People vs. robots: Why AI writing tools won’t replace human writers

Discover where AI writing tools can best assist writers and why it's still best to rely on human writers for content creation.

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Key takeaways:

AI writing tools can assist with brainstorming, interview preparation and overcoming writer’s block, making them useful resources for content creators.
While AI can generate content quickly, it often lacks proper sourcing. Writers must still verify information and ensure accuracy, especially in healthcare content where trust is paramount.
AI-generated content often lacks the emotional nuance and empathetic approach that’s essential in healthcare writing, highlighting the continued importance of human writers.

Author: WG Content
Last updated: 03/20/23

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t new, but it’s become a hot topic lately for content creators. AI writing tools like QuillBot, founded in 2017, and ChapGPT, a late 2022 addition, have fueled themes for countless content marketing articles and webinars.

So, what is AI? It’s a way of programming machines to think like humans and mimic our actions. This branch of computer science dates back to the early 1950s. And many current-day AI-powered products have made our lives simpler. Think digital maps and navigation programs, voice assistants and even drive-assist in vehicles.

And, knowingly or not, writers have been putting AI to use for a while now.

Here at WG Content, we use AI-powered tools to check for tone, reading level and even plagiarism. Grammarly is one of our go-to products. This “writing assistant” suggests copy enhancements using specialized AI techniques.

If we’ve been using AI for years, why does today’s hype leave writers perhaps wondering if they’re staring at their replacements? Fear of the unknown, maybe. Or perhaps technology is straying too far from “AI writing assistant” toward “robot writer.”

3 takeaways from testing AI writing tools

Before our writers began doom-scrolling and dusting off resumes, we thought it would be a good idea to take some AI writing tools for a spin. So a WG Content writer created a ChatGPT account and tested its ability to generate content for a blog post on a common health topic: ovarian cysts.

Were we secretly hoping to find AI’s fatal flaws? Maybe. But our writer found some positives to using AI-powered writing tools. Here are three takeaways from our recent AI test.

1. AI writing tools can help with interviewing and brainstorming

For this blog, we asked AI: “What questions could a writer ask during an interview about ovarian cysts?” The tool generated 10 solid questions to ask a physician or other clinical expert.

This tool could be a great resource when developing interview questions, especially when working on a tight deadline. And you might also use ChatGPT as a brainstorming partner to help generate ideas for headlines or subheads.

Get more tips for interviewing subject matter experts.

2. AI writing tools can curb blank page syndrome

Writer’s block is real. If you’ve ever stared at an empty Word document for far too long, AI could be your remedy.

AI writing tools allow you to ask questions or use more direct prompts to generate content. For the ovarian cyst blog post, the client did provide direction and resources. But we decided to go to ChatGPT before digging too deep into our own materials. So, with the blank page in mind, we used ChatGPT’s chatbot to answer general questions like:

Who’s most at risk for ovarian cysts?
Should I worry about ovarian cysts?
What are the main types of ovarian cysts?

These questions generated some good information, though the source of that information wasn’t clear. Ultimately, the results in ChatGPT didn’t offer anything more than we could have easily found on Google. Next, we took things a step further by creating several prompts, like:

Write a blog titled “Should I worry about ovarian cysts?”
Write a blog titled “Who should worry about ovarian cysts?”

These prompts generated short blog posts, so we got a bit more specific with the necessary word count:

Write a 600-word blog titled “Should I worry about ovarian cysts?”

Sure enough, ChatGPT offered a nearly 600-word (543 to be exact) blog post for consideration.

Despite having several blog posts to review and select from, we couldn’t get past the fact that the generated content offered no sourcing. The test begged the question: How can we trust what we’re reading? Where is the information coming from and does it contain bias?

AI can indeed “hallucinate” — a term used to describe when this technology confidently dishes out information that’s just flat-out wrong. Because readers are seeking truth in healthcare information, it’s important to ask AI tools to cite sources and then check those resources. Never copy and paste!

3. AI can’t replace human empathy (yet)

Despite what you may have read recently about chatbot conversations going awry, computers are not human. They can’t generate the empathy necessary for most writing, an imperative in healthcare content creation.

No matter which question or prompt in testing ChatGPT, it generated rather emotionless copy. Healthcare content creation requires an empathetic approach. And, today, that isn’t something a computer can generate to our satisfaction.

Things to watch out for when using AI writing tools

Content overload. Too many resources, especially for a quick blog post, can be overwhelming. In our test, we were intentional about asking multiple questions and entering several prompts in testing ChatGPT. Because of that, we ended up with a lot of words (without sources) to dig through — on top of the client-provided sources already i hand. To make ChatGTP useful and avoid content overload, you may want to narrow your list of questions or prompts to just a few.
Healthcare consumers want information they can trust. You can’t make assumptions about the truthfulness of AI-generated content. Request ChatGPT to use and cite verifiable sources plus continue to verify information with trusted online or (gasp!) human sources on your own.
Are we plagiarizing other content when using AI? Out of curiosity, we ran every AI-generated piece of content through the Grammarly plagiarism checker. It’s not lost on us that we used an AI-powered tool to check AI-generated content. Still, the content came out quite clean. Others may not have the same experience. The best advice: Use AI-generated content to help you generate ideas, but don’t use it word-for-word as your own.

The bottom line: AI can help writers, but it won’t replace them

WG Content team members will continue to test the capabilities of AI writing tools and figure out how they best support us and our clients. While we continue to evolve our thinking and processes around AI, it’s safe to say robots aren’t replacing good writers anytime soon.

WG Content can help support your content creation

WG Content has 20+ years of experience crafting empathetic, human-generated custom healthcare content. Contact us anytime to learn how we can help you reach your goals.

Follow-up questions about using AI writing tools:

AI tools should complement rather than replace human writers. The job market may shift toward writers who can effectively leverage AI tools to enhance their productivity and creativity, while still providing the human touch, critical thinking and fact-checking that AI tools lack.

We shared a few concerns in the post — lack of verified data, risk or plagiarism and lack of empathy. Another important concern to be aware of is the risk of spreading misinformation if AI-generated content isn’t properly vetted.

Content creators can maintain their unique voice by using AI tools primarily for research, idea generation and initial drafts, rather than final copy. They should view AI-generated content as a starting point, then edit and refine it to match the needed voice and style. At WG Content, we use our client’s style guides throughout the writing and editing process to ensure final copy matches each organization’s unique style. Learn more about creating a writing style guide and why it’s an important tool for writers.