Q: Should I use AI to create content? I’m hearing mixed reviews. What are your thoughts?
A: My answer is maybe but I’m not convinced it’s a good idea to use AI to create content… here’s why.
Is AI the latest and greatest tool that can help improve productivity and reduce the need for human researchers and writers? Maybe, but maybe not.
I’m not one to jump on the bandwagon. I like to watch, learn, research and then determine what’s right for me.
I sat in on an AI discussion and demo led by a linguistics professional.
Here’s what I observed.
AI is far from perfect, ChatGPT pulled inaccurate info and even made things up (including a species of lizards that doesn’t exist).
Many of the answers sounded plausible and authoritarian. However, when requesting citations and sources of the info, ChatGPT spit out links and info that were inaccurate, non-existent or sites that produced 404 errors (that means the web page cannot be found). When fact-checked via the actual web, the facts were, in fact, false.
AI “Hallucinates” Answers
Developers have shared that ChatGTP and inherent AI programs are known to “hallucinate” information which seems to be a fancy way to say it will continually make random things up. More on that via this article from Markets Insider.
ChatGPT will keep ‘hallucinating’ wrong answers for years to come and won’t take off until it’s on your cellphone, Morgan Stanley says
What many fail to realize is that while you can search the AI platforms, this is not a search engine (although some search engines like BING are incorporating it with issues). The AI platforms have been fed info. On the flip side, not all information is accurate or current. I hope those who are using it are fact-checking…interesting times. Oh, and I forgot to mention that AI has also been known to threaten users.
What about intellectual property?
AI can be used to produce ideas, lists, and content. The question is, “who actually owns that intellectual property?” Something else to consider is how sources can be deemed accurate. It’s my understanding that you cannot copyright AI-produced content and graphics.
There is still much to learn. For now, I’m glad that I have decades’ worth of content I can easily repurpose and refresh rather than relying on technology to do my critical thinking for me…
I will continue to watch the news and approach using AI to create content with caution.
Are you using artificial intelligence platforms? If so, how is that working for you? Leave your comments and links to articles here. I’d love to hear from people using AI to create content.
ASK YOUR QUESTIONS AND TAKE THE NEXT STEPS HERE
Do you have questions about branding, copywriting, publicity and marketing? Submit your questions here.
Interested in custom 1-to-1 marketing and strategy support? Explore your options here.
Anyone who uses AI (or any technology) for non-fiction writing without fact checking is certainly asking for trouble. The fact that AI “hallucinates” should actually make users understand that this technology is far different than article spinners of the past – it is using the data from its training model (often thousands of data points) to generate entirely new content, which might work for fiction writers, but can be disastrous for non-fiction writers. There is no question – AI makes stuff up.
AI is in its infancy. All sorts of legal issues are likely to play out in the next few years, and as they do, the technology is going to continue to gain momentum and create new opportunities. It will be interesting to watch how this plays out, both from a legal stand point and a user stand point.
I for one have found that if you treat it like a tool for creating new ideas, it can save you countless hours. But using the results without putting your own experiences, observations, opinions and emotion into what you publish isn’t doing anyone, including yourself, any favors.
I recently presented a webinar about all these points, including how to create the best prompts for generating the kind of output desired. You can catch the replay at https://vimeo.com/808266939
Thanks for an informative post.