The Pros and Cons of AI-Generated Content

The race to create quality, insightful content is only becoming more difficult for marketers. It's already a challenge to secure a high-ranking article on Google — and it's even harder when your business is newer or lacks authority on the search engine.

In 2023, many businesses are looking to leverage more tools to increase content output and improve SEO, and AI-generated content is a popular solution.

In this post, we'll discuss the pros and cons of AI-generated content. But before diving into them, let's first define what it is.

What is AI-generated content?

AI-generated content is machine-made text — such as blogs, articles, descriptions, and other marketing collateral — based on human search queries.

Artificial intelligence software can pull pre-existing information from search engines and create unique content from people's search queries on different keywords, phrases, or topics.

Our colleagues in the HubSpot Podcast Network dive into a popular AI tool, ChatGPT, and explain how you optimize it to improve your marketing efforts, click below to give it a listen.

How To Delegate Your Work To ChatGPT (Use These Prompts) with Rob Lennon

While it sounds like the perfect solution for your marketing plan, you should consider its pros and cons before using the software.

Pros and Cons of AI-Generated Content

AI-Generated Content Pros

1. Quick Turnaround

AI provides almost immediate results for speedy content creation, no matter if the subject is simple or complicated.

Human writers — even at their most productive — can take hours to churn out quality blog posts or marketing materials. By contrast, your average AI tool will take under a minute to produce a similar product.

What We Like: Depending on the software you choose or pay for, there's no cap on the amount of content you can request in a day. This can help marketers fill a backlog of content for an improved content marketing plan or social media content calendar.

2. Cost Effective

AI can make content at a fraction of the cost of a full-time writer or freelancer. Authors are paid hundreds for articles needing expertise and thousands in salary wages. AI subscriptions are usually under $100 for an annual subscription.

What We Like: Work done by a person is a well-worth investment for those looking for well-researched, quality content — but for a small business or startup, AI-generated content provides a great place to start for a relatively small subscription fee.

3. Better SEO

AI-generated content's SEO-related capabilities are one of the software's key selling points.

AI pulls from already popular and SEO-optimized content to address your desired topic. This is a major value-add, especially if you don't know how to write about specific keywords or how to structure your page.

Pro Tip: AI could be a step in the right direction to help you get your blog going and become more familiar with SEO. By plugging in search queries into tools like Byword, you can see examples of optimized keyword clusters and formatting that can help you gain visibility.

4. No Writer's Block

There's a lot of pressure to develop new ideas, and it becomes even more daunting with a deadline.

Using AI-generated content, writers don't have to worry about burning out or getting behind as it can generate multiple ideas for you to work from one entry. For example, HubSpot's AI Content Assistant can generate your outline so that you can get straight to the writing part.

What We Like: Even if you're solely using AI to look up content ideas and not write the entire article, you've already won half the battle. For many writers, their biggest hurdle is beginning, and if AI can help you overcome that step, then the rest will be much more manageable.

AI-Generated Content Cons

1. Plagiarism Concerns

AI pulls from multiple sources to create the content users search for, but you wouldn't know that because it never provides citations.

The legal risk is that an author or artist can sue for blatant plagiarism of their original work if it's too closely related.

Pro Tip: Reverse image search and fact-check your AI-generated content — you can't trust all the information you receive as it may be coming from an unaccredited source.

2. Potential Devaluation by Google

Google is now introducing the concept of E-E-A-T to its helpful content update, which stands for

• Experience.
• Expertise.
• Authoritativeness.
• Trustworthiness.

Amidst the rise of AI writing tools, the search engine will evaluate content through the lens of understanding and "trust" at the concept's center. AI-only content may not fit these criteria if left unaltered.

Pro Tip: You don't need to forego AI in your content creation process altogether. Instead, use it wisely to help build on your own creativity — covering elements like grammar-checking, content ideation, or short-form content.

3. Inconsistent Quality

Those that begin using AI-generated content may receive a different level of quality each time. The amount of available information on topics will vary based on how much relevant content about each subject exists.

That means you won't have a consistent output of informative content across all the subject matter you're interested in.

Pro Tip: The more specific you get with AI content search queries, the less likely you will encounter this problem. If you need the results to mimic a particular visual style or reading level, include it in the search for a better chance of getting a more consistent result.

4. Human Vetting Requirement

Uploading AI-generated content without proofreading or editing it beforehand isn't in your best interest. Humans can identify cluttered, inaccurate, or offensive content that AI tech wouldn't detect due to a lack of awareness.

Pro Tip: If you rely on AI-generated content, use it as a base for an idea instead of the finished product. Use the results you receive to adapt them into something original for that human aspect that Google is searching for.

AI Content Is An Imperfect Solution

Even the world's best writers may find themselves needing a helping hand here and there. AI-generated content can help fill that need, but it has its drawbacks.

You shouldn't entirely rely on AI for content — instead, use it to help your business grow in a way that still incorporates your own creativity, too.