Artificial Intelligence vs. Human-Generated Content: Which is Better for SEO?

Discover the differences between AI-generated and human-created content and learn how to correctly use AI in your content strategy for better SEO results.

After all the hype about artificial intelligence, Google has finally confirmed that it doesn’t matter how content is created . Quality is what matters most. This means that appropriate use of AI is allowed as long as you follow Google’s guidelines.

Although AI has great potential, there are still some significant differences between Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated content and human-written content that everyone should consider.

What is the best approach for your content strategy and the correct use of artificial intelligence?

How does Google evaluate content?

For years, generating content to outsmart search engine rankings was considered a violation of anti-spam policies.

Google rewards content that has EEAT qualities :

• Expertise
• Experience
• Authoritativeness
• Trustworthiness

This rating method has been around for over 10 years and is determined by a combination of creator, content and website.

But not all AI-generated content is bad. In fact, AI has already been successfully used to prepare useful articles and improve marketing efforts.

For instance, “41.29%” of marketers agree that using AI for email marketing generateshigher market value“. But when you do, it’s important to ensure that your email content is not flagged by AI detectors antispam.

The ranking system is designed for results achieved for the benefit of people. Therefore, focusing on people-centric content has long-term success.

What makes AI generators better?

It is clear that AI is improving every day in writing and other skills. So, should copywriters fear losing their jobs? The quick answer is no. Even though 37% of businesses are already using AI, there is still a significant gap between the two.

1. Fast fact-based results

There is no doubt that AI can generate articles for a wide range of topics. It uses algorithms to obtain and analyze data, converting it into impressive fact-based results in seconds. But these details are collected from various sources, making them unreliable at times.

2. Skilled in English Grammar

AI generators are catching up with humans even in more difficult language issues such as abductive natural language interference. ANLI is a reasoning process where you try to deduce the best explanation for a given set of evidence.

The score difference between humans and AI is only 1%.

The truth is that even the best writers make mistakes. Despite numerous editing cycles, an occasional typo can slip through.

That said, AI is not recommended for editing as it cannot handle issues like cohesion, sense, and logic.

3. It can simulate different scenarios

While only humans have the ability to understand the context of content strategy, AI can be leveraged to simulate different scenarios and help you better understand your target audience.

Simply tell the AI to act like a specific person with all the details and ask it how it would proceed in certain situations:

For example, instruct the AI to respond as a specific person based on the facts you know or assume about your buyer persona.

Provide a specific challenge and ask the AI to proceed as the persona provided to get a sense of how your buyers would act to solve their problems.

You can also ask about specific problems that your personas might have or try to identify their information channels and buying processes

While each buyer is unique, AI is capable of providing insights into anyone’s life.

Here’s how our AI persona, John Doe, would describe himself:

“ Hi, I’m John Doe, a 34-year-old web developer who manages over 50 websites for various clients. I’ve been in the industry for over 10 years, and I enjoy creating visually appealing and user-friendly websites. When I’m not working, I’m an avid runner and hiker, I love reading and learning new things, and I enjoy experimenting with new recipes. I feel incredibly fortunate to have found a career that I’m passionate about and to work with so many wonderful clients. “

What Makes Humans Better?

There are many important factors in generating high-quality content that make AI fall short. These strengths that only writers possess cannot be substituted by AI.

1. AI sounds too robotic

Especially when provided with specific keywords. 

This notorious chatbot “voice” becomes even more apparent when it comes to a condescending text. Try to guess who wrote each of the following two paragraphs:

1. “ Netflix’s status page is a website that provides real-time information about the availability of Netflix services and systems worldwide. It displays the current status of the Netflix platform and any issues that might affect its performance, such as outages or scheduled maintenance.“

2. “ With nearly 231 million paying subscribers, Netflix is an example of a poor status page. The page is simplistic to a fault, making it hard to tell if it’s genuinely updating—which could negatively impact user trust.“

If you guessed that the first example is AI-generated, you were right! The second piece is from the UptimeRobot blog written 100% by humans about real-world status pages.

