AI and machine learning tools have recently burst into life in the field of copywriting, with many companies now using platforms such as Jasper.ai and OpenAI to generate multiple forms of written content, from product descriptions to blog posts. While this can be seen as a win for businesses looking to save time and money, it sparks an important question: Will machine-written content ever live up to what can be created by the human mind? And are copywriters at risk of losing vital work to an online tool?
In short, the answer is both yes and no. Let’s break it down.
Pros of using AI Tools for copywriting
Time Saving and Efficiency
One of the biggest advantages that AI has over human copywriters is the speed at which it is able to analyze large amounts of data and generate content, allowing for faster production times and lower costs.
Scalability
For simple, straightforward copywriting tasks, AI software can be ideal for brands looking to generate large amounts of content as quickly as possible. For example, an informative 1200-word blog post can be written within a matter of seconds, whereas it may take a freelancer several hours.
Overcoming Writer’s Block
When struggling to find topic ideas, write a catchy headline or create bullet points for your blog post, AI tools can be really useful to help you get started, providing a basic outline to springboard from.
Cons of using AI Tools for copywriting
Lack of creativity
While AI can be ideal for basic tasks that simply require information to be laid out in a specific format, more creative tasks are likely to require the ability to think outside the box, something that can only really be done by the human mind. Crafting a brand story, creating a clever tagline or writing a unique and compelling ad are all tasks that rely on creating thinking and truly knowing the brand and its audience.
Lack of Emotions
Human copywriters are able to understand and connect with their target audience on an emotional and psychological level, which is crucial when creating effective and persuasive copy that triggers a response. AI, however, lacks this ability, and will therefore struggle to incorporate emotional elements and natural nuances of language and tone into its writing.
Errors and Inaccuracies
AI-generated content may contain errors that a human copywriter would catch, such as outdated or inaccurate information, or miss out on valuable details that could have been included. This means that manually assessing and editing each piece of AI-produced content is necessary to ensure that everything is 100% correct, which could end up taking much longer than originally planned.
Lack of context
While its capabilities are vast, AI can sometimes struggle to understand the tone, style, or context of the content it is generating, resulting in something that may not be fully tailored to its target audience.
The future (for now)
So will AI replace human copywriters? It depends on how you look at it.
For data-driven writing tasks, there may be some competition, but forward-thinking copywriters may actually be able to use AI software as a tool to help them streamline their process.
As for more creative projects? When it comes to crafting original, unique and memorable content that requires imagination and empathy, nothing truly beats the human mind.
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