The risks of using AI to produce website content, and how to avoid them

In the current period of intensive digital transformation, the use of AI tools has become increasingly popular across a wide range of industries and teams. Within marketing teams specifically, when trying to keep up with everchanging consumer demands, it can be tempting to look to AI to make the content production process quicker and easier. However, whilst tools such as Chat-GPT or Claude.ai can be incredibly useful in allowing for content to be written within seconds, relying solely on this method does not come without risks.

Risks of using AI for website copy creation:

• Generic, mass-produced content: Whilst it is possible to train AI to 'speak' in ways which represent your brand (to 'speak' in ways which mimic your brand's voice', AI tools lack emotional intelligence and fail to understand human nuances. As a result, content produced by AI lacks compelling storytelling, falls short in demonstrating unique ideas and struggles to connect with the audience on a personal level. Relying exclusively on AI can lead to content that fails to provide value for your audience and may dilute your brands previous and future content.

• Inaccuracy and misinformation: AI-generated content is by no means perfect. Whilst the benefical abilities of AI tools may be appealing, AI generated content might compromise reliability as AI-tools often produces informational inaccuracies. Popular tools such as Chat-GPT version 3.5 - the most advanced free version to date - operates on data collected prior to January 2022, therefore lacks access to cutting-edge information on trends and current affairs. It is therefore vital to fact check any content that the AI produces.

• Lack of SEO optimisation/indexing: Making sure content is SEO optimised is critical in ensuring that your content is found by your intended audience. In order to deploy effective SEO tactics, a deep, up to date, understanding of trends, key words, and algorithms is required, and AI tools are very unlikely to have access to this information. In addition to this, in order to encourage authentic content, Google actively rejects content which is seen to be AI generated, meaning that any AI-generated Chat-GPT-produced content is unlikely to reach your desired audiences. Latest updates to the Google algorithm are expected to result in a 40% reduction in unoriginal, AI-generated content appearing in search results.

• Ethical considerations: AI tools are only as good as the data they are trained on. The datasets used for AI training can often include biases, political leanings, and discriminatory or offensive opinions, meaning that the content produced by these tools can mirror these views. It is not surprising that inappropriate content has the potential to severely damage a brand's reputation. Hence, human intervention is critical to mitigate any potentially inappropriate views and make sure that the content you produce represents the morals and values of your brand. Many also argue that AI content cannot be published as original content owned by an individual or organisation as AI tools gain their knowledge from existing content across the internet. Therefore, adding a human touch to your content can save you from potential future legal troubles.

There is no denying that AI can be an incredibly useful tool when producing website content, however the risks of using AI incorrectly are damaging. At Reading Room, we advocate for the use of AI where appropriate, and we have a team dedicated to the exploration of AI tools within our industry. As a result, we have produced a list of tips which will help marketing teams navigate AI tools safely, and effectively.

How to use AI tools to effectively produce website copy:

• Add the human touch: Using AI tools for ideation is a great place to start. AI-generated ideas can then be shaped by marketing teams to produce content with human attributes, such as emotion, opinions and a appropriate brand tone of voice. It is vital to have a a human overlook the content to spot any inconsistencies or errors which AI tools may overlook. Content that has is edited by humans will rank higher in search engines, resonate with audiences, and ultimately increase your reach.

• Optimise for SEO: Once the copywriting process is finished, your SEO experts should ensure that the content is optimised to perform well within search engines such as Google. While relevant keywords, structure, meta descriptions, and backlink strategies can all be inspired by AI, there is a need for up-to-date industry knowledge and data to successfully implement SEO practices. Quality over speed is likely to improve search engine rankings.

• Continuously train AI tools (How To): One way to ensure content produced by AI is relevant to your brand is to train the tools in your brand's tone of voice, ethics and culture. This will ensure any content produced by the AI will have taken your brand's guidelines into account, potentially speeding up the quality assurance process. Such feature is available on Chat-GPT 4 with a 'Plus' subscription. It allows you to train your own AI-model for any use. Simply feed the tool information about your brand, for us that could look like: 'We are a digital transformation agency, who value curiosity, and outside of the box ideas'. Then simply ask the tool to bear that description in mind when responding to future queries.

• Learn useful prompts: AI is only as useful as the prompts we feed it. The AI community are consistently publishing useful prompts that allow users to get the most out of these tools and generate relevant and useful content. Make sure that your prompts are specific as possible as vague prompts leave more room for AI tools to generate irrelevant content. It is a good idea to include precise details in your prompt, such as the tone of voice, target audience, word count and format - that way you are more likely to end up with AI-generated content that requires significantly less editing.

In the age of digital transformation, AI tools like Chat-GPT and Claude.ai are undeniably useful when looking to produce content at speed. However, relying solely on AI poses risks: AI-generated content often lacks uniqueness and emotional connection, may contain inaccuracies, and faces SEO challenges due to Google's algorithm changes. To use AI effectively, human oversight is crucial for refining content and ensuring authenticity. SEO optimisation continues to require human expertise, and we recommend continuous training of AI tools with brand-specific guidelines and the use of highly detailed prompts to enhances the relevance of AI-generated content.

At Reading Room, we are advocates for appropriate AI use, offering tips for safe and effective navigation. Integrating human oversight, SEO optimisation, continuous training, and specific prompts can harness AI's potential while mitigating risks in website content creation.