Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for longer than you may think (the earliest successful program being written in 1951), but in recent years the technology behind it has become faster, smarter, and suitable for more practical uses.
One such use is AI tools for creating content (written, images, videos, audio, etc). Compared to previous examples of AI usage, the quality is vastly improved, and there are now a growing number of tools available to adapt AI for business uses.
There are pros and cons to using AI in a business setting, and these need to be carefully weighed and balanced before decisions are made regarding AI program usage.
The Pros of Using AI Tools for Content
Increases Productivity – When you’re working with a reliable tool, you can generate ideas, content, and automate repetitive jobs. This frees up the time of your human team to handle more complex tasks or involved processes.
Encourages Innovation – If you have teams who require frequent generation of ideas or starting points, running an AI to generate potential talking points can be extremely useful, and much faster than having people research topics themselves.
Wider Availability – As long as the AI program is online and running, then you have 24/7 availability to create your content, this can be extremely useful in situations with tight deadlines or sudden requests for content.
Allows for Error-Free Processing – If you have a simple formula, or have carefully imputed your instructions into the AI program, it will run them as instructed every time – this means that once you’ve found the right formula, you can reduce the number of errors involved in a given task.
The Cons of Using AI Content for Business
Can Damage Morale – If you’re using an AI to handle simple tasks, that means your team is left with the difficult ones, with no ‘easy’ work to break these pieces up, it can be exhausting and lead to a reduction in staff morale.
May Increase Unemployment – If you’re replacing your team in favour of AI programming, it may reduce your staff costs, but it also reduces the number of specialists, experts, and trained individuals you have to handle important matters.
Higher Costs in Usage – Most AI tools do have free ‘basic’ trial versions, but to make full use of the programs, and receive support, licensed ‘full’ versions are required, and some of these operate on scalable pay models, where the more you use them – or the more operating systems you have them on – the more you need to pay.
Text Can Read Strangely – Language is a funny thing, and AI programs aren’t quite there yet when it comes to adding in subtext, humour, using contractions or local slang / jargon in appropriate fashion. If you have a machine writing your content, and it reads like it’s been written by a machine, it’s not going to emotionally connect with your audience.
Lack of Professional Understanding – Some industries use highly specialised processes, tools, and have appropriate language for this. Without the knowledge and experience of the writer/creator behind the content, AI generated content may be lacking a technical understanding of the topic and actually make no sense.
Content Still Needs to be Reviewed – We’re not yet at a stage where most AI programs can create 100% perfect content on the first go, and time will still need to be taken to evaluate and review the content to ensure it’s fit for purpose.
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Making Smart Business Decisions for AI Usage
As we’ve demonstrated, there are reasons for and against adopting AI for creative purposes, and whether you make use of the technology or not will largely depend on your business, its needs, and whether the software is actually capable of handling the complexity or styling that your creative team bring to the content.
Undoubtably, over time, AI is going to continue to improve and become more effective in handling various tasks, so even if it doesn’t work for you now – it may work for you in the future. It is important that you take the time to discuss implementing its usage with your team – if people feel they’re being replaced by the programs, they’re going to be less inclined to produce high-quality content, and may even start looking for work with other employers. Balancing the need for efficiency, costs, your people, and the creative flair that really only comes with real people, is going to be at the core of your approach to using AI creative tools.