Artificial intelligence (AI) is trending across all industries, and it’s a hot topic in marketing—especially when it comes to content writing. 

Using AI text generators to produce content isn’t a new concept. However, the use of AI text generators has skyrocketed in recent years.

According to Growth Marketers, the global AI writing assistant software market was valued at US$ 525.5 Million in 2021, and it is projected to reach a value of US$ 1187.9 Million by 2030. 

This rapid growth is mesmerizing and concerning. So, how will AI text generators continuous growth impact the future? This article covers everything you ever need to know about AI in content writing.

What exactly are AI text generators?

AI text generators are software programs that can take in a set of parameters and produce content. They can be used to generate blog posts, headlines, keywords, and more.

 Creative industries such as journalism and fiction writing use AI text generators as assisting tools. For example, the Associated Press (AP), which produces news stories for many US newspapers, has been using natural language generation (NLG) since 2014

The first AI text generator was created in 1956 at Cornell University. It was called SAM (Symbolic Assembly Machine), and it was able to write grammar for English sentences.

Today there are many different types of AI text generators, some more advanced than others. The most advanced ones can understand natural language and write complete sentences.

Others are limited to simple paragraph creation using a few keywords or phrases provided by the user. Despite having been around for decades, AI text generators are now drawing more attention than ever.

Why are AI text generators so popular?

As mentioned above, the concept of using AI to create content isn’t new. So, what’s causing all the noise?

Thanks, to a recent technology called GPT3 (Generative Program for Text Generation)—introduced in May 2020—has improved the quality of AI text generators.

Coincidentally, 49% of companies have trouble finding experienced writers with expertise in the subject they’re researching. As a result: 12% of companies use AI text generators for support. 

Yet, despite the improvement and all the buzzing, many writers are still skeptical about using AI text generators.

Why is this the case? Simply put, AI text generators are quite controversial.

For example, if you type “AI writing tools” on youtube you will find tons of videos by affiliates overhyping the credibility of these tools.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, you’ll see the opposite. AI text generators are both hyped and denigrated by different factions of writers.

This raises several questions: Are AI text generators really that great? Or are they overrated due to biases?

Let’s find out the answers by digging into some research.

The result of a research study suggests that as many as 48% of people can’t tell whether a 200-word article was written by a human or an AI. Keep in mind that this research only included 80 people and it was a 200-word article. 

So, it’s clear to say AI can create coherent paragraphs. On the other hand, the outcome would be different if it were a full article or a long-form piece—you would be able to tell the difference if it was written by AI.

The reasons why this is so will become clear, once we discuss the benefits and disadvantages of AI text generators later in this article.

How do AI text generators work?

Before we dive in more deeply, let’s take a moment to go over a basic overview of how text generators work. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a machine programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions.

It can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Like humans, AI also learns from past experiences with the help of Machine learning without needing to be programmed.

The machine learning algorithms identify patterns and make decisions with minimal human interventions. 

Within machine learning, there are two subfields, which are Deep learning and Natural language processing (NPL). Deep learning gives machines the powers of most humans like artificial intelligence. 

One of the main advantages of deep learning is its ability to solve complex problems. Deep learning can find hidden patterns in data such as image classification, object detection, pattern recognition, and speech recognition.

NPL  is a large language model that builds systems capable of understanding and analyzing text and speech. NPL makes it possible for computers to text, hear speech, measure sentiment, and determine which parts are important.

Large language models analyze huge data sets of writing to discover which words tend to appear next to each other. Based on these relationships between words, they can generate their own text. These programs are trained on huge amounts of text from the internet.

—Samanyou Garg founder and CEO of Writesonic

Benefits and disadvantages of AI text generators 

 AI text generators can help skip writer’s block and get out of a creative rut by providing new ideas and inspiration for your next post. And if you’re an agency or freelancer who needs to churn out large amounts of content on a regular basis.

Statistics shows that AI text generators can help you save time and increase your productivity by 40%. But just like any other tool, they also have their disadvantages.

James mentions that one disadvantage of artificial intelligence (AI) text generators is that they can write basic numbers for the news but they cannot produce new information.

—James Vincent senior reporter specializes in machine learning at the Verge

There’s also the risk of AI bias, AI writing software can be influenced by the biases and opinions of the data they are trained on.

For example, Google Translate can inadvertently translate food as “poison” because it was trained on many examples where food was used as a metaphor for poison in French literature. 

