and authenticatable even if it’s assisted by AI.” – Jeff Coyle

“We’ve always believed in human generated quality content published consistently, driving results.” – Michael Brenner

“We live in the world of unpredictable stakes… When person wrote the article about the ten top restaurants in Ottawa, number three could have been a pizza place that doesn’t have really good pizza. Right? It’s kind of high stakes reputation.” – Jeff Coyle

“We believe that that sentiment is still out there, although I think the hype has started to decline and the trough of disillusionment has been reached in many cases. But now, hopefully, we can build from a realistic baseline.” – Michael Brenner on AI hype in marketing.

Featured Guest

Michael Brenner is a Top CMO, Content Marketing and Digital Marketing Influencer, an international keynote speaker, author of “Mean People Suck” and “The Content Formula” and he is the CEO and Founder of Marketing Insider Group, a leading Content Marketing Agency. He has worked in leadership positions in sales and marketing for global brands like SAP and Nielsen, as well as for thriving startups. Today, Michael helps build successful content marketing programs for leading brands and startups alike.