Copywriters and AI — Best Practices For Using AI Tools as a Writer

Since the launch of ChatGPT back in November 2022, AI has had a notable influence on content creation. 

AI tools can be incredibly effective for copywriters. There are several AI content marketing tools, which are beneficial for SEO, editing, and organization.

Yet, it’s important to use them with complete transparency.

In this article, we’ll outline some of the best practices for copywriters and AI and the most effective ways to use AI as a copywriter so you can boost productivity and maintain a unique tone of voice.

Key Takeaways

• AI tools are incredibly helpful for copywriters when it comes to using AI for research, content briefing, and strategic development.
• However, AI can also lead to issues with quality, style, and ethical concerns.
• Overall, when used properly, AI tools can be incorporated into a copywriter’s process. However, high-quality writing skills should remain at the forefront.

How to Use AI Tools Effectively as a Copywriter

Let’s take a look at how copywriters use the best aspects of AI tools to help streamline their work processes so they can focus on writing.

As a research assistant

First, AI tools can be fantastic research assistants (to an extent!). Say, for example, you have been tasked by a client or your employer to write an article on the importance of insoles in shoes for runners.

Perhaps you aren’t an avid runner yourself, or you are, but you don’t use insoles. In this instance, you can use AI similar to how you might conduct research via Google Search. However, with an AI tool, you gain all the information in one place (without all the additional words and ads)!

What’s more, you can also ask the AI tool further questions, expanding your knowledge on the subject in greater detail.

Here’s an example:

That’s a great starting point. Now, let’s ask a few further questions to understand the topic in greater detail:

With just a couple of questions, we already know plenty more about the subject, making it much easier to write about.

Note: It’s best practice to fact-check content before publication. AI can produce AI hallucinations or errors that it presents as facts. To maintain accuracy, always review information researched through AI before you click publish.

For content briefing

AI tools can also help with creating a detailed and thorough brief.

Let’s continue with the example above regarding trainer insoles. With the example prompt below, we can generate a detailed and insightful brief to expand on.

Prompt: “Using the information above and any other information from the top search results on this subject, can you please create a detailed brief that is tailored for user intent and search engine optimization?” 

Here’s the brief ChatGPT created:

Although the headings should be modified to be more engaging, aligned with brand voice, and optimized for SEO, overall, it’s a strong structure from which to work.

For strategy development

Finally, AI tools can be extremely effective for strategy development, allowing you to come up with new content ideas and concepts. This is a brilliant way to use ChatGPT as a copywriter, especially if you are in charge of your company’s content strategy. 

It enables you to create new content pillars to work toward, improving SEO efforts and increasing organic traffic.

As a freelance writer, expanding content to incorporate strategy development is a fantastic way to impress clients with your knowledge.

To conduct strategy work with AI tools, WebPilot is a good way to assess what competitors are posting about while avoiding duplicate content topics.

Prompt: “I work for a running accessories company, and I am trying to create new verticals for us to tackle in our content marketing strategy. As such, I need you to come up with eight different content pillars for us to tackle, along with five different article ideas per pillar. For reference, here is a link to our website blog: [Example URL]. Please don't suggest anything that we have already covered here. Here are links to our nearest competitors. Please use these links to help get an idea of what they are posting and identify anything that we are missing: [Example URLs].”

Here’s what WebPilot generated:

WebPilot provide a ton of content pillars to tackle!

Potential Issues of Relying Too Heavily on AI in Copywriting

However, while AI tools can be incredibly helpful in the content planning stage, they can also cause issues if copywriters rely too heavily on them for content creation.

Quality concerns

AI works incredibly quickly to scan content and provide basic summaries. There are two main issues with this approach.

First, the content often lacks citations. For more technical subjects, it’s often tricky to establish the source of the information and properly verify it. Not to mention that if any content is duplicated and isn’t properly cited or checked for plagiarism, it could lead to intellectual property issues.

Secondly, as AI tools pull from published information, the tools aren’t coming up with new ideas, thoughts, or concepts. Bland, generic, or uninspiring content could pose problems with Google rankings.

Google is searching for content that is people-first, truly helpful, and takes the conversation forward — which is difficult if AI is too heavily relied on.

A lack of style and human tone

AI tools tend to provide the same tone and formulaic style.

What makes writing great — and stand out — is human intuition, individual style, and a touch of pizazz here and there.

AI struggles to accomplish this even when specifically prompted to do so.

It can bring ethics into question

A heavy reliance on AI (without transparency) also brings ethics into question. 

For example, passing off AI content as your own is against many company, assignment, and brand policies.

To establish an excellent reputation as a writer, it’s essential to be transparent about if and how AI is incorporated into the writing process.

Looking to evaluate a website to see if it contains AI content? Try the Originality.ai Site Scanner and check your entire website for AI content in 1 click.

Final Thoughts

Overall, AI tools can benefit content marketing and content creation.

Some of the benefits of AI for copywriters include:

• Speeding up the content creation process.
• Allowing writers to quickly research topics.
• Mapping out an effective content brief to expand on.

However, AI should not replace copywriting efforts, especially if AI is not permitted in the writing contract. Mass-producing AI content can result in Google traffic penalties.

Instead of relying heavily on AI, invest time in establishing your copywriting skills and continue to hone your craft to help your work stand out in a noisy digital space.

FAQs Regarding Copywriters and AI

How can AI tools benefit copywriters?

AI tools can be incredibly beneficial for copywriters, especially when it comes to learning more about a subject, researching topics in more detail, creating detailed SEO-friendly briefs, and developing strategies further.

Can AI replace human copywriters?

No, AI cannot fully replace human copywriters for several reasons. It can certainly help with a number of tasks, but it lacks the nuance, creativity, and emotional intelligence that a highly skilled writer can provide.

Is the use of AI in copywriting detectable?

Yes. The Originality.ai content detector has 99%+ accuracy in detecting AI content with its Standard 2.0.1 model. So, writers and business owners can identify AI-generated content with transparency.