The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming many aspects of our personal and professional lives, including businesses’ content marketing strategies. AI allows marketers to quickly generate large amounts of content in little time. As a result, it offers opportunities to improve efficiencies and save on marketing expenses, while freeing up employees to focus on more strategic responsibilities.
However, there are some downsides to AI-generated content, which some businesses have learned the hard way. Before making the switch to AI marketing content, it’s important to gain a full understanding of the potential risks of using this technology.
#1 – Lack of authenticity
One of the main benefits of content marketing is that it allows a brand to foster connections with its target audience. Brands are built on connections with loyal customers. The best brands have personalities that consumers want to engage with. People are more likely to connect with content that comes across as authentic and relatable.
The problem with AI-generated content is that, by its very definition, it is “artificial.” AI technology has the potential to quickly generate pages upon pages of accurate, relevant content, but that content often lacks authenticity. Your efforts may be for nothing if the content created doesn’t hold the reader’s attention or foster trust and loyalty. If your content reads like a computer wrote it, your target audience will quickly catch on, and will likely turn away.
#2 – Potential for plagiarism
One of the biggest concerns with AI-generated content is its potential for plagiarism. Because AI relies on algorithms that pull from previously created content, there is a risk that the output generated will duplicate existing content. If not carefully reviewed and vetted, publishing this AI content could place your company at risk for plagiarizing another source’s original content.
#3 – Quality and accuracy issues
AI generates a wide range of content, based on the information available. If the available information is incorrect or misleading, the AI-generated content will also be incorrect or misleading. Similarly, some source content is well-written and coherent, while other source content is poorly written, lacks clarity or is inaccurate. The AI output will likely have the same poor writing style, lack of clarity and/or inaccuracies as the original content.
#4 – Lower search engine rankings
If your content creation goals include search engine optimization (SEO), you may want to think twice about using AI-generated content. Businesses that rely on AI content to drive website traffic have been negatively impacted by recent changes in search algorithms that are designed to de-prioritize less relevant AI-produced content in favor of original, human-created content.
Google, in particular, recently rolled out algorithm updates specifically intended to devalue AI-generated content created with the intent of ranking higher in search results. As a result, some companies were decimated.
For example, Hardbacon, a Montreal-based financial technology startup that offered a free budgeting app for retail consumers, was forced to file for bankruptcy 11 months after a change in Google’s algorithm led to a 97% decrease in the company’s website traffic. The September 2023 algorithm update was intended to de-prioritize AI-produced content developed specifically to generate clicks and rank highly in search results1.
This situation highlights Google’s focus on prioritizing, “original, helpful content written by people, for people in search results, rather than content made primarily to gain search engine traffic.”2 It provides a cautionary tale for any business considering making the move to AI-generated content.
What’s the alternative to AI-generated content?
If you’re hoping to advance your business’ content marketing efforts without bringing on additional in-house resources and personnel, it may make sense to outsource your content creation. At AltaStreet, we support financial services clients with a wide range of custom content specifically designed to help differentiate them in a crowded marketplace.
Our professional content writers take time to get to know you, your business objectives and your target audience in order to write engaging, authentic content to meet your needs, boost SEO and engage with potential clients.
To learn more about how AltaStreet can support your content marketing initiatives, schedule a call with a member of our team.