What to Know Before Using AI to Write Blog Content

1. Yes, AI can be a useful tool for blog writing

Regardless of whether you are a writer or a business owner, you should be investing some time in understanding how AI can help you do your job better— which it surely can! For blog writing, AI is an incredible tool to spark blog post ideas and themes, spruce up content you already have written, and help you through writer's block. Additionally, you can save time and money by using AI to write blog posts. Growth Rocket reports AI users spend 30% less time writing blog posts. 

2. No, Don’t let AI do all the work for you

The key to using AI to write blog content is understanding that it can reduce the blog writing workload by 30% and not that it can take the role of a blog writer completely. At least not yet! There are a variety of reasons for this including that you’ll see your search engine optimization (SEO) rankings plummet if you solely use AI to write blog content and that there can be both ethical and legal risks to letting AI write your blog content. We’ll dive into those points and a few others a bit deeper next! 

3. Yes, Google can tell if a blog is written by AI

Google may not specifically call you out and say “hey, you didn’t write this content!” when you post an AI generated blog post on your website. However, Google will likely ding your SEO rankings for not meeting their E-E-A-T criteria. E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness and all of these factors are vital elements in getting your posts to the top of Google search results. You can learn more about why AI struggles to meet these Google search ranking criteria in our blog post that tests ChatGPT’s content creation abilities. 

4.  No, AI content is not always factually accurate

If you’ve read our blog post that tests ChatGPT’s content creation abilities, you’ll already be aware of the fact that AI is not always correct. Even for simple tasks, like asking for a good bike trail, it may provide you with an answer of a wilderness area you legally can’t even bring a bike into! Without a strategic communications expert reviewing AI’s content suggestions, you may end up with a blog post that not only no one can trust — but it can also put your company at legal risk too. What may have seemed like saved you a few dollars in hiring a writer may actually cost you dearly in legal expenses or brand reputation. 

5. Yes, AI content can be plagiarized content

Another potential legal issue with using AI to write blog content is that your content may be plagiarized. Ask ChatGPT itself about the risks of plagiarizing content and you’ll likely receive an  answer similar to what we did: “If you’re using AI to help with content creation, always review and refine it to ensure originality and authenticity,” it told us. “If AI-generated content is too similar to a copyrighted source, even unintentionally, it could still pose a plagiarism risk.” 

6. No, blog writers and business owners shouldn’t shun the use of AI

It’s not a bad thing for your blog writer to be using AI for content creation assistance! Ultimately, this may help them keep their blog writing rates affordable to your company and also shows their commitment to understanding and utilizing the technology at their disposal. What you don’t want is a content writer who relies too heavily on AI for blog writing. Make sure you are clear with blog writers about the need for original insights, citing sources for all factual claims, and only using AI as a tool, not a crutch. 

7. Yes, 406 Strategic Communication believes in incorporating AI into our business