Sutton Coldfield-based marketing agency EDGE Creative has urged businesses against rushing to utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI) such as Chat GPT in marketing, warning of the pitfalls of viewing the technology as a quick-fix magic wand that enables infinite content generation.
With the exponential evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) permeating every aspect of human life, most sectors are benefitting in some way from the technology. But as advancements such as Chat GPT are seemingly giving businesses and marketeers a super-efficient way of producing content, EDGE Creative director and founder Louise Pinnington is urging businesses to carefully balance the advantages of using the technology against the pitfalls.
She said; “Using Chat GPT to generate copy in a world where content is king can seem like a real advantage to businesses that have no marketing employees or service in place, or little to no budget to do so. The limitations of the capabilities, however, must be understood and the importance of applying marketing knowledge and discernment to the process must not be under-estimated.
“Accuracy can be a real issue with Chat GPT, as the information may be pulled from internet sources that are not verifiable, and information on world events post 2021 are limited. It can produce incorrect or biased information, and that could end up making an organisation look silly at best, or be damaging to the business and its credibility,” Louise added.
EDGE also makes the case for experienced human involvement not only to address or check for inaccuracies, but to bring the human touch and emotion into content to make it engaging, and relevant to the audience.
“Chat GPT will not have knowledge of a brand, its core essence, messaging parameters or marketing objectives. The content generated using the technology may also include a mix of stances and opinions based on the information sources, which may significantly differ from the objective of the organisation. And in a world where awareness of using the right terminology around subjects such as gender, race, or any other areas that require sensitivity, is highly important, the need for human involvement is vital,” Louise explained.
The technology can also be detrimental to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) efforts, as Google’s ever-changing algorithms need to be taken into account when generating content, and the issue of duplicate content is one area that has always been a consideration for content marketers. With Chat GPT gleaning information from various internet sources, there’s a huge risk that it duplicates either small or large portions of text. This could result in being penalised by Google, potentially undoing years of good work in building up rankings, according to EDGE.
Louise concluded: “There is certainly a valid place for AI in SEO strategies: the efficiencies created by using AI to streamline research and data arranging could not be achieved manually. Using AI bots to execute tasks such as keyword research and analyse competitor activity saves time that can be better spent on strategy. When the effects of AI automation are combined with human expertise, the whole SEO research and strategy process is enhanced.
“AI can be a real aid to marketers, enabling them to use budget more strategically and help clients optimise their resource. The more we experiment and use the technology as an addition to our toolkit, employing it as part of an over-arching approach, the more valuable and valid it will become. But it’s no quick fix and it’s certainly no replacement for humans in the world of marketing.”