Efficiency vs Authenticity: Exploring the Trade-offs Between AI and Human Generated Content

In the ever-evolving landscape of content creation, the debate over Artificial Intelligence (AI) currently stands at the forefront of the writing industry. As technology continues to advance, the debate between efficiency and authenticity intensifies. At a glance, AI holds a lot of perks for companies looking to cut costs and streamline operations. On one hand, AI promises unparalleled speed and precision in generating content. On the other hand, human writers offer a depth of emotional intelligence, creativity, and authenticity that machines cannot replicate. 

Efficiency, undoubtedly, is one of the most compelling advantages of utilising and creating AI-generated content. AI runs on algorithms that are capable of processing vast amounts of data, sourced from every corner of the internet, and funnel it into a requested format at unmatchable speeds. This, in turn, helps boost productivity levels like never before. Tasks that take human writers hours or days to complete can now be accomplished in mere minutes with the use of AI. This level of efficiency is invaluable in industries where content production is high-volume and time sensitive, such as news reporting, content marketing, and e-commerce.

So, how does AI-generated content affect the future of writers? Sad to say, if your job was to write commodity copy, like paint-by-keyword SEO articles or super-safe marketing emails, generative AI will probably be able to do your job better and faster. For many writing professionals, however, AI is still a long way off from being able to successfully replace us. That’s because efficiency alone does not guarantee the effectiveness of content. AI runs on prompts and it’s up to us humans to generate effective output. 

Authenticity, a quality deeply intertwined with great copywriting, content creation, and storytelling, plays an immeasurable role in engaging audiences and eliciting a desired response. Human writers possess the ability to infuse their work with personal experiences, emotions, and unique perspectives, something AI is still currently incapable of doing.  

AI-powered tools are able to create basic content that doesn’t require original research or expertise. However, it can’t create strategic, story-driven content without human intervention. 

If you look below at two examples of a marketing email you will be able to notice the clear differences between human generated content and AI generated content. The one on the left is written by a human, whereas the one on the right was generated by AI under the simple prompt, ‘Write a hard-hitting marketing email.’ 

You can see the problems within the AI-generated example. ChatGBT took the phrase “hard-hitting” to mean “battle-ready.” This is not how we expect humans to talk, especially not a marketing company trying to get your business. Can you imagine receiving that email? As the owner of a company, would you employ a marketing team that uses phrases like, “With our aggressive marketing strategies, we’ll establish your dominance in the market and leave your rivals trembling in fear?” Most likely not. The AI-generated content surely misses the mark as well as coming across a bit overzealous (to put it mildly). 

Now, take a look at the human written version. The writer actively attempts to make the recipient feel like this email is personal, even though it could be used as a draft to potentially be sent out to hundreds of companies. There is a certain level of emotional intelligence that isn’t present in the AI-generated email. The readability and use of language is also more natural and authentic. Overall, the human-generated email would be much more successful at securing new clients than the AI-generated email. 

One of the key challenges with AI-generated content is its tendency towards uniformity and predictability. AI relies on existing data patterns, often leading to formulaic and repetitive output. This lack of diversity can result in content that feels stale and uninspired. However, it would be remiss to overlook the potential of AI as a complementary tool in the creative process. AI can be a powerful ally to writers when used correctly and alongside the writer rather than as a standalone tool. 

AI is capable of generating reliable and usable content. The main thing to keep in mind is that most AI generated content needs to then be looked over and edited by human eyes. Think of AI as a vehicle. It has the capacity to drive, but it still needs a human in the front seat telling it where to go. AI cannot typically produce perfect and usable content at the push of a button, but it still has the capability to be used as a springboard, or a resource for generating ideas. 

One of the best things AI can do for writers is help speed up the creative process. Churning out engaging content can take a lot of time and effort, but writers can incorporate automated writing into their workflow to speed up their process and focus on the more creative part of their job. 

As a writer, you can ask AI to do things like:

• Create a content brief template you can use for all your projects

• Draft the template for a weekly email update or recurring message

• Build on a successful format for a blog post or social media post

• Repurpose your content into different formats:

  • EX: Turn a blog post into a LinkedIn post

  • EX: Transcribe a video file to turn into an article

• Generate ideas for titles, headlines, and blog outlines. You can feed AI prompts like:

  • Write a headline for an article about meditation techniques (65 characters max)

  • Rewrite this article 5 different ways

• Find the right word to use by defining it to AI:

  • For example, I typed the following prompt into ChatGPT:  What's a word to describe something that's elegant and usually applies to furniture or woodwork, begins with an "O“ – ChatGPT replied with “Ornate” which was correct. 

Ultimately, the difference between efficiency and authenticity in content creation is not a binary choice, but a spectrum. Different objectives may necessitate different approaches. The key lies in striking a balance between the efficiency of AI-generated content and the authenticity of human creativity, harnessing the strengths of both to create content that is both impactful and meaningful.