Making Sense of AI in Content: What It Is, How to Use It

Courtney DeNegri
Apr 15
5 min read

Information for this blog was found from Sprout Social, Neil Patel and Content Marketing Institute.

Brown paper torn to reveal keyboard keys labeled "A" and "I." Minimalist and creative concept with a focus on technology. — Image Courtesy of Unsplash

Some people think artificial intelligence (AI) can be scary. Is it going to take over my job? No! Content marketing can be overwhelming, and AI is here to lessen the stress. There are many different programs that can be used to help with writing, planning, and executing content creation. Today we are going to talk about what AI for content creation is, ways to use it, and ways not to use it. AI isn’t scary if you look at it as a tool or an assistant. Don’t run from something that can make your life easier.

What is AI?

Artificial intelligence can be used for many things, but the best way to use it, as I said above, is as an assistant. It is an assistant that can do whatever you need and not get upset for asking for clarification or for a total redo of the work done. Isn’t that the dream?!

According to Sprout Social, AI can help you gather ideas, research, create, distribute, repurpose, analyze, and maintain content. That is a lot of help! The number one benefit of using AI in content creation is the amount of time that is saved. Time is a limited resource, and AI can help you do more with less.

Some people think AI can be scary. AI is a tool that can make life easier. Content marketing can be overwhelming. The grind to get ideas for new content and get content out can be one person’s whole job. Taking what you know and using a tool like artificial intelligence to help only makes what you do that much better.

Ways to Use AI

AI can be used in many different ways for content creation. As mentioned above, Sprout Social has a long list that touches every part of content creation.

Five people working on laptops around a wooden table in a cozy room, focused and engaged. One wears headphones; another has a drink. — Photo Courtesy of Unsplash

When trying to create content, the brainstorming session can be a chore. AI can help by bouncing ideas back and forth. The AI programs can filter to find current trends and keywords that are showing up for the sector of business. ChatGPT is a great tool to use for idea generation. Sprout Social mentions how AI can help spark that creativity and get rid of writer’s block. Prompting ChatGPT for research will save time to focus on the more creative side of content.

Prompting is very important when it comes to the text generative AI programs. ChatGPT, being the most popular it is learning fast, but we must always take what AI gives and make it human. AI is great for those repetitive tasks no one wants to do. Leave the creativity and voice to the humans!

As Nikki Lam from Neil Patel states, AI should complement your existing strategy. It is not a replacement for the planning, it is just helping the strategies in place work more efficiently. Drafts and outlines written by AI need to be edited by humans to ensure voice and brand. Also, try throwing in some current content to an AI program like ChatGPT. Repurposing has never been easier. It can rework, trim down, or even buff up content already created. Again, you will have to have a human edit the repurposed content for errors or those pesky ‘hallucinations.’

Before you can do any generating, however, you need to create a brand voice. You need to basically train the AI to talk in the voice of your brand. Just like you would train a new employee, you need to train AI. Once trained, Generative AI can help produce ideas, outlines, and very rough drafts on brand. The human always needs to double-check and be the last voice of a piece before it becomes public. For more information about branding with AI, go read my colleague Abiodun's post here.

The analytical side of content marketing can also be made easier with AI. There are programs from companies like Sprout Social that will collect all the data associated with content and performance and give you visualizations. This real-time information can be time-consuming and hard to find. Why not let AI do it for you?

Scheduling is something that can take up time and manpower. Why not let something else do it for you? AI tools can help find the best platforms and posting times for any type of content. This gets the content to the right people at the right time.

Ways Not to Use AI

There are some dark sides to AI. Diving straight in and using AI for everything can be a problem.

Close-up of a computer screen displaying ChatGPT interface. Text includes "Capabilities" and "Limitations" on a dark background. — Photo Courtesy of Unsplash

As we just talked about it can ‘hallucinate’ or get the facts wrong. Never publish a piece of content created by AI before fact checking and reading every piece. You could lose customers or clients if your posts are written by AI and it gets something wrong. This is never good.

Content Marketing Institute mentions some bad advice that has been given about AI. Writing is mentioned a lot. AI is not a solution to writing problems. Most people can tell the difference between human and AI writing. Don’t get lazy!

Ethics also comes into play. AI needs lots of data. Sprout Social says it needs audience behavior and preferences to function effectively. This can be an issue if consent has not been given. Make sure to have policies in place and to get consent from individuals before running anything through AI.

Do not publish content that was written with AI without disclosing when appropriate. This will give transparency to your audience.
AI is trained by reading and reviewing other content. If posts are written with AI and AI alone, then plagiarism can come into play.
Avoid ethical issues and bad practices by keeping the human in content creation. There is nothing worse than a robot representing your brand.

AI isn't here to replace content creators, it’s here to support them. When used thoughtfully, AI can streamline your workflow, spark new ideas, and take care of the repetitive tasks that slow you down. The key is moderation. Use AI as a tool not a crutch. Keep your human creativity, your voice, and your ethical compass at the center of your content strategy.

Now that you understand what AI in content creation is, how to use it, and where to draw the line, it’s time to put it into practice. Explore, experiment, and evolve with it. AI isn’t the future, it’s already here! The creators who learn to collaborate with it will have the sharpest edge.