AI in Content Marketing: 3 predictions

As a writer, I have always been fascinated by the power of words. The way they can evoke emotions, inspire action, and create connections between people is truly remarkable. But with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), I can’t help but wonder if the art of storytelling is in danger of becoming obsolete.

While some predict that AI will revolutionise the industry, others fear that it will lead to a flood of generic, uninspired content that will bore audiences, clog search engines, and suck up ad revenue. So, what does the future hold for content marketing in the age of AI?

Prediction 1: There’s a wave of meh content on the horizon

One of the most immediate impacts of AI on content marketing is its ability to generate content quickly and efficiently. With AI-powered tools, eager marketers can create articles, blog posts, and even entire websites with just a few clicks (prompts). While this may seem like a game-changer for content marketing, it also raises concerns about the quality and originality of the content being produced.

As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, search engines may become saturated with generic articles that lack the creativity and nuance that human writers bring to the table. This could lead to a decline in the value of SEO, as search engines prioritise content that is unique and engaging over content that is simply keyword-optimised.

Prediction 2: Journalistic research will become more valuable

While AI can certainly help with the production of content, it cannot replace the human touch when it comes to voice, unique research, and analysis (yet). — Dwight Garner’s NYT review of the AI-generated novel Death of an Author describes the writing as having the “crabwise gait of a Wikipedia entry.” Yikes! 

Because AI content is trained on the information that already exists, I have to ask the question: who’s feeding the machine? 

Unless we’re giving algorithms the ability to call primary sources and conduct in-depth interviews, we smooshy humans still have a place in this world. It’s why I see journalistic research, in particular, becoming increasingly valuable as waves of meh content subsume the internet.

Prediction 3: The winners will be those who can create cut-through stories and then scale them with AI tools

Right now, AI is a content scaling machine (we’re hedging here because things change fast). As mentioned above, AI can help you generate more content once you know exactly what you want to say and how to say it, but it can’t (yet, as far as we know…) identify the best stories to tell. 

In short, it means that the winners will be those who can combine the power of AI with the creativity and storytelling skills of human writers and marketers. AI can help with the production and distribution of content, but it cannot replace the ability to dig out and craft a compelling narrative that resonates with an audience.

The key is to use AI as a tool to scale and amplify your content, rather than relying on it to do the thinking. Using AI to iterate on ideas and repurpose original content into other formats — like, say, turning a blog post into social media posts — marketers can free up more time to focus on the creative aspects of their work.

In my opinion, AI is undoubtedly changing the way content marketing works, but it is not the end of creativity. It’s amplifying the production and distribution of content, not replacing human research, analysis, and storytelling. The winners in the age of AI will be those who can combine the power of machines with the creativity and nuance of human insights to create content that engages, inspires, and connects with audiences.

It’s why at Branch Road all of our engagements start with narrative workshops that uncover the stories businesses should be telling to connect with their customers.