Have you been trying to use AI to improve your company’s blogs? Do you find yourself stretching to use AI to improve your processes? AI is an exciting new tool for content creation when used properly. When you don’t, it can actually make things more difficult. So many of our contemporaries are hunting for ways to use it for their web design, marketing, and SEO in Los Angeles among other services.
Below are some ways that I can recommend using it to improve your written content.
Don’t Look for Answers, Look for Inspiration
Too many content creators, I’ve found, treat AI as if it’s always right. This is not the right attitude. In fact, this can make your content worse.
AI is a tool, nothing more. It’s a tool in the same way that Google is a tool, as your laptop is a tool, etc. It’s not some sentient being, nor is it an all-knowing omnipotent force. In fact, it’s not really a “writer.” It’s a word generator. It generates words. That’s what it does.
So, I’ve found, the best, most effective way to use AI is to use it for what it’s actually good for.
AI can help to “get your brain working.” If you’re out of ideas about a topic, if your research hasn’t turned up much, use AI to brainstorm. Ask it for ideas. This isn’t for it to give you solutions and answers, since AI can’t do that. After all, even the ChatGPT people had to put that disclaimer at the bottom about how it “can make mistakes.”
What you may find is that, when you ask AI about a given topic, it gives you something to start from. You’ll have something you can use to develop what it actually is you’re going to write.
AI isn’t bad for outlining, either. You can ask it to write you an outline on a topic. That doesn’t mean you have to follow it or that you should follow it. Rather, you’ll have a baseline to start from.
Always, Always Double Check AI
AI doesn’t write, it doesn’t research, it generates words. So, when you do get something that jogs your brain, do the research to see if it’s any good. You have to do the research to see if AI got something wrong or, to use their own wonderful vocabulary, “hallucinates.”
What you’ll find when you do this research, more often than not, is something that will inspire you further. Maybe you asked AI for an outline for a blog and it gave you some headings about points you hadn’t considered.
Instead of just plowing through the writing, you then went and did the research (since you understand the limitations of AI). By doing so, you learn more about the topics you’re writing about which, in turn, will only improve your writing.
This, then, makes “double checking the AI” more than just “double checking the AI,” now you’re better understanding that which you’re writing about. This is invaluable if you’re writing about something you maybe don’t know all that much about right now, you’re learning about a new topic, etc.
Too often, with AI, people think it’s the first step towards “writing.” But really, it can be much more beneficial as the first step towards understanding, towards learning, and so forth.
How to Think About AI for Your Company
I feel like I’ve said some version of this before in these blogs, but the best way to think of AI for your company is like it’s a new employee. Highly regarded, with a good resume and certainly a strong work ethic, AI is your new hire.
And how do you treat new hires? If you’re like we are here at Website Depot, we want to see how they work. We want to see what they can do, yes, how they fit into what it is we do here, our company culture. Additionally, we make sure to monitor their work.
New employees, even the best ones, the ones who want to work hard and do so from day one, make mistakes. How can they not? They’re new. But, when they’re overseen by experienced workers, executives, etc., their work can be improved. That way, the company doesn’t bear the burden of the new employee’s rookie mistakes.
AI should be treated the same way. If you double-check everything you get from AI, you’ll be using how it should be used and not as a shortcut that goes nowhere.
Read it Out Loud
If you do ever take a piece of writing from AI, whether it’s a paragraph or something longer, read it out loud. Please. Read it out loud. Do it at least once. Nothing wrong with doing it twice.
For years, I was the head writing tutor at my college (which was mostly engineers). This was the one tip I gave them on all of their writing: read it out loud. You’ll see where all of the mistakes are. You’ll see, very clearly, where it looks like it’s written by a, well, robot.
As you might have guessed by now, this is a great idea for any writing, AI or otherwise. Any time you write something to be seen by others, make sure that you read it out loud at least once.
SEO in Los Angeles and More
There are more tools available to help your company to grow than there ever were previously. But, to get the most out of them, someone has to use them properly. That’s where we can come in. Here at Website Depot, we’ve helped so many with their SEO, web design, digital marketing, content, and so much more.
To see how we can help your company, schedule a free consultation with us through our site or by calling (888) 477-9540.