5 Best Practices for Using ChatGPT to Assist in Content Writing
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic for a few years. And it has recently gained even more traction in the digital space with OpenAI’s public release of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022.
ChatGPT is a variant of the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) language model developed by OpenAI, and is a conversational chatbot designed to provide human-like text responses when given a prompt or asked a question. Its ability to put together well written and knowledgeable text in a matter of seconds has taken the content writing world by storm, and has been able to produce quality content when used properly.
If using ChatGPT to create content, it’s important to understand that it has limitations and should not be considered as a replacement for a content writer or editor. Among the reasons why are the facts that it is not always 100% accurate, and that the content it produces can lack originality. Additionally, here are five best practices to keep in mind if you want to experiment with using ChatGPT (or other AI language models) to assist in content writing.
1. Provide as Much Detail as Possible to ChatGPT
The more detail provided to ChatGPT, the more descriptive and unique its response will be. Rather than just asking the chatbot to write an article about a topic, ask it to include specific subtopics related to the main topic, compare different products or services relevant to the topic, include specific instructions on how to do something related to the topic, and more. Including descriptive details is important to ensure that you are not publishing content that already exists elsewhere.
2. Edit the AI Content/Response Produced by the Language Model
AI is still far from perfect, and the content it produces should never be relied on as 100% accurate. Be sure to edit the content for grammar, factual accuracy, article structure, redundancy and more. AI language models like ChatGPT can provide a great starting point for content about specific topics, but it needs to be edited and tweaked before it is ready to be published.
3. Ask Specific Questions to ChatGPT That Your Article Should Answer
Simply telling ChatGPT to write an article on a topic will most often not provide a response that is sufficient enough to be considered high quality content. Providing additional details helps, and so does individually asking ChatGPT to answer specific questions that are relevant to the topic. When doing this, implement the other best practices mentioned on this list to the responses from the chatbot, and combine the reviewed and edited responses into the final article. Identify the best questions to ask ChatGPT about the topic by using keyword research tools and tools like Answer the Public for insight into the relevant questions people are asking.
4. Add Your Own Thoughts to the AI Content Where Possible
It is pivotal that you still include your own thoughts in the content as much as possible. Do not ask ChatGPT to write an article, and then publish that article on your website as is. Not only is it essential to edit the content, but it is equally important to add to the content as much as possible. If you are producing content about a topic that is within your expertise, there is a good chance you will know more about the topic than ChatGPT or other AI language models will know. Plus, adding your own thoughts will ensure your content is unique and refrains from mimicking content published on other websites.
5. Human Interpretation Can't Be Replaced in SEO Writing
Essential to any successful SEO strategy is the creation and implementation of written website content, whether it be in the form of service or product pages, blog posts and more. If the goal is to produce content to rank in search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo, AI content writing will only get you so far. How the content is structured, how the headlines are written, and which semantically related topics are discussed are just a few of the limitations of AI language models like ChatGPT. While content written by ChatGPT can provide a nice starting point for SEO content creators, AI language models are not advanced enough to understand and interpret guidelines like Google Search Essentials. AI written content should never be considered for SEO content without being reviewed and edited by an SEO expert.
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