Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard something about ChatGPT, an AI writing tool that’s taking the internet by storm.

The creepily lifelike AI SEO writer, which improves as you instruct it, is being praised by many leaders in the tech industry and social media users.

Elon Musk, who was once part of the board of directors for OpenAI, and has donated to the organisation even after leaving the board, called the tool “scary good”.

One web developer was so impressed, but wanted a version without a login to protect data privacy, that they used ChatGPT to help them build one that’s login-free.

ChatGPT is getting a lot of attention at the moment, but is it actually as good as it sounds? Will it really replace human content writers and professional SEO agencies like ours?

The Ologists decided to investigate to see whether ChatGPT is really worth the hype.

How Does AI Writing Software Work?

ChatGPT and other AI tools for SEO are known as large language models. They use complex algorithms to predict the next word in a sequence.

So, they can hold basic conversations and write short, informative pieces of text in answer to basic questions or commands.

As the software can’t think for itself or acquire new information organically as humans can, it has a lot of limitations and doesn’t understand current events, as mentioned when you log on to your account.

Don’t be fooled by the language used to describe the AI SEO writer tool. While the developers use terms like ‘remembers’ and ‘trained’ to personify ChatGPT, the tool isn’t human.

It isn’t remembering anything, and it can’t be trained. It has been programmed to perform specific functions, and these are limited, but the aim is to make the tool seem like it’s humanesque.

Why Are People So Interested In Using ChatGPT?

ChatGPT has gained interest among many business leaders because they want an easy fix. ChatGPT and other AI writing tools seem like the perfect solution to save time writing content.

Just tell it what you want, and you’ll get a perfect piece of content, for free!

With a quick conversation, you might think you can get a complete piece of content or unique insight without paying for the expertise and time of a real-life writer.

Sounds too good to be true, which it is.

Like most shortcuts in life, using ChatGPT will only get you so far.

One of the Ologists, Will Furney, reviewed ChatGPT on his blog, and found that while the tool exists on the internet, it doesn’t have the ability to review and understand information.

All it can do is use the sources it’s programmed to review to access and then convey data. The result is formulaic content that is factually relatively accurate but lacks any form of creativity or panache.

Here’s what it produced in response to a basic question:

As you can see, the AI-driven SEO content repeatedly includes the same terms, such as ‘refer’, in the same positions. The explanation is written clearly but is very basic, and the tool doesn’t understand the terms it’s using.

When asked to provide an example, the tool can generate a basic version and a generic definition.

The code is the most useful part of this AI SEO service: as code can be difficult for non-website developers to create, using ChatGPT offers a simple solution. Examples like this can easily be adapted to fit a specific need.

Still, the content is repetitive and not engaging. The more you tell the tool, the better it will get, and the more the description will adapt.

However, there’s only so far it can go. It can’t get up-to-date information and can only regurgitate what it has already been told, as highlighted by this example.

This content is incredibly generic, and the suggestions are basic at best.

ChatGPT can’t browse the internet to get new updates because it is a computer program with no free will or ability to think.

So, any responses it provides will be limited to the data it has been provided. While ChatGPT was launched at the end of 2022, the tool has been in production since OpenAI launched in 2015.

It’s unclear how long further updates will take, and the tool was already 1 year out of date before it even launched. If you’re waiting for ChatGPT to get the latest news and insight, you could be waiting a long time!

Can You Use An AI To Write Content From Scratch?

The short answer is no. An AI SEO writer software will never be able to write content from scratch without supervision.

It can write something very basic and repetitive, using the information it’s programmed to have, but it can’t conduct research or understand the complexities of language.

As the tool can’t conduct research or adjust its tone, it’s pretty limited, and there are clear differences between human and AI-generated content, as our Content Writer Kieran Murphy explains:

“While I am not disputing the benefits AI writing tools like ChatGPT will bring to the table, as a content writer, it’s pretty easy to differentiate between human-created content and artificial intelligence. For SEO campaigns, having relevant content that fits the brief and includes keywords naturally is crucial. So, while AI content creators can be useful as a writing tool, I’d definitely not use them to write entire articles.”

These differences are so easy to spot that search engines like Google can see them quickly and easily.

Their own algorithms, which are pretty much robots themselves, can spot the difference between AI-generated content and articles written by a human!

Studies have shown that there are clear markers that differentiate content written by an AI tool from pieces that have the human touch.

Google has long stated that AI-generated content is against its guidelines, so it could penalise any site that publishes it regularly.

In short, if you’re thinking about using ChatGPT for part of your content writing strategy, think again.

In Summary: AI Writing Tools Work Best When Supervised

Look, we get it. Getting a robot to do stuff for you is cool!

However, when it comes to your business and content, you need to think about more than just what’s cool.

There are hundreds of factors to consider when writing content for your brand, including the audience, goals, delivery type and more. Using an AI for SEO can mean that you miss out on the human touch, and that unique blend of function with readability.

While ChatGPT and other language models can answer basic questions, they’ll struggle to tailor responses and pieces to specific readers. Also, telling ChatGPT every specific factor takes a lot of time and effort.

A real content writer could conduct that research themselves, so while ChatGPT might seem fun, it isn’t really cost-effective — after all, time is money!

To recap, here are the pros and cons of ChatGPT:

Pros

• ChatGPT is free
• It can improve its output based on how much information you give it
• It produces basic information quickly
• It’s fun playing with the latest AI toy

Cons

• It doesn’t understand current events
• ChatGPT writes repetitively
• It takes your time to provide it with all the information it needs
• The tool isn’t guaranteed to be accurate
• Search engines (and most people!) can easily spot content that’s written by AI tools

While a content writer isn’t as exciting as a robot that can write, they can take even the shortest content request and conduct their own research.

As content writers aren’t limited to the words they know or the events they have been programmed to understand, they can tie together complex theories and include varied examples. Unlike ChatGPT, we can browse the internet, so we can make sure that we include up-to-the-minute information and relevant sources to back it up.

Also, content writers can adjust their tone of voice to your audience and use varied terms to create a cohesive piece that’s fun to read.

At The Ology Group, we get how cool writing robots sound, and we love playing around with new digital tools to help us improve our writing.

Still, when it comes to AI for SEO, our team thinks ChatGPT is just one of many, and not the one we use the most.

Hannah Stevenson, the Content Team Manager, explains:

“Our team loves using digital tools to save time. We have keyword research solutions like Surfer SEO, SEMrush and Ahrefs, as well as plagiarism solutions like Copyscape and Grammarly for proofreading. ChatGPT is fun to play with, but it doesn’t give us anything we don’t have already.

“In some cases, it can be a simple way to get ideas for headings or find a simple definition for a particularly complex concept. But still, our writers can do all that with Google, and it’s often quicker and easier. So I don’t personally think ChatGPT is going to make any significant changes to my working life in the near future.”

For business leaders and those who aren’t professional content writers, ChatGPT requires much more work than just hiring a digital marketing agency like ours.

Our content writing services are easy to order, and our writers will get to work quickly to deliver well-researched content that’s tailored to your unique needs. We don’t need to be told exactly what topics to research and who to target: we can conduct market research to find out!

Through our group, we can also offer backlink building, digital PR and technical SEO, none of which ChatGPT or any other AI SEO software can provide.

To talk to a member of our team about our content services and how we can tailor our solutions to fit your needs, schedule a call or use the chat box on the right of the screen.

You’ll be connected to a real person who uses tech to save time but is still a thinking, breathing human being — who can actually use Google themselves!