Continuing on in my series about the top ten mistakes I made during my first year in copywriting, I am going to jump into a hot topic—artificial intelligence. There are so many schools of thought on this one, and it’s not just on the side of the content writer. 

I have clients who love using artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Jasper. I have clients who absolutely forbid it. And, of course, I have clients who are open to a hybrid approach that combines human writing with augmented content from AI tools. And honestly, I don’t know what the right thing is. As such, my own point of view has waned on this from the get-go.

So, let’s talk about why this has been a mistake and why it is such a confusing one, at that.

The Artificial Intelligence Conundrum For Writers

I first started paying attention to the use of ChatGPT among writers in the industry when a BusinessInsider article came out, sharing the story of a man who wrote a children’s book with ChatGPT, and went on to publish it. Ammaar Reshi used ChatGPT to write and illustrate the book in just 24 hours, then turned to Amazon’s self-publishing platform to make it available for the world to buy.

The book, titled Alice and Sparkle, is still available for purchase today. However, the book only has an Amazon rating of 3.3 and on Goodreads, where devout readers tend to turn to for all things book, only a rating of 1.8.

This said, while the book is certainly not going to make Reshi a rich-man, the whole thing definitely got people talking about how tools like ChatGPT can and should be used. And its a pretty big conversation still today, one that comes up now in just about every client kick-off conversation that I have. 

And what does that conversation look like? 

• How do you incorporate AI tools like ChatGPT into your writing process?
• Can AI-generated content match the quality of human-written content?
• What are the potential risks of using AI tools for content creation?
• Will AI replace the need for human copywriters in the future?
• How do you balance the use of AI with maintaining a unique and authentic voice in my content?
• Are there specific tasks where AI is more beneficial than others?
• How do you ensure that the content produced with AI is original and not plagiarized?
• Can AI tools help with SEO optimization and keyword placement?
• What are the ethical considerations of using AI in copywriting?
• How do you handle revisions when AI-generated content doesn’t meet my expectations?

Clients Starting to Demand the Use of Artificial Intelligence 

Let’s take a step back for a moment. I’ve been writing for a long time—since back when you had to actually thumb through an encyclopedia to go find the information you needed for a research paper or an article. I’ve used typewriters, word processors, old-school computers, and, of course, now my beloved Apple MacBook Pro to pound out story and article after story and article. 

So, when all this AI talk came about, I largely ignored it—until I couldn’t. A client I had been working with for quite some time decided to part ways with me because I wasn’t willing to use AI to help write my articles. I was floored. This very same client had been praising my work for months, reaching out to me with extra work whenever he was over capacity. And I loved writing for him.

But then it was over. And because I wouldn’t use AI? I just didn’t get it. If he loved my work as a human writer, why was AI now becoming a requirement? And to make matters more confusing, his pay rate wasn’t dropping. And he paid well—his per-word rate was twice what I typically charged new clients. So what was the point? Well, the answer was simple. He wanted twice the work in the same period of time. 

At that point, I had a bit of a reckoning with myself. What type of writer did I want to be? Did I want to keep writing human content? Did I want to experiment with artificial intelligence? The truth is, I didn’t really know the answer. But I did know that I didn’t want to lose any more clients to this new technology.

And so I did an experiment. 

My AI Experiment: Asking AI for Its Opinion on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Writers 

In January 2023, my now-husband and I were planning for our upcoming wedding that would occur in February 2023. We were talking about our approach to our wedding vows, and he kept joking about using ChatGPT to write his vows for him. 

So, I did what I had previously refused to do. I opened OpenAI on my laptop. Before I knew what I was doing, I posed a question to the chatbot. It responded—a surprisingly good response. I had asked ChatGPT about the impact of artificial intelligence on human writers.

Before I realized it, my mobile screen was rapidly filling with text. The 350 words that appeared made complete sense and were indeed original, as confirmed by a quick check on Copyscape Pro.

The chatbot explained that “artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being utilized across various industries, including blogging. Recently, AI-powered tools have emerged to assist human bloggers in multiple ways, from content generation to optimizing website traffic.” But that wasn’t all it had to say. 

The chatbot continued along the lines of, “One of the biggest impacts of AI on bloggers is the ability to automatically generate content . AI-powered tools, such as GPT-3, can create blog posts, articles, and even news stories. These tools leverage natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to analyze large datasets of text and produce new content that mirrors the style and tone.”

Write the Vows!

