Can AI Create Valuable Content?

Ben

Welcome back to another episode of Content Amplified. Today I'm joined by Morgan. Morgan, welcome to the show.

Morgan Sullivan

Hey Ben, thanks for having me.

Ben

I'm excited to have you here. So today's subject is really timely. It's really important. And I think a lot of people have this question about content and things like that. But before we dive in, let's get to know you. Maybe Morgan, if you could take a second and let us get to know about your work experience, that'd be great and set the stage for the rest of the conversation.

Morgan Sullivan

Yeah, absolutely. So I actually got my start in marketing when I was living abroad. I had a brief stint where I wanted to be a travel blogger. So I learned a lot about organic channels in that process, learning how to publish blogs, publish different types of content, distribute on all the different channels, mainly social. But that was really how I got my start and I used that experience to get my first job, which is at a corporate catering company, kind of a small, large business. And then from there I moved into tech and really started focusing on content specifically. And I've been in two series A startups since then, the latest being Transcend.

Discussion on AI and Content Creation

‍Ben

Love it, love it. So today's conversation is about AI and AI content creation. It's hard to scroll past like three or four posts on LinkedIn without getting some kind of an opinion or some kind of insight on AI. I'm also guilty of posting a lot about AI. It's fascinating. So, but today we're gonna talk about how you can use AI the right way, how you can use it for compelling content, original content, on-brand content, you know, things that are valuable. So really when we're looking at AI, a lot of people like they sit on both sides of the fence, you know, there's a big spectrum. Morgan, when it comes to you, what are your thoughts with AI and creation? Can you actually create like value with AI or do you think most of the time it's just regurgitated? Whatever, you know, what do you sit on that, that issue?

Morgan Sullivan

Yeah, I mean, I think we're all across the many, many conversations that have been happening in this space, but I think in the simplest words, like, yes, I do think it's possible to create valuable content with AI, but like anything, it also comes with a, it depends. you know, I work with a lot of folks or talk to a lot of folks in privacy and data protection, and they're all fond of saying garbage in garbage out. And I think that really applies in this space. You know, if you're putting in a bad prompt or you haven't done your research, then yeah, what you get out of your AI is not going to be something that I would want to publish. And I think it's pretty evident, you know, as more of this content is published, to the trained eye it's pretty obvious when something's come out of an AI, like hasn't got another edit or another look. So far as my process goes, I think that really like any content creation, the research component is huge. I think if you're going to create a piece of content with AI, you need to come to the table with four to six good sources of data and information. You need to investigate internally, speak with your stakeholders internally, and depending on the type of content, build up your quotes and other proof points before you even open the window to whatever tool you're using. And from there, depending on the complexity of the topic or the type of content that you're creating, I'll even build an outline of either which sections I want to see and like, the main points I want to see there or the outline of your argument. And again, this is all before you even open GPT or Jasper or really any tool. And from there, I think using read this and then prompts is one that I use a lot. Like read this outline, read this research, read all of the pieces that you did in the first couple steps. And then, write whatever it is you're looking for. Cause then it actually has something curated to work from instead of just, you know, reading the top five, you know, pieces that it was trained on. And as you said, like regurgitating that. So I think that piece is really important. And then just editing. Like, like I said, I would really never publish a piece of content that came from an AI without like, giving it, putting it through the same process I would any other content from a freelancer, even a draft that I wrote, a draft an executive wrote, like any first draft really, regardless of the source is in my opinion, not something that's published ready. So just applying that same lens to AI is critical.

AI Tools and Techniques

Ben

Yeah, I love that. So when you're creating the source material, are you just taking interviews, quotes, excuse me, and other material, are you just saving them to like a PDF and then you're throwing that into the conversation and using that as the source logistically, how do you kind of manage that?

Morgan Sullivan

I use a Google doc. at least the platforms that I use, I, they have trouble with PDF. So just copy and pasting either like the article or like taking the main points out of the article, putting it in like a easily parsable text doc. And then, you know, select all, drop that in, as part of like the read this and then prompt and then go from there.

Ben

Very cool. And what tool do you use if you don't mind sharing?

Morgan Sullivan

I use a variety of tools. Our company works with another AI company called Jasper AI. And that is a tool that's specifically meant for marketers. And then I also use ChatGPT. Both of those I use more for the drafting side of things. And then to help with research, I use Perplexity and then Water.

Ben

Very cool. I love it. I always like sharing the actual tools and things like that to help people understand, I should look into these things. So that's super helpful. So one of the biggest concerns when creating AI content is the integrity to your brand voice, right? Like ChatGPT or AI in general, and I'll use those synonymously, I apologize. They will typically have an AI voice to the whole process. How do you keep your brand voice throughout this whole process and keep it intact so it really feels like it came from your company?

Maintaining Brand Voice with AI

Morgan Sullivan

Yeah, I mean, that's a great question and a very real concern. Like as I mentioned earlier, you can tell when something was written by an AI and wasn't edited because it does kind of have its own voice. Again, it kind of depends on the tool. Something like Jasper, you can train it to have a brand specific voice. If I'm using something like GPT, kind of similar to my past process, I will often find two to three pieces that have already been written, already been published on our site. Use the, the read the statement. You're like, read this and apply this similar voice to the piece of content that you're writing now or the piece of content I just gave you. And then again, like the human editing I think is super key. Like there's really, this might change in a year or two, who knows, but as it seems today, I don't think there is a viable replacement for a human editor. You just have so much more context. You understand the nuances of your brand voice. So even if I use, you know, Jasper's brand voice tool or the prompts to like train it on our brand voice before I generate the new text, like I still go back and make sure that everything is in line and reflective of the voice that we're trying to present.

Ben

I love it. I love it. So when you're going through this process, and you mentioned like outlines and research, things like that, how do you balance like when the human edits or are they writing or is it AI outlines? What's your typical process for actually having, you know, a piece of content that needs to be written? And then getting it to the end result. You know, what part is driven and written by AI versus what is written by humans.

Morgan Sullivan

Yeah, I mean, I think like many of my answers, the answer is that it depends and it really does change every time depending on, you know, the topic that we're writing about, the audience, the format that we're trying to present, I think in the simplest terms, it is a topic that I personally know a lot about. Then I will do a lot of the research component and build the, excuse me, build the outline myself. And then from there, if, you know, I get this, this first draft, I'll give it a look and be like, okay, that section is a little weak or like my knowledge is not expansive there. So then go back to a tool like perplexity or research based tool, and then give it a more focused prompt to answer that specific question that wasn't quite fleshed out in the original piece. I'd say I rely on it most to create, you know, Anne Hadley has a book called Everybody Writes and she talks about the ugly first draft. I rely on it most to create that draft. And, you know, emphasis on ugly. It's often not the, you know, it's not publish-ready. It's not presentable, but it does really speed up the velocity of just getting everything onto the page. Cause at least for my own part, I find that like the editing goes so much smoother when you just have something to work from, even if it's not good, even if, you know, you end up replacing like 50 to 70 % of what came out. It's just a starting point that was generated within 10 seconds. So especially working at a startup, that velocity is important. But yeah, I'd say that is the most common piece that I come to for AI. And then I use, depending on the topic, I use it to patch up pieces where it's necessary. And then, if I'm in some sort of, you know, rut, like I just cannot think of a title that is compelling. I'll write my best, my best guess at it. And then, you know, throw the AI prompt. It's like iterate on this five or six times. And hopefully that jogs something else, you know, gives me a new word, gives me a new direction. And then like, I'll keep iterating from there.

Ben

Very cool. Do you have like typical documents that you always reference where you've saved prompts or descriptions of this is how you write like our brand or source material? Are there things that you are always incorporating or referencing or are you always creating brand new prompts every time to really keep it tailored to the new piece of content? Like how do you manage those two different systems?

Creating and Managing Prompts

Morgan Sullivan

Well, now that you're saying that, I'm wondering if I should have a cheat sheet. I really don't. I, you know, I think like my perspective is that like context is all, so I, I would be hesitant to create a prompt that I use every single time to create something because you know, your audience is different. The content type is different. The topic is different. And again, working at a startup, like the way you present your values are often changing. Your product is changing. So I just don't feel like they would often be stale from, you know, month to month and even week to week. So it really is kind of just me interpreting the situation as I see it and then, you know, directing the tool from there.

Ben

I like that. And like exactly like you said, if we're over prescriptive, we're going to be just really repetitive. And so I like that it's always this new process, even though you're utilizing AI. It's a process. I've got a new objective. I've got a new outcome. I'm going to create prompts that get that look and feel and really help me accomplish what I'm looking to do and how I want to accomplish it. One thing, and maybe we can end here with this one last question, and again, these things go so fast. Anyone who's trying to up level their AI abilities, right? That may be content writers or individuals who are feeling a little nervous about what the future looks like with AI. How do you like go about learning? How do you really make AI a part of your skill set instead of a competition to what you can do? And how would you like give advice to someone thinking about that?

Embracing AI for Skill Development

Morgan Sullivan

Yeah, that's a fantastic question. You know, I have those same concerns, even somebody using the tool, like I said, the, you know, what's possible this year or what's possible two or three years from now might likely far surpass what's possible this year. But I think in terms of advice, I would say just, just dive in, like start using them, run, run your own experiments. Like I have. I'd say like 50 % of my prompts do not get the response that I'm looking for. So it's a, you know, it's a learning process to see like what works in which situation. And, you know, when the, what was it like the end of 2022 and ChatGPT first kind of hit the scene, we were kind of all on the marketing team asked to, you know, take the tools for a spin and see what we thought. And really all of us came back with a, here's how it doesn't work well. And, you know, a member of our leadership team was like, okay, I hear you. I get that. Like, try to think of it in terms of what you could use it for because this is, it's here to stay. And, you know, the, the more time that goes by, I'm very much in line with that thinking is like, you know, the toothpaste is not going to go back in the tube on this one. So I think you either need to get on board and learn how to use these tools for your own benefit or kind of risk falling behind because they're here, people use them, people like them. And I don't think that's going to change in the future.

Ben

Yeah, I love it. And I think that's a great place to end this podcast. I think it's a great episode. There are really interesting ways to use AI to make your content unique and valuable. And I think this is some great advice. Morgan, if anyone wants to reach out and continue the conversation with you, where do they find you online?

Morgan Sullivan

Yeah, absolutely. I am on LinkedIn, Morgan Sullivan. I work at Transcend. I think a simple search should, I'm findable, so you can find me there.

Ben

Very cool, love it. Well again, Morgan, thanks for taking the time today. I really appreciate the advice.

Morgan Sullivan

Yeah, thanks so much, Ben.

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