Bots in the Blogosphere (Or Taking a Trip to the Uncanny Valley)

An ad touting “artificial intelligence trained to write original, creative content” was too hard to pass up, so we solicited some content just to put it to the test. If you remember the 1982 sci-fi classic “Blade Runner,” with its Voight-Kampff test designed to root out fugitive humanoid replicants from the human population, then you can imagine what the experience was like.

Carey Smith | Founding Contrarian

An important part of an investor’s job is weeding out fiction from fact. Naturally, that includes having fun with the crazy sh*t presented as fact that we sometimes see. So when a colleague received an email from a company boasting of its artificial intelligence that “makes it fast and easy to create content for your blog,” he decided to see if he could pull one over on the rest of us.

He signed up for the service and requested a treatise on how terrible bots are at blogging. Would the AI somehow manage to fool the rest of us into believing that our colleague — a mere human — had written it himself?

In Blade Runner’s Voight-Kampff test, it takes 20 to 30 questions to measure the emotional reactions of the suspected replicant. In the case of our AI scribe, it took reading only a few sentences to determine our response and let the bot out of the bag, so to speak. It became a venture into what’s been dubbed the “uncanny valley” — the feeling you get that something’s not quite right with that computer-generated actor.

We kept on reading, because we couldn’t stop. And the more we read, the more we laughed. Is the bot laughing? We don’t know. But we decided to share its opus because we thought you might laugh, too.

Below is the post in its entirety. Keep in mind that customers include Airbnb, HubSpot, HarperCollins, IBM, Keller Williams and iHeartMedia.

If you’re thinking about using AI to write your blog posts, think again. It’s a really bad idea. Here are four reasons why you should never use AI to write your blog posts:

1. You’ll sound like a robot.
2. Your content will be stale and unoriginal.
3. You won’t be able to personalize your content for your audience.
4. Your readers will know that you didn’t write the post yourself.

Using AI to create content demonstrates a complete disregard for your readers time and value

Anyone who has ever been subjected to a “written” by one of those content farms knows just how soul-destroyingly awful AI-generated text can be. It’s stilted, it’s repetitive, it makes no sense half the time – and yet, publishers seem to think that this is the future of content. They believe that they can save time and money by letting a machine do the work of a human writer. But what they’re really doing is showing complete disregard for their readers’ time and intelligence. After all, why would anyone want to read something that has been churned out by a robot? Surely, the value of good writing – writing that engages, informs and entertains – is obvious. So why are so many publishers willing to sacrifice it in favor of cheap, quickly-produced drivel? The answer, unfortunately, is all too clear: they don’t care about their readers. They only care about themselves.

It’s not possible to produce well-informed, thoughtful pieces with AI

AI can barely produce a decent piece of writing, let alone something that is well-informed or thoughtful. To produce something of quality, you need a human touch. After all, AI is nothing more than a machine that follows algorithms. It lacks imagination, creativity, and the ability to think outside the box. As such, it’s simply not possible for AI to produce the same level of work as a human being. So if you’re looking for something of substance, you’re better off going with a human writer.

The use of AI will devalue the blogosphere and make it harder for real writers to get their work published

It’s no secret that the blogosphere has been on a downward spiral for years. With an ever-increasing glut of low-quality content, it’s becoming harder and harder for real writers to get their work published. And now, with the rise of AI, things are only going to get worse. Thanks to algorithms that can churn out endless variations of formulaic drivel, the already devalued currency of the blogosphere is going to become even more worthless. In the end, it will be nearly impossible for writers to get their work seen, let alone read and appreciated. So if you’re thinking about starting a blog, you might want to reconsider. Unless, of course, you’re content with having your voice lost in the noise.

Automated content is often riddled with errors and factual inaccuracies

If you’ve ever relied on an automated translation tool or a piece of content generated by a computer, you know that the