Artificial intelligence has been a huge buzzword in technology and business for the past few years. We hear about AI algorithms being integrated into the next generation of smartphones, cars, and even voice assistants like Siri. Companies are even using AI to create better content for social media. With all of the hype behind AI and how it's being used in the business world, it's easy to wonder when this technology will have an impact on our day-to-day lives. Perhaps you're asking yourself, "when will AI content be a thing?" or "how will AI affect my business?" It's a fair question, and the answer is that AI will soon impact our daily lives through social media. In this blog, we'll examine how AI can be used to create content for social media.*
If you are one of the 4.26 billion people who use social media worldwide, AI could soon be responsible for the majority of the content you interact with and consume. As a result, AI in the social media market is expected to grow from 0.6 billion USD to 2.2 billion by the end of 2023. The quick adaption of AI marketing tools is prompting this increase in the market.
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS AI?
AI is a classification of machine intelligence that includes all forms of technology that use algorithms and computational techniques to mimic human intelligence. Artificial Intelligence already encompasses many fields of science and technology, including computer science, engineering, statistics, and economics. But you don’t have to look very far; chances are, you use AI-backed software daily. For example, digital assistants like Siri and Alexa, Netflix recommendations, and navigation programs like Google Maps rely on AI to provide the answers you need.
AI is also present in another daily routine, social media. With the millions of users present on social media platforms, it is impossible to sort through all of the collected data…at least it is for people. As Adam Hildreth, founder of crisis monitoring firm Crispr put it,
“AI is a crucial element for effective, proactive crisis monitoring online, as it’s nearly impossible for humans to sort through every tweet, meme, and visual to discern risk for their brands online.”
Facebook, for example, uses AI in its content review process to detect content that goes against its Community Standards. The AI learns to analyze photo content or text and then flags it for removal or further inspection by the team.
Not only is AI involved in the algorithms used for social media platform management, but it has also made its way into the content on the platforms. For example, a constant trend on TikTok consists of people uploading pictures using generative AI. TikTok has noticed and recently created several AI filters for users.
WHAT AI POSSIBILITIES ARE THERE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT?
The AI tools of today can already run ad campaigns, generate creative assets, and write copy for social media posts. Software such as Open AI has made it possible to create visual content based on prompts. Users can generate new photos in various art styles by simply typing in a description or uploading an image.
And AI is not just for creative images but also for writing. Programs like Peppertype focus solely on writing and allow users to insert prompts, and then the software will generate whole paragraphs of information. In addition, they offer templates for long-form content like blogs, SEO descriptions, content repurposing, emails, and much more. You may have noticed we used it to generate the introduction of this article.
Some companies are already figuring out how to expand their leverage of AI in social media, like the start-up company, Omneky. First, Omneky connects all the social media platforms of an organization and analyzes their performance data, then uses this information to create new creative and text for ads. Customers can even add their own rules, guidelines, and logos, as references for Omneky to use. The last step of the process is ad approval by the customer. Jasper AI is another example of how a company has positioned itself as a tool for businesses to create social media content quickly. Jasper AI offers features that include copywriting, content in different languages, SEO optimization, website copy, and an image generator.
THE PROS & CONS OF USING AI FOR YOUR BRAND’S SOCIAL MEDIA
AI will make things more efficient.
- PRO: The most significant benefit of using AI tools regarding efficiency is that they can achieve tasks like copywriting, typically taking hours to do in seconds, increasing the volume of content in the process. This is a huge advantage for businesses that want to keep up with their competitors and increase their frequency of posts, channel monitoring, and ad placement.
- CON: On the other hand, while AI can generate creative content, it cannot come up with ideas or think outside the box it is given. The ease of creation may also result in social media channels being flooded with rapidly made content that is too similar.
There is ease in generating content when you need it.
- PRO: Using AI to generate creative content, such as copywriting or images, can be a smart financial choice for agencies or brands. Programs offer reasonable prices, and most even have free versions available. And since they are programs, they are available any time of the day.
- CON: However, a challenge to consider when using AI to create assets is the bias of the software. Humans created these programs with conscious or unconscious biases. An example of this circles back to the content used to train DALL-E 2. Under the risks and limitations section, Open AI acknowledges the biases and representation limitations that might come with using DALL-E 2. One of the issues is the over-representation of socially dominant individuals. They explain that, for example, when “secretary” is provided as a prompt, DALL-E 2 will display women. And when providing “lawyer,” the results are mainly white, middle-aged men. Furthermore, there are legal factors to consider. Open AI trained its software (DALL-E 2) on a combination of publicly available sources as well as sources that they licensed. Since DALL-E 2 is a paid service, it raises the question of whether any Intellectual Property laws are broken when someone uses a DALLE-E 2-generated image. How much of the work by other artists is involved in the new content that DALL-E 2 is generating? And should organizations disclose when they are using AI-generated content? As of now, Open AI’s terms and conditions state that the user owns “all Input, and [is] subject to…compliance with these Terms, OpenAI hereby assigns to you all its right, title, and interest in and to Output.”
AI can help strengthen social media strategy.
- PRO: Many positives come with using AI tools to strengthen social media strategy. It can help companies streamline their process, spend less time coming up with ideas, and more time implementing the assets AI generate for them. Smaller companies and start-ups would specifically benefit from using AI tools.
- CON: The downside to AI tools, of course, is that in time they may contribute to fewer job opportunities for people whose role it is to come up with design or copy. Or the result could be somewhere in between: more specialized positions where people will focus on knowing the best way to use AI tools.
Up until now, we have discussed how AI tools can help create content, but recently, AI has been trending on social media as content. For example, TikTok users have been uploading generated images that fit specific themes or using prompts suggested by other users. One such trend involves using the AI tool My Heritage to see what you would have looked like throughout different periods. TikTok took notice, and now the platform offers AI filters so that users don't have to leave the app. The result has been overwhelmingly positive. While the filters may not provide the most realistic images, they work for comedic content.
Amazon is also taking notice of these trends and working on harnessing generative AI so that Alexa can create bedtime stories. For example, children can say, "Alexa make a story," and then follow a series of prompts. This brings us to our final question:
HOW SOON WILL AI-GENERATED CONTENT BE THE INDUSTRY STANDARD?
While there are still some issues that need to be resolved, it's important to remember that AI is only a tool, and it will not be making any actual decisions. The time is now. Being at the forefront of this new wave of AI tools will pay off in the long run. Learning the best ways to use software like Peppertype and DALL-E 2 will lay the foundation for more complex systems being used in the future.
If you decide to use AI tools, remember that transparency and authenticity are core values for today's consumers, so be sure to label when content has been created with the help of AI.
