Can you use AI for content creation or copywriting?

When AI first became the shiny new tool that everyone was talking about, I could see how it might be a game-changer in some areas.

Better and quicker patient diagnostics in healthcare? Absolutely. Detecting fraud? Makes sense.

But AI for content creation or as a copywriter?

Image by Vecteezy

I turned my nose up at it. After all, engaging copy is about understanding your audience, their problems, and what they need, and, importantly, writing solutions in a natural, human way. Surely no algorithm could do that.

I’m coming round to the idea of AI

So, what's changed?

I've started to come round to the idea of using AI. Used properly, AI isn't a hindrance to what I do; I'm begrudgingly starting to admit it can genuinely help in some aspects of marketing.

Here's how I'm using it these days.

Otter.ai. I use this to record interviews so I can concentrate on what a person is saying rather than taking notes. This results in a conversational interview where I can glean additional information based on their answers and the discussion

Perplexity.ai for research. I like that it gives links to sources so you can verify and sense-check information

ChatGPT and Claude can help overcome the dreaded 'blank screen' stage. I use them if I'm stuck for an idea or an angle. They're also good for summarising key points from different research sources. Crucially, I never use these to write for me, and that’s the mistake I see many companies making. They see AI as a quick win for writing content. Besides being lazy (in my view!), the copy it produces doesn’t sound human or on-brand and repeats what’s already out there. It’s not original.

Grammarly.com is great for spotting annoying typos or grammatical errors you might miss. But don’t use all suggestions, or you could end up with bland copy that doesn’t reflect your tone or style.

monday.com. Some of my work involves working with external teams. Monday helps with project and workload planning and updating others on our projects.

I've even tested ChatGPT and Google Gemini for creating images. I'm still in the early phase, but some results have been good, others disastrous. As with any AI tool, you need to be very clear with the prompts...but I still seem to end up with people with six fingers on each hand!

Yes, I have some reservations

OK, six fingers aside, I still have reservations about the use of AI in marketing.

No matter how good AI is, you can’t beat learning on the job. There is a danger that the skills we seasoned pros have picked up over the years become assigned to a dusty old shoebox. AI doesn’t have the emotional understanding of the problems people face and how to resolve them.

AI dilutes creativity. It produces generic, uninspired content that fails to engage.

People entering the industry today who use AI won't learn core skills like copywriting and storytelling and will miss out on the learning and development opportunities that come from doing these tasks manually.

AI for content creation or copywriting?

So, although I'm coming round to the idea of AI in marketing, I have caveats.

I admit it's useful for processing huge amounts of data, providing insights, generating content ideas or scheduling tasks. But, and it’s a big but for me. We mustn't become too reliant on it.

It can't beat creativity, and that's what appeals to audiences. Not the same bland content time and time again. So, for me, AI still fails miserably at content creation or copywriting.

What do you think? Do you use AI?

If you want original, authentic and engaging copy written by a human that helps you stand out from the AI slop, Let’s have a chat.