Will AI replace content writers?

In his famous essay “Technology for Mankind”, Jacob Bronowski mentioned that the advancement of technology will bring massive changes in human civilization. With the industrial revolution from Industry 1.0 to the present Industry 4.0, mankind is blessed by new technologies and machines. These are essential for the growth of civilization.

One of such great technology in the industry 4.0 era is Artificial Intelligence. And whenever we come across these two heavy words, the picture of automatic machines reflects in our mind. Along with this image, we visualize a group of unfortunate people who lost their jobs due to this technology.

There are debates all over the globe about how AI is snatching human jobs and to some extent, this is true. In manufacturing, supply chain, customer service, sales, and marketing, jobs have been affected by AI.

But what is the future of content writers? Whether they will be banished by AI?

What is AI?

Artificial Intelligence is one of the advanced software technologies that can imitate human behavior to perform various tasks. From the name itself, we can gather an idea that it helps machines, especially computer systems to simulate human intelligence. Complex algorithms and programming are used to develop and incorporate this technology in machines and smart devices.

We have already incorporated AI-powered devices like Alexa, Siri, Netflix movie recommendations in our daily routine and there are rising concerns that in near future, AI will replace several human-driven jobs like content writing. According to Semrush's report, by 2030, more than?20 million ?jobs only in the manufacturing sector will be lost due to AI-powered robots.

What is content automation?

In simple words, content automation is the process of automating some of the processes or areas in the content lifecycle. Like any other process automation, content automation also aims to reduce redundant, time-consuming, and costly processes.

In any content lifecycle, there are several processes that can be streamlined through automation like Search engine optimization (SEO), scheduling and tagging on social media, plagiarism checking, analyzing target market and audience.

Content automation has two verticals:

Natural Language Processing (NLP): In this type of content automation, the algorithm can translate human voices efficiently into texts. Even the AI mechanisms are capable to write automatically in various languages. An appropriate example of this is Google translate.

Natural Language Generation (NLG): With the help of NLP, the AI algorithms convert the conversation into a narrative story. Along with AI, this technology uses Machine Learning (ML) to make a comprehensive story-like output.

Pitfalls with AI writing tools:

Undoubtedly AI is the next big thing in content writing as well, but some aspects are there which will remain in human control.

Creativity: AI is great when it is supported by the human brain. The current progress in this technology requires important prompts and inputs from humans. Creativity is the glue of any content that keeps the reader attracted to the craft and it compels them to get back to the writer again and again. AI is the brainchild of humans and great in performing defined tasks, gathering facts, recognizing patterns but at any point in time, it will follow the footsteps of creative writers.

Judgment: AI has its restrictions to judge the perfect delivery of content to the audience. Though it is good enough to craft a short form of content with human prompts when it comes to delivering long-form engaging content, this technology struggles.

Variation: Variation is the quality of a writer. Every piece of writing needs a different form of delivery and variety. This not only enhances the quality of the product but also reflects the ability of the writer. Currently, AI is not that capable to bring uniqueness in its writing style. Moreover, the success of an article depends on the variety which must align with the engagement of the reader.?

Authenticity: It is a personal trait that reflects how truthful you are to your own personality, value and spirit. A great piece of writing reflects the authenticity of the creator, the delicacy he used to craft the article, and the detailed research behind the work. Simply, the AI tools are not that much efficient as of now to maintain the level of authenticity the readers expect.

Understanding Personas: It is believed that an amazing article can communicate with the reader, help them to imagine, and impact their mind and heart. You still need to have a human emotion behind the writing and when you think from the reader's point of view, you can do justice to the writing. AI tools are programmed by great programmers, with the help of amazing writers.

How can AI support content production?

There is no doubt that AI can be a great companion for content writers. It is an amazing way to free up the time of the writers and improve their productivity. Some of the areas where AI can benefit the content creators are

Ideas for Topics and Titles: Writers often find it hard to get an attractive title for the write-ups. AI can help in this scenario. There are online tools available that can prompt you great SEO-optimized titles when you type some keywords or nouns.

Content Optimization: As today's readers are mostly available on the internet, it is essential to create contents that are easy to get discovered by search engines. And the SEO practices play a big role here. AI-powered tools are great to create search engine optimized content.

Evaluate content performance: It is vital to evaluate the performance of your content as “things that can be measured, can be improved”. AI tools offer a variety of options, even customized ones to monitor the performance of your creation. AI-based software not only helps you to identify the flaws in your content but also suggests possible corrections.

Some AI writing bots presently available:

AT this point, you are surely eager to know what are the famous AI-powered tools available for content writing and how they are beneficial for the writers. Well, there are an array of options available in the market, and based on your requirement, you can select any of them. But here are some popular AI tools available online.

• Grammarly: Most writers use this amazing tool to get rid of any grammatical mistakes. This is great in any form of writing, be it a blog, article, whitepaper, email, or social media post. Through its advanced algorithm, it can identify grammatical mistakes and suggest probable changes. But remember, it is an AI tool and has its own restrictions. Therefore, do not adhere to the suggestions blindly.
• Wordtune: Apart from checking the grammar and spellings, this AI-based tool that helps you to inject your own thoughts into the writing.
• ProWritingAid: This tool helps you to make your article SEO friendly. It identifies long sentences, removes redundant texts and vagueness.
• INK editor: This is a distraction-free editor that provides writing support and search engine optimization assistance.
• Jasper: The algorithm of this AI-based tool helps to convert texts into unique articles.

The Future of AI Writers:

Technology is progressive in nature. We have observed the industrial revolution from Industry 1.0 where mechanization of production was introduced to the present theme of industry 4.0 where the movement of automation through the amalgamation of information and communication is taking place. And there is no doubt that this development will continue faster.

These technological developments surely dilute many man-driven jobs but will create more opportunities. All you need to be flexible and develop new skills. A?report of World Economic Forum ?says that algorithms will surely displace 75 million jobs in near future but will also create 133 million new opportunities.

Though the success rate of AI is great in the field of manufacturing, supply chain, and others, it is yet to create a big impact on content creation. Content writers are already using some of the AI-aided tools like Grammarly, Copyscape, and other plagiarism checking tools, SEO optimization software extensively. Imagine if this advanced technology can bring benefits in terms of research and data analysis, how much it can help to enhance the quality of content.

Final words:

Gradually, AI-powered tools and software will stretch their branches everywhere, including content writing. But it will not make content writers obsolete. Rather it will be a companion for the writers to create more SEO-friendly, nay, reader-friendly content. The important factor is that we, the writers, should be ready to embrace the changes and acquire new skills to deliver the best piece to our readers.