While AI is creating more avenues of growth and opportunities, it is affecting the job market. Google laid off 100s of employees this January and shifted more investments to AI development. On a similar note, Duolingo also laid off 10% of its employees to replace some manual content creation through AI. Likewise, a wave of small to medium sized companies are starting to streamline their employees so that they can focus on AI optimization. Some experts suggest that this might be the start as AI is designed to streamline certain avenues of work, making it easier for companies to improve their output at a lesser cost.
Alexa von Tobel, the Founder and Managing Partner of Inspired Capital, says, “AI is going to touch everything — every company will be an AI company.” Jobs that are the most affected by AI is telemarketing, data entry, administrative tasks and, to an extent digital marketing and content. Everything is one sentence away from an article and when the output is so fast, companies may no longer need more than one copywriter or blog writer to build their company profile.
AI and Content Writer: Do They Compete With Or Compliment Each Other?
With ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and other similar tools, writing content has become a breeze. With the right input, we can create in-depth articles in a matter of seconds. However, this will never replace the expert opinions gathered by years of experience in a particular industry. AI can speed the writing process, but it requires manual input and edits to make the content ‘human’.
When Chat GPT just came out, there was a standing theory that popular search engines like Google would penalize AI content. However, with Google’s recent content criteria update, they state that they will not penalize AI content as long as it provides value to its readers. Google will penalize poorly written filler content, written purely for SEO purposes with no real value to its readers.
This means that AI can be a valuable tool for content writers, just like how it is a tool for coders, but it cannot replace content writing as a whole. Alex Cattoni, a well-known copywriter with more than a decade of experience, says in one of her podcasts, that AI has allowed her to cater to a wide range of industries that she would have otherwise declined service to.
AI writing tools, without a doubt, increase productivity, and in a company where 2 productive writers can do the work of 4, there won’t be the need for 2 more writers. This might be why we are seeing layoffs in the content department.
How Do You Know If Your Job Is At Risk?
At the end of the day, companies are trying to sustain and if they can get the same work or better work done with lesser resources, they will streamline their workforce. Lower level writers, who do not have industry experience, and are responsible for cookie cutter generic content, are far more likely to get replaced.
The job market has never been a good place for those who do not have specialized skills and knowledge and the rise of AI is bringing this fact back into action. Companies are far more likely to take notice of you if you are resourceful and adaptive to change.
AI is here to stay, and a good content writer must know how to work with AI rather than without it. Don’t make it your enemy when it is not. Getting on board with AI can be the one thing that moves you up in your career if you start early and become well-versed in it.
The Future Of AI In Content
Optimists say that, just like how the Internet led to new job opportunities, like Web development and SEO, AI will also lead to new opportunities once it matures. Chairman and CEO of the AI developer platform, Datastax, says that some companies are laying off their employees because they truly believe that AI will give them long term productivity and gains. He says, this mindset is extremely short-sighted; because to improve productivity through machines and bots, you must focus on upskilling as well. Hence training existing staff with AI should be a priority instead of laying off parts of the workforce.
As a content writer it gives us hope that as AI matures, it will improve our ability to produce excellent content with a shorter turnaround time. However, with AI increasing output and productivity an average writer needs to work on their writing skills, industry knowledge, and their ability to use AI for writing, to retain their space in the writing industry.
