How to safely use ChatGPT and other AI content generators
AI content generators have been around for quite some time, but ChatGPT introduced a million new users in what feels like an overnight wave of adoption. So many people are using it that what was once an easily available site, has become overwhelmed with demand.
That’s a good thing. The more prompts the engine receives, the higher quality results users will receive. AI engines are designed to learn. Rest assured, there are several tools worth experimenting with. This article has a solid list of other tools you can consider using if ChatGPT isn’t able to meet your needs.
Now for the big question - Should you be experimenting? Absolutely. But, it’s more complicated than a simple yes. There are important things you need to take into account to determine how best to leverage this exciting new technology.
AI generated content is not a license to be lazy
I like to think of AI content engines as a jumpstart to something I want to create verses a replacement for the writing/creative process. AI content engine responses can generate plausible sounding but wrong answers. It’s up to you as the publishing agent to do your homework to verify all responses to your prompt. Where relevant, I encourage you to add third party data sources for statistics or studies that validate your point of view. Traditional source citing applies whether or not your content began as an AI prompt response.
Human interaction with content is necessary to provide copyright protection
AI content without human intervention cannot be copyrighted in the US under our current laws. Others can use the same or similar prompts and publish similar responses so even if copyright isn’t your primary goal, it will be difficult for you to represent a unique point of view without modifying the response you receive from the AI engine. Attorney, Mitch Jackson does a nice job of describing the US law in this 4-minute podcast here. This is a space to closely watch as its likely laws will evolve quickly to address the growth of machine generated content.
It takes practice to get the type of results that will make you proud
An AI content engine can’t read your mind, although sometimes it feels like it can. For the best results you’ll want to practice writing prompts that deliver quality content.
Here are some tips I learned through experimentation:
· After receiving results, don’t be shy about refining your request with an updated prompt. I find it often takes four or more prompts to get a satisfactory result. Think of it like a google search. I often find the first search returns either too many responses, or isn’t quite what I’m looking for. It’s easy to learn from the results, and modify my search for greater accuracy. The same applies when using AI to generate content.
· For content that sounds like your voice, point your prompt towards content you’ve already published.
· I mentioned this earlier, but it’s critical to re-enforce. Validate responses for accuracy and add vetted source references for any statistics or trends you cite.
· Once you feel you have a working version, edit the content to make it fully your own.
Be careful before using AI content for an SEO boost
Many marketers and business leaders I’ve spoken with are eager to use AI to generate high volumes of search engine optimized content. Tread cautiously here as the search algorithms are looking for clues a human didn’t generate content and penalize the content in search results. This is a good article showing the negative impact Neil Patel experienced comparing pure AI generated content without any human editing, to posts that AI started, but humans edited. The take away – use AI as a thought starter, but make sure humans play a role in your published content.
Experiment first with low-risk work
Like anything new, it’s important to experiment in parts of your business that introduce low risk. For example, I used an image generator, Night Café, to generate the image for this blog post. One thing I noticed was that anytime I prompted for a person, a white person was delivered. It’s up to all of us to train these systems to create content that reflects the diversity of our communities. For this post, I proactively prompted for a person of color.
Blog images is just one way you can use AI content generators to boost your productivity and creativity. Mark Schaeffer polled a Discord community I’m part of for additional ideas. I thought they came up with some clever applications. You can read them here. For an even broader set of prompts check out this list.
Happy experimenting!
I can’t wait to see the creative ways you use AI.