—Ashley Carman senior reporter at Vergecast

AI writing tools are also factually inaccurate.

“Another problem is that language models are often factually unreliable. They can answer basic trivia questions, but never with a hundred percent certainty. That’s because they have no way of distinguishing between facts and fiction. All they know is how probable it is that certain words appear together. A lot of the time, this is good enough to produce the right answer. But it’s not something you’d necessarily trust if you were doing important research .” says Ashley

So we’ve talked about how AI text generators are not factually reliable, another question still remain.

Are AI text generators creative?

It depends on the subject. As James points out there are instances of when AI text generators work really well, and other times not so much depending on the topic. Let’s take a look at an example of AI text generated content.

The input given to the machine was to tell a funny story about a villain taking over the world Although the result wasn’t impressive, the exploration was a bit interesting

Examples of AI text generated tools in action

Feeling curious?

Here are the most popular AI text generated tools to explore. Below, you’ll find a detailed explanation of each tool so you can decide which may be worth your time exploring.

1. Fraseio

Frase.io is an All-in-One AI content writing tool that claim to create automated content briefs, draft articles, rewrite and optimize existing content for SEO.

Claimed features

  • Eight supporting languages
  • Correct errors and misspelling sentences 
  • Properly format sentences
  • Assess the emotional impact of words
  • Suggests topics based on what you’ve written
  • Produce articles, and sentences
  • Create forms based on information you provide.
  • Checks your writing for consistency with a given style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)
  • Send out notifications about significant issues or changes that could compromise a website’s SEO health.
  • Provides an overall evaluation of the health of your website’s SEO and makes recommendations for improving its content.
  • Keeps track of all changes to your website, and creates backups of your site.
  • Crawls a website and alerts users to any technical issues.
  • Suggests related keywords for a given search term and shows how many people are searching for each keyword, how difficult it is to rank for that keyword, and how much competition there is on the web.
  • Tracks organic rank for keywords and provides monthly reports on average position, traffic, visibility and more.
  • Provides keyword ranking data based on location.
  • Helps you optimize your SEO content with tools like long-tail keywords, audience insights 
  • Provides key metrics such as backlinks, SERP rankings, organic search traffic, and domain strength for a competitor’s website.
  • Shows rankings and key metrics visually, like through charts or graphs.
  • Construct an editorial calendar accessible to multiple users. Schedule posts in advance so they are published at a later date.
  • Application is available as a standalone product.
  • Application is available as a plugin used with another document creation product.

G2 rating: 4.8 out of 5 ????

Pricing

2. Rytr

Rytr allows you to create content in just a few clicks. Rytr’s artificial intelligence algorithms read and learn from existing content.

Claimed features

  • One supporting language
  • Eliminate spelling errors
  • Evaluates the emotional connotations that words convey
  • Ensures proper sentence structure.
  • Checks for occurrences of plagiarism.
  • Offers suggestions for topics to write about.
  • Generates text based on input.
  • Creates forms based on the data you provide.
  • Available as a Standalone Application and a Plugin

G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5????

Pricing

3. Peppertype.ai

Peppertype.ai claims to use the experience of copywriters and artificial intelligence to generate content. It gives you the option to build a library of styles for writing, such as Simple, Confident, or Inspirational.

Claimed features

  • Eight supporting languages
  • Checks for typos, grammar errors, and sentence fragments.
  • Analyzes the emotion in words
  • Verifies that all sentences are written in the proper format.
  • Detect plagiarism and checks for originality
  • Evaluates writing based on guidelines of a particular style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).
  • Suggests topics that are relevant to the content you’ve written.
  • Finds and formats citations for works mentioned in the text.
  • Generates written content based on inputted topic
  • Available as a Standalone Application and Plugin

 G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5 ????

Pricing

4. Jasper

Jasper, formally known as Jarvis, claims to understands nearly every niche due to the  wide range of sources it draws upon the internet.

Jasper also claims to generates original  content that are written word-by-word by its creators, who are industry experts in marketing.

Claimed features

  • Twenty-five supporting languages
  • Produce artwork
  • Finds misspellings, sentence run-on, and other grammar errors.
  • Examines emotionality in words.
  • Checks whether sentences are formatted properly.
  • Looks out for copied text and plagiarism
  • Recommends ideas for topics 
  • produce sentences, paragraphs, or complete papers that are written in the same voice as sample text or a chosen topic.
  • Available only as a standalone application

G2 rating: 4.8 out of 5 ????

