The Good, The Bad and The AI

Everyday, we’re seeing more and more AI tools advertised as replacements for digital marketing. Products claiming that they will replace the need for SEO, digital ads, and copy.

In 2024, AI is both a controversial and misunderstood subject. The instinct to be wary of its potential impact on all industries is natural with some people being concerned about the possibility of job loss, inauthenticity, and data security as it relates to our digital future. However, it is important to note that AI has been around for decades.

With this in mind, what are the good and bad ways that AI can shape the digital marketing tools available to us today?

The AI Controversy

In the last year, AI has been associated with automation, data theft, job loss, and the downfall of society. This is because the capabilities of AI have profoundly expanded. Artificial intelligence now has the potential to do much more than previously imagined.

Despite most assumptions regarding AI development, machine intelligence was developed in the early 1950s. We’ve been harnessing the power of AI to assist in digital tasks for decades, fundamentally shaping the work we do. Thus, being strictly “Anti-AI” would be a misguided stance.

As with any software, platform, or tool, the effectiveness and ethical nature of AI depends on what and how it is used.

The Trap of AI Replacements

Over the past couple of years, AI tools have become more capable of generating content. In many, especially creative spaces, this has created the problem of authenticity and merit. In digital marketing, the biggest question has been how generative AI will replace the work of agencies and workers.

What this question fails to recognize, however, is the significant human input still required to utilize these tools.

Think of the Roomba. Using sensors and programming, the automated vacuum cleaner behaves as artificial intelligence. Though it has the intelligence to detect and move around furniture, humans are still required to pick up small objects that could disrupt the Roomba’s path.

Much like the Roomba, most AI requires human input to ensure it runs smoothly. This exemplifies the problem with most AI tools claiming to perform the work independently. Often, machine learning gets caught on imperfect data, producing low quality results.

If you see an AI digital marketing tool that claims to replace the need for an SEO specialist, digital agency, writer, or other human worker, it's likely misrepresenting itself. AI almost always needs a human to provide detailed prompting in order to generate useful results.

The types of AI tools that could potentially be helpful for your business are intended as exactly that: tools. A platform like Semrush and Ahrefs are powerful because it gives users the resources to research, plan, and review their content for effective SEO optimization.

SEO in relation to AI has been subject to debate recently. Some claim that AI algorithms will make SEO completely irrelevant. Others believe that AI tools will soon be able to perform all SEO tasks, making the job of specialists irrelevant. Both of these outcomes, however, are unlikely.

While it is likely to improve, the massive pool of data online is actually causing AI to struggle with SEO. Differentiating between necessary factual information and subjective opinions leveraged online is difficult for AI, causing skewed and sometimes random results.

Tools, such as Seoana, are built on the promise of automating your SEO work. While this AI assistant has been helpful to some in making SEO easier, it is not effectively automated. Additionally, they often use questionable tactics. If you decide to cancel your subscription to SEOana, the work it performed will be deleted, effectively de-optimizing your website.

Authenticity and AI

AI written content is easily the most controversial subject in the current digital age. In digital marketing, the line is more clear-cut. If your content is written by AI, it won’t be very helpful for your business. 

Google can recognize low-quality, AI-written content and will penalize it in rankings. As AI struggles with SEO, you simply won’t appear in search results if you’re using AI to write your content. For most industries, authenticity is only one issue with using AI to write content. Frankly, AI simply can't generate content that will sufficiently replace human writers. Not only is the quality frequently subpar, but the penalties to your performance in Google make it pointless.

Tools that analyze your text for originality, keywords, and readability can be helpful to assist in the writing process.

Digital Agencies

We have consistently emphasized the importance of digital agencies when it comes to bringing your business’ marketing, content, and social media strategy. The same applies to AI. AI tools may make digital marketing easier, but an agency will bring the expertise and human intelligence you can rely on.

This, however, does not mean that all agencies are reliable. Some agencies will claim that they “don’t use AI.” If you come across this, make sure you ask what they mean by this. If an agency truly used no machine intelligence in their work, they wouldn’t be able to effectively work, given that AI is built into most advertising platforms. 

Instead, it’s important to know what AI tools an agency is using. Some agencies use AI tools that are ineffective, effectively scamming their clients. We have come across clients who worked with an agency previously that used AI to write all of their content. As previously covered, this content was essentially useless to the company.

An effective agency uses their expertise to properly utilize AI tools in their work.

Using AI for Good

If you’re thinking about adapting your business’ digital strategy to incorporate AI tools, keep the following in mind:

• AI can help generate ideas, not content.

AI tools are a solid resource to brainstorm your ideas. By expanding upon underdeveloped ideas and broadening the scope of your topic, AI tools can elevate your digital content significantly.

• Use the right AI-based tools

Do your research on any tool you are considering using. What drawbacks have people found when using the tool? What scam-like practices might it employ? Does the cost properly reflect the services you are expecting from it? 

• Know how the people you’re working with are using AI.

If you choose to work with a digital agency, web developers, or other digital professionals, make sure you know how they use AI in their work. Sometimes, these professionals use technical language to hide the fact that they’re cutting corners.

Conclusion

As we plan for the future, AI tools are only going to become more deeply ingrained in our digital culture. If your business hopes to stay afloat, you need to start learning what is available now. It may get more difficult to discern what tools are useful and what will do more harm than good. This is why a digital agency can help clear the path for you as you travel into the future of digital marketing.

For more information on how a digital agency can help your business read our blog here. If you're interested in building a website for your business, or have a website that hasn't brought you the benefits you'd hoped, click here to read 8 hidden truths about website ownership.