I was one of those people who had to reluctantly admit that ChatGTP did a better job than I was expecting it to. I was quite disappointed to find out that, although not perfect, it was delivering copy that was of a better quality than the average blog you find online.
According to SurveyMonkey, half of marketers are now using it to generate their content, usually accompanied by the phrase “it’s a useful starting point”. And it can be. So how do you take it from a starting point to a finished piece? What should you look out for?
If a colleague sends you something to proofread, you’ll often have a good idea of what to pay attention to – perhaps they’re not great with apostrophes, or tend to waffle. When it’s written by a computer, however, you obviously don’t have that head start.
Here are the main things I would look out for when editing AI-generated copy.
Get tough on repetition
The first time I read an article from ChatGPT I was taken aback by how well it read, especially as it had taken just a few seconds to appear. It wasn’t until I went back and read it more closely that I realised it wasn’t actually saying a lot. Each sentence was a different way of phrasing the same point (you can imagine my glee). Writing concisely is such an advantage, so go through and make sure each paragraph and sentence is making a new point.
Amusingly, once I’d decided what main points I was going to cover, I asked AI how to edit AI copy, and at least it is self aware:
Check for US spellings
One of the easiest ways to identify AI content is to play ‘spot the Zs’. If you’re going to use AI tools, just check you’re using UK spellings (assuming you’re UK-based, or writing for a UK-based publication).
Fact-check the parts you don’t know
This is the part I struggle with when it comes to AI tools. I’d be more inclined to use it to tackle complicated or high-tech topics, but they’re also the topics I won’t use it for, because if I don’t fully understand it, then how can I fact-check it? That said, if you’re working for an in-house marketing team and then sharing your content with a subject specialist to look over, then this i