AI Article Writers: How They’re Changing the Content Landscape

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in content writing

Already in 2023, a World Federation of Advertisers study revealed that 74% of respondents were already using generative AI for content generation. AI writing tools are definitely on the rise. Let’s look into some numbers around using AI writing software to create content.

How AI shapes the content landscape

As of 2024, a Microsoft study that not only looked at advertisers, but at knowledge workers in general, states that “75% of knowledge workers use AI at work today“. There are multiple use cases for generative AI, but content creation is one of the most popular.

Some other examples of content-related use cases are:

• Content translation
• Transformation of audio to written text, or vice versa
• Content summarization
• Content editing, including adapting content to different channels or a new target audience

How AI changes the way we write

Increased content velocity is a huge driver for generative AI usage, next to creating engaging content. As per a B2B marketer study conducted by LinkedIn, the reasons why people use generative AI encompass creating “more content in less time” and creating “optimized and engaging content”. (Source)

But how are AI writing assistants performing in real life? Are they delivering what marketing professionals expect from them? And what about the loss of creativity in conceptualizing and writing because of AI, that some people were afraid of?

AI as a creativity booster

As for creative writing, AI has proven to perform better than expected.

In an experimental setting, a human audience rated stories written by human writers, that were either:

1. Augmented with story suggestions from AI or 
2. Planned and written without story suggestions provided by AI software.

The audience perceived the stories based on AI ideas as 5.4% to 8.1% more creatively composed. (Source)

Beware of unrealistic expectations around AI

While many marketers use and benefit from generative AI in the content creation process, there are also downsides of using AI to generate content.

In “Generative AI Hype – Are we having unrealistic expectations?“, Mikael Gislen addresses limitations of tools that are based on natural language processing (NLP). One of them is related to content marketing:

“AI tools can generate content but need more nuanced understanding to create compelling and contextually appropriate marketing materials consistently. [… I]t has to be fact-checked and rewritten extensively. It can save time but hardly replace humans.”

This is why AI won’t steal your job

These findings underline our personal position: We at Acrolinx also believe that AI changes the way we write. Used correctly, it can make us more productive and can even boost creativity. But it doesn’t replace human expertise, and needs the right set of AI guardrails to make sure your content output fulfills your expectations.

As we’ve discussed using AI writing tools for creating content in general, let’s have a look at one type of AI writing software tools, that’s able to be tailored to the needs of article writers.

How does AI help with article writing?

AI article writers are AI writing tools used to generate articles, such as a blog post or long-form articles. The most important AI article writer feature is probably AI content generation. AI content generators produce content based on a prompt.

Content generators can also be used for ideation, e.g to bring up ideas. Other writing tools from this category are used to check or edit content in various ways. We’ll examine different use cases later, but first, let’s dive into the benefits of AI writing software for article creation.

Exploring the benefits of AI article writers

1. Improved creativity and idea generation

With the right AI writing tool, you can boost your own creativity within the ideation process. Instead of using software only as a helper during the actual writing process, start using it to generate new ideas and perspectives. Ask it questions around relevant topics for certain audiences, and let it brainstorm ideas you can use as a basis for your own ideation.

This isn’t about letting AI do your creative work, but more about leveraging it as a companion with cool ideas, who can help you through creative blocks during content ideation.

2. Faster content creation and more productivity

AI writer tools can make content production faster. Maybe you don’t want to let AI write all of your content, but let it help overcome writing blocks. Or you could let it personalize content for different channels. As an example, you could let an AI tool generate social media posts to feature a blog post or any long form content asset.

There are so many ways of boosting productivity with AI writers, feel free to experiment with multiple approaches and find out which one fits your work style.

3. Improved content quality

Besides creativity and productivity gains, content optimization tools help you create high quality content.

If you’re working for an enterprise, the best AI writing software to improve content quality is definitely content governance software. It not only focuses on high-level content characteristics like grammar, but helps maintain your brand’s corporate writing standards across your whole content supply chain.

Exemplary use cases for AI article writers

While there’s a multitude of use cases for AI article writers, we’ll outline two exemplary ones below.

1. Search engine optimization of articles

AI-powered article writing tools can be used in multiple ways. Through natural language processing (NLP), they can help

• Identify the best keywords
• Make sure headers are used in agreement with the requirements
• Optimize content structure to be beneficial for search engines
• Analyze competitors

AI tools help SEO writers save time while improving their article’s relevance, readability, and ranking potential.

2. Personalization and targeting

AI models can help analyze audience data and behaviors, and this way contribute to content personalization. Subsequently, some AI writing tools make sure that the tone, style, and messaging of either generated or human-written articles meet specific reader personas or market needs.

And more: AI helps making sure your content isn’t only personalized, but optimized for conversion. That means you not only reach your target audiences more effectively, but you’re also able to covert them with engaging, relevant content.

Considerations when using AI article writers

For sure, it’s great to let a AI writing tool help you with article writing. But does that mean you’re fine to pick a random tool and go for it? Not really. There are certain things to consider, especially when you’re creating enterprise content. Number one: Legal considerations.

Legal considerations

You might have already wondered about the following questions. Let’s have a closer look at legislation and ethics.

Is it legal to use AI to write articles?

Generally: yes, but … The question is how you use AI. If you let it create blog posts for you, you need to make sure the generated content doesn’t violate laws and regulations, like copyright laws.

Please note that laws and regulations can differ, depending on where you’re based and which geographies you’re targeting with your content.

How to use AI without plagiarizing?

To not plagiarize other’s intellectual property, models need to be trained on licensed content that’s allowed to be used for LLM training.

For you to be on the safe side, consider using an LLM trained on enterprise content, and dare experimenting with AI’s features. Instead of letting it write entire blog posts for you, why not use your AI writing assistant as a brainstorming buddy?

Can Google detect AI-written articles?

Short answer: Yes. Google detects AI-generated content, but claims to reward “high-quality content, however it is produced“. This means using AI shouldn’t conflict with SEO, as long as your content follows Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines.

Content writing tools and creativity

Does an AI content generator disrupt your creative process? While this fear appears prominent among content writers, research tells a different story. Generative AI can help generate lots of great ideas for writing blog content, and thus boots your ideation process.

Don’t be afraid of AI taking away your unique ideas. Use it as a cowriter, that can help address writer’s block when you’re stuck staring at a blank page. Or, use it to vary existing content, provide landing pages for long-form content, and bring fresh air into your marketing strategies.

For more ideas, download our guide “Collaborating with AI“.

High-quality AI article writing with Acrolinx

Article writing for an enterprise is different from writing blog posts for a personal blog.

While most AI writing tools are a great match for hobby or freelance writers, the best professional AI writing tool should be made for enterprises. Content governance software like Acrolinx comes with built-in AI guardrails for writing standards, making sure all your content is aligned with your brand voice.

Acrolinx governs content across departments, so not only sales and marketing teams benefit from writing style alignment. Instead, the software makes sure all content follows your writing standards, be it product descriptions, marketing copy or legal content.

Needless to say, it integrates not only with your copywriting tools, but also with multiple different authoring environments, from Google Docs to XML authoring tools.