Accelerate Inspiration with Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a topic that both excites and intimidates. In the business of content marketing, it is undoubtedly a double-edged sword. So, we’re approaching it with caution and with respect. We believe that AI can accelerate inspiration, particularly when it comes to curating topics – selecting the best and most appropriate ideas for creating new content.
Typically, to begin the process of creating content, a marketing expert suggests the working title and abstract for a topic. Then, as the subject matter expert (SME), the writer’s job is to bring the topic to life; to give it credibility, dimension and voice.
We know that curating, defining, and describing topics well during the planning stage ignites and drives the overall process of content creation. Curation is where we believe AI can add tremendous value.
Technology SMEs Surveyed
Fixate conducted a survey of technical practitioners to assess the feasibility of using AI to generate abstracts for technical content. Survey participants included Fixate’s network of writers. These writers – all actively employed in various DevOps roles – are accustomed to writing blog posts, tutorials, white papers, and various other digital assets for the technology industry.
Read the results of this survey in the remainder of this post. We draw some conclusions that help to evolve our current process for creating content. You, too, may find it helpful for your process.
We will continue our research to collect data from a broader audience that includes product marketing professionals who are responsible for reaching the larger DevOps community.
AI-Generated, or Not?
Survey respondents scrutinized multiple unrelated working titles and accompanying abstracts. A portion of the abstracts was AI-generated; practitioners and product marketers (humans) drafted an equal portion. Asked to identify which were which – AI-generated or human-generated – survey responses showed:
Respondents couldn’t overwhelmingly distinguish AI-generated abstracts from human-generated ones. This may be because abstracts are relatively formulaic. Not only does that make this task particularly suitable for AI, but it also adds efficiency to the overall content creation process.
Quality of Curated Topics Matters
The same set of abstracts that respondents scrutinized above, were also the subject of questions related to quality.
Keep in mind that survey participants are experienced technical writers familiar with the process of creating written content based on the working title and abstract for a topic. These writers expect abstracts that describe the main idea for the piece, as well as who the target audience is, why they will be interested in the topic, and what they should learn as a result of reading it. Often, the abstract includes specific details to guide the writer’s emphasis on particular aspects of a topic.
Accustomed to that general format, respondents rated the quality of abstracts in the survey on a scale of 1 to 5. The questions prompting their responses:
- Does the abstract provide enough information to you, as a writer, to produce a compelling piece of content? I.e., is the abstract ADEQUATE?
- Are the details in the abstract feasible, accurate and relevant to the general topic? I.e., is the abstract ACCURATE?
Although these results are fairly even across the board, it’s worth noting that abstracts that were actually AI-generated performed slightly better on these two measures than ones that were perceived as being AI-generated. Conversely, abstracts that were actually written by a human performed slightly worse than ones that were perceived as being written by a human.
There is little difference in the overall impact of the abstracts. This gives us confidence that there is minimal risk in using AI for this particular step of the process. A more efficient process for writing abstracts means SMEs can focus more of their attention on technical issues.
AI-Generated Abstracts Preferred
The survey presented a second set of abstracts. This time respondents were told which ones were AI-generated and which ones were written by humans (practitioners and product marketers). Of these abstracts, responses showed:
We credit the preference for AI-generated abstracts to the fact that they are “final copy,” versus human-generated abstracts that are often “first drafts” – sketched out quickly, without review or proofing, usually due to time constraints.
AI-generated abstracts are generally succinct and grammatical. The SME then only needs to invest time refining the technical aspects of the abstract and ensuing piece of content.
Summary of the Data
- Only 17% of responses correctly identified the abstract as AI-generated.
- As content creators, most respondents felt that AI-generated abstracts provided them with enough information to write a meaningful article.
- AI-generated abstracts were rated as being slightly more accurate than human-generated ones.
- When presented with both an AI- and a human-generated abstract for a given topic, most respondents preferred the AI-generated version.
Conclusion
The biggest takeaway from this initial survey is that AI-generated abstracts provide a strong and reliable start to the curation process, and therefore, to the content creation process. The added efficiency boosts the ROI significantly, if not exponentially.
By using AI to accelerate inspiration, product marketers could feasibly whip out working titles and abstracts to fill their editorial calendar for a month, a quarter, or more. Their SMEs (or Fixate’s) could then refine those topics to ensure they are 100% adequate and accurate.
Then, it’s “off to the races.” Writers have everything they need to write comprehensive content with an emphasis on the most important points. Product marketers can expect the content to be compelling and to amplify messaging they prescribe and align with business goals.
Fixate is conducting ongoing research here to gain the perspective of product marketers in the technology industry. Our experience is that the curation process among this group is a high hurdle that often derails a content strategy. Once that hurdle is cleared, however, Fixate’s process functions like a well-oiled machine. We think yours can, too.