2. Humans are creative and fun

While AI uses repetitive phrases and rigid formal wording, writers can think outside the box to make the content more unique.

AI lacks the ability to provide engaging and distinct content that incorporates humor and other emotions to sustain the reader’s attention.

Try to guess the author of the following paragraph:

“ You should monitor your website because, let’s face it, the internet can be a wild and whimsical place. You never know what kind of shenanigans your website might get up to when you’re not looking. Maybe your images will start randomly rotating upside down, or your text will mysteriously change to Wingdings. Who knows? The only way to keep up with these shenanigans is to keep a close eye on your website. Trust me, you don’t want to be the last to know when your website decides to start moonwalking across your screen. Stay vigilant, my friends. “

This is what happens when you ask AI to include humor. 

3. Writers better understand tasks

Trying to get the right results from AI can be a challenging process and may take more time than expected. This is especially true for more complex tasks. 

Here is what happens when you ask AI to write a creative piece about the importance of SEO:

“In a world where billions of websites vie for attention, SEO is the beacon of hope that can guide lost souls to the right destination. It is the lighthouse on a rocky coast, the North Star in a pitch-black sky, the GPS of the information superhighway. Without SEO, your website is like a message in a bottle, tossed into the sea with no guarantee it will ever be found.“

4. In touch with the audience

As a writer, you should have at least an idea of who your readers are, who you want to attract, and what goals you want to achieve with a piece.

You should be able to identify the level of expertise of your target audience and adapt the article accordingly.

AI, on the other hand, simply builds content based on the provided guidelines. So, without the knowledge of a human behind the scenes, AI content is likely to be too generic to be valuable.

5. Humans excel at formatting

AI uses a basic structure, typically with similar paragraphs and sentences.

By using lists, short paragraphs, quotes, stats, style, and headings, good writers can make content more visually engaging.

As you can see from the walls of text produced by AI in our examples above, AI content is often much less visually appealing than human-written content.

6. People create links between ideas

Only a human mind can comprehend diverse topics and create connections between complex ideas.

Although humans clearly have an advantage when it comes to complex thoughts and associations, they may also take longer to research and produce quality content, raising questions about the cost disparity between human-written and AI-generated content.

What is more cost-effective?

Given its ability to rapidly produce a large volume of content, AI is the go-to at first glance, but the argument is more complex.

There may be better long-term approaches than relying on AI-generated content, mainly because it is unable to create unique content and repeatedly uses the same algorithms. Additionally, it is not very people-oriented.

When creating content, always consider the reader first and ask yourself questions like:

• Will my existing or intended audience find this useful?
• Does the content demonstrate expertise and knowledge?
• Will someone feel they have learned enough after reading? 
• Will the read be a satisfying experience for visitors?

While AI may have the upper hand in quantity, good human content writers possess the unique ability to produce high-quality, tailored pieces, which can provide much more value than AI-generated ones.

But this does not mean you cannot use AI to your advantage.

How can you use the power of AI?

AI brings a lot of value when used properly, especially in situations where humans might fall short.

Consider using AI to enhance your brainstorming by generating ideas and titles for topics, especially on days when you are struggling to come up with new ideas.

While it might not be the best choice for long-term strategic content, AI can still be useful for generating short descriptions and paragraphs that can be more easily adapted to your audience.

AI can also provide additional assistance with grammar, spelling, and readability. It will offer suggestions, making it a useful tool for writers.

Be careful when using AI for research as you cannot confirm the origin and be sure to add a source to the article. Including such details builds trust and increases credibility with readers.

Depending on the AI you use, you should consider how old the available dataset is. 

Conclusion: Humans are better but AI can help

When it comes to producing high-quality, engaging content, humans are the clear winners. 

While only writers can create unique and creative pieces, AI is here to stay and can be used to boost your content strategy.

Pubblicato in Digital Marketing, SEO