Pricing

5. Copy.ai

According to Copy.ai, its mission is to use the latest AI algorithms to help marketers and entrepreneurs work faster and collaborate more effectively. 

Claimed features

G2 rating: 4.9 out of 5 ????

Pricing

6. Writesonic

Writesonic is an AI-powered writing assistant with a mission to empower everyone in the world to write anything and publish anywhere. 

Claimed features

  • Over twenty-four supporting languages
  • Generate images
  • Grammar Check
  • Tone Check
  • Sentence Formatting
  • Scans for plagiarism
  • Propose new ideas based on previous written content
  • Content Generation
  • Like some of the other tools, it can also generate forms based on given input 
  • Application is available Standalone and Plugin

G2 rating: 4.8 out of 5 ????

Pricing

What are the negative effects of AI in our daily life?

Now that you have seen some examples of AI text generated tools in actions. Let’s discuss how AI is currently impacting our daily lives.

Although 43% of people are worried about how AI will affect the future, the present moment is a major concern. The rise of AI writing tools is creating laziness among writers, and it’s a crutch for new writers who are relying on this technology rather than honing their craft.

Why is this the case?

When you are learning, important changes occur in your brain, including the creation of new connections between your neurons. 

This phenomenon is called neuroplasticity – which is defined as the brain’s ability to change and adapt. The more you practice, the stronger these connections become.

As your connections strengthen, the messages (nerve impulses) are transmitted increasingly faster, making them more efficient.

 In other words, the more you use your brain and creativity, the better you’ll become at it-even if you struggle at times. Conversely, over-reliance on any one tool or process dulls the mind. 

The future of AI generated text in content creation

Circling back to AI domination, there’s no denying AI writing will become even more prominent in content creation since, AI-generated text is already being used by companies like Amazon and Netflix to produce marketing content like product descriptions and movie summaries on their websites.

It’s predicted that the development of artificial intelligence will replace about 800 million jobs in the workforce. This could result in a loss of about 30% of all occupations—and copywriters will be no exception to this possible outcome.

Will copywriters eventually be replace by AI text generators?

—James Vincent senior reporter specializes in machine learning at the Verge

According to a survey conducted by the professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC), many writers feel that AI writers are taking over their jobs, It’s a logical response for writers to be concerned about being replaced by AI writers—After all, AI text generators are slowly replacing beginner writers and robbing them out opportunities. 

The evidence?

As previously covered, more marketers are turning to AI text generators instead of hiring subcontractors to do the leg work.

Even, with the improved technology AI text generators in their current state are much closer to a human stream of conscious writing than the standard professional processes. 

So we can say for now that professional copywriters’ jobs are still safe but there’s no doubt eventually in the future AI writers would be improved to the point they’re able to create quality content as good as professional copywriters.

As we move into this future, the question becomes: should there be a disclosure whenever people use AI writing tools in their work?

Potential Concerns 

In a recent article for The Atlantic, writer Alexis Madrigal argued that the use of AI-assisted writing tools should be disclosed to readers.

Madrigal’s argument centers around the fact that many of these tools are not compelling: “They’re not particularly good at understanding context and nuance,” he writes. “They can’t write about things like love, sex, or death.”

But if we accept that AI is going to become more advanced, then there may be a case for acknowledging it as a collaborator on creative projects—just as we do with a human ghostwriter who doesn’t appear in the acknowledgments section at the end of a book. 

In another article in the Guardian earlier this year, freelance writer and journalist Will Self called for the use of AI-assisted writing tools to be made transparent.

“If you’re using an algorithm to write your piece,” he said, “you should say so.”

He added: “I think that would be quite interesting. It’s not going to be a revelation for people that their favorite novelist or poet is using software to help them write.”

Referencing Amazon’s recently launched Storywriter tool – which uses machine learning to generate text based on user inputs – Self said: “If you’re going to use Storywriter, at least say that it’s done by machines.”

Needless to say, transparency is a virtue. Someday people will become accustomed to living among AI-made creations of all kinds: music, paintings, movies, and so on. 

It’s hard to say what other impacts new technologies will have on our lives, but the creative landscape will almost certainly blend the natural and artificial imagination. 

Should you consider using AI text generation?

Now that you have learned about the basics of AI text generators and their potential benefits and disadvantages. It’s up to you whether or not to utilize them in your next project. It comes down to your stance on the topic. Share your thoughts below in the comment section.