So now what? This answer was pretty good if you ask my opinion. After I hammered out a quick article and posted it to my LinkedIn account, I walked back to the living room and told my husband to go for it and use AI to write the vows. “Let’s see what happens,” I told him. And at our wedding rehearsal, he read me some vows that were pretty good. The vows were the perfect concoction of his sense of humor with some grammatically correct writing.

Onto My Greatest Mistake 

At this point, I had much more faith in what AI could do. The quality of the writing was good, and in the few subsequent experiments I made, I found that I could feed it what I was thinking, and it would churn out content that not only included my thoughts but added to it. And it was good. Like I said, it was really good.

The only thing the tool couldn’t do—at least not at that time—was source current statistics and figures. And, of course, I found an easy solution since search engine optimization (SEO) requires linking to reputable external websites and your own internal content. I would go find the data and statistics that I needed for my article, would feed that and my point of view and the objective of my article into the tool, and voila—within minutes, I had an article.

And the time it took? Just a fraction of the time it took for me to write an article from scratch. The time savings were undeniable. What would typically take me a couple of hours to draft, revise, and polish now took me just a fraction of that time. With ChatGPT, I could focus more on the creative aspects of writing, such as brainstorming ideas and refining the tone, while the tool handled the bulk of the content creation. 

I decided to put it into practice. After all, more and more clients were reaching out looking for writers who were familiar with how to use AI tools to streamline their writing. People wanted content and they wanted it faster than ever. At that point, I felt I would miss a window of opportunity if I didn’t start using it, too.

Getting Caught Red-Handed 

Okay, before we go on, let’s be clear—I didn’t get caught red-handed with anything. But that little subtitle sure got your attention, didn’t it? 

Here’s what really happened. I started using AI to write outlines for blog topics that I was working on. Rather than spending a good 30 minutes on an outline before I got started with the actual writing, I could take about five minutes to frame up an outline that would guide me through the next steps. It was fantastic!  

The time savings alone from these new AI-generated outlines was like a winner-winner-chicken dinner! With the amount of time I saved, I could take on at least one more article a day. So, why wouldn’t I embrace the opportunity?

The Trouble Begins

But, here’s where things went south. As those outlines helped me increase my productivity, I started asking myself—what would happen if I asked AI to start writing me some sections for the article? Could it write an intriguing and compelling introduction? Could it help write a stronger call-to-action at the end of the article? Would the writing be just as good as I could do alone?

I decided to jump into the world of artificial intelligence, never asking the tool to write a complete article but to help with sections where I felt stumped, overcome writer’s block, and rewrite content to make sure it was original. It was going pretty well—or, at least, I thought it was going pretty well. But it really wasn’t. 

And thankfully, things didn’t get too far along before I pushed the brakes—hard—and came to a screeching halt. Two clients—big clients—reached out with some challenging questions. One, despite my being very upfront about the use of AI, threatened litigation. The other, thankfully, simply mentioned that they did not want AI used in their content writing going forward. And that was that—it was time to think twice about using ChatGPT.

A New Path Forward

At this point, it was time to change my approach to AI altogether. Honestly, I was feeling wishy-washy about the whole thing. Just one year before, I couldn’t imagine using a writing assistant aside from a tool such as Grammarly to help me write content. Then, I let that pendulum swing and started using it, almost too much.

And I was super confused. I had some clients asking me to use it—they loved the tool and the quicker turn time that I could offer. I had other clients who wanted 100% original content that would make its way through an AI detector with a free and clear result—something that is getting harder and harder to do even with human-written content. One client threatened litigation, and to this day, he won’t respond to my emails or request for payment (despite his website being full of AI-written content from other writers). Other clients are happy for me to take a hybrid approach.

How could there be such varying opinions out there? And how could there be so many different opinions about the March 2024 Google algorithm update which seemed to trigger the trouble?

The Power of a Google Algorithm Update

Honestly, that algorithm update was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me as a copywriter and content writer. Even though I was getting quite good at generating and augmenting content with AI—I even worked with a graphic designer to create an infographic about 15 ChatGPT words and phrases to avoid—it never felt totally right. And, the joy I often find in writing, even for my many business clients, was slowly fading away.

Thankfully, this update was part of Google’s ongoing effort to refine its ranking systems and reduce the prevalence of low-quality, unoriginal content on Search. The focus was clear: prioritize content that genuinely helps users while diminishing the visibility of pages created solely to game the system.

Incorporating what they learned from earlier updates, Google wanted to reduce unhelpful, poorly constructed content by 40%. The update targeted websites that existed mainly to match specific search queries without offering real value to readers. While the content I created for my clients never fell into that spammy category, it still opened my eyes to the true power of—and need for—quality SEO efforts.

By better understanding if a page was designed for people or search engines, Google made it clear that content quality would trump keyword stuffing and superficial SEO tactics. For me, this was a wake-up call and a reminder of the importance of authenticity and originality in my writing.

My Current Stance on the Appropriate Use of Artificial Intelligence 

Does all this mean that I don’t use artificial intelligence today? No, not at all. In fact, I still use it each and every day. But, my approach is quite different than the one I took before. Here is how I use AI, and how I don’t.

• To create content plans and outlines: AI is a fantastic tool for organizing thoughts and structuring content before I dive into the writing process.
• To create header tags: While I love writing paragraph after paragraph, I often have to remind myself to break content up into 300 words or fewer increments for easy reading and SEO requirements. So, ChatGPT is super helpful in creating keyword-focused header tags (your H1, H2s, and H3s) that need to be prominent within the article.
• To brainstorm new topics for client blogs: When I’m stuck for ideas, AI helps me generate fresh topics that align with my client’s needs.
• To get insights into keywords and phrases: AI tools can quickly analyze keyword trends, giving me a solid foundation from which to work.
• To help with geo-specific pages: When creating multiple pages with similar content for different locations, AI assists in making each one unique enough to avoid any issues with duplicative content.
• To clean up bullet points within blogs: AI is great for tidying up lists and bullet points, making sure they’re clear and concise.

How Not to Use Artificial Intelligence as a Content Writer 

Equally important in discussing how to best use AI, let’s talk about my stance on why and when you should not use it. 

• Letting AI write a complete article: Unless a client specifically requests it (and yes, those clients do exist), I steer clear of having AI generate an entire piece. Even then, I always review and edit. I want to make sure it meets the quality standards expected by both the client and myself.
• Relying on AI for creativity: AI can be a helpful tool. But, it can’t replicate the human touch needed to create engaging, original content that resonates with readers.
• Skipping the editing process: Even if AI helps draft parts of an article, I never skip the crucial step of human review and editing. This ensures (pun intended!) that the final product is polished and professional.
• Using AI for nuanced content: When writing about complex or sensitive topics, I rely on my own experience and expertise rather than letting AI take the lead. This is where the opportunity to get specific insights from your client is so important. It’s what allows you to write truly unique and original content from the client’s point of view.

Don’t Do AI on the Sly

To help wrap up the learnings from this big mistake I made my first year as a copywriter, I want to leave a couple of messages with you. First, be sure to figure out your own stance on the use of artificial intelligence as a copywriter or content writer. No one can determine your opinion and approach other than you.

Today, my stance is to use AI for those things I mentioned above—outlines, keywords, and search terms (which are best confirmed in an SEO tool like Ahrefs or SEMRush), researching blog and article topics, and geo and location page tweaks (provided a human wrote the starting point). 

And, if a client asks you about your use of ChatGPT, Jasper, or other AI tools, be truthful. I have been amazed time and again how many clients ask me about my approach. I share it openly and honestly. And they decide to work with me because I was upfront and didn’t try to hide my approach. Apparently, many writers today are not as honest as we would hope, and that could eventually give our industry a bad name.

The important thing here is to be open and honest. Always. Simply stated, don’t do AI on the sly. If a client asks you not to use it, don’t use it. If you use it, make sure you are using it with good intentions in mind—not just to save time and make a quick buck. Also, invest in some tools that can help you review your work before you submit it, just to know what the tools have to say. My favorites as of the time of this writing are Originality.AI and Copyscape. Ultimately, well-written original content needs to trump everything else.

Wrapping it Up: AI is a Tool, Not a Shortcut

Here’s the thing. Mistakes are inevitable—but they don’t have to be repeated. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my AI experiment, it’s that balance is everything. AI tools can be a copywriter’s best friend when used wisely, helping with tasks like creating outlines, generating ideas, and polishing up content. But, as I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way), they’re not a substitute for the creativity, nuance, and human touch that make great writing truly stand out.

So, what’s the takeaway here? 

Don’t let AI do all the heavy lifting. Instead, use it to lighten your load without sacrificing quality. Be transparent with your clients about how you use AI—I even mention it in my client contracts—and always put the final product through a human filter. By adopting these best practices, you can avoid the pitfalls I stumbled into and save yourself the time and energy of reinventing the wheel. 

Remember, AI is a tool—use it wisely, and it’ll help you become a more efficient business writer. But rely on it too much, and you might just find yourself back at square one, wondering where all the joy in writing went.

PS… I am happy to say that this article was 100% human-written.