If you’ve been on the internet in the past few months, you’ve likely seen the words “ChatGPT” at least once. ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence platforms have taken the internet (and the marketing industry) by storm.
We’ve seen ChatGPT used for all sorts of things, but what does Google think about content created completely or with the aid of a tool like ChatGPT?
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool with AI technology. With ChatGPT, you can have incredibly realistic conversations with the chatbot. The chatbot can answer any questions or help you with certain tasks. For example, you could ask it to write an email or copy for a social media campaign.
Because it’s currently in a research and feedback-collection phase, ChatGPT is a free service. There’s a subscription-based model called ChatGPT Plus that has more advanced features. Eventually, the service will become pay-to-use for all.
But because it’s free now, it’s being used by tons of people worldwide. Marketing companies are using it to craft slogans, social media copy, emails, outlines for blog posts, and so much more. But whether or not this content is good and useful is often up for debate.
The Controversy of AI-Generated Content
The controversy of AI-created content started a few months into 2023 when a popular AI art generator appeared all over social media. Users uploaded a few selfies into an AI software (not ChatGPT), and it created hundreds of fantastical images of the person in different settings and outfits.
It wasn’t long before artists noticed similarities between these AI-generated images and their own work. This is because AI requires input of some kind. It can create but only based on what it’s taught.
So, this particular AI was shown millions of different portraits from artists around the world. Because it’s using those pieces of art to create new work, some artists were able to see their style reflected in these AI-created pieces. Some see this as the AI using their work as “inspiration,” while others see it as blatant stealing.
It’s safe to say AI doesn’t have the best reputation amongst creators. However, that’s just one instance of controversy. AI-written content has a few controversies of its own, too.
AI Causes Layoffs
One of the issues with AI is that more and more people are opting to use it instead of working with real people. A report from Business Insider states that 4,000 people lost their jobs because of AI in May of 2023.
The fact of the matter is that running a business and the cost of living have increased exponentially in the past few years. Paying employees a livable wage is not in the best interest of these huge companies. They would rather cut costs and use tools that make their work look almost as good. But is using tools like ChatGPT actually a good idea for a business?
How Does Google Feel About AI-Generated Content?
Google is clearly a fan of AI, as they recently stated they needed to focus on “key priorities” — like AI. Of course, they said this shortly after laying off over 12,000 people. However, just because Google wants to create its own chatbot doesn’t mean they’re all for AI-created content where SEO is concerned.
Danny Sullivan, an experienced SEO writer, and representative for Google, said this on Twitter when asked about AI’s hand in content creation:
We did talk about a focus on content *by people* for people in our post about improvements like the helpful content system. But the nuance is really that it’s unlikely some AI content is going to feel written by people without some degree of human review: https://t.co/uRiqh7ftDL
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) November 7, 2022
Does AI Content Rank Well?
As Danny Sullivan stated, AI content can rank well. However, it’s unlikely that AI can generate the kind of people-first content that Google loves. It’s important to think about E-E-A-T when writing content. E-E-A-T is an acronym for:
- Experience
- Expertise
- Authoritative
- Trustworthiness
These four pillars of content may be hard to replicate with AI, especially experience (which was added to E-A-T in late 2022). To rank high, Google wants content that is created by someone with personal experience on the subject. Unfortunately, AI doesn’t actually have experience in anything. Therefore, content written by ChatGPT probably won’t find its way to the top of the search results anytime soon.
Should You Use ChatGPT?
Whether or not you use ChatGPT to create content for your blog is up to you. If you plan to use the language processing tool to create your content, ensure it’s reviewed and edited by a human before it’s uploaded to your site.
However, in our opinion, nothing beats content written by a real person (and we’re not just saying that because it’s what we do). Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness are much easier to encompass when writing the content yourself. And honestly, you’ll probably spend as much time writing as editing a piece so it doesn’t sound like a robot wrote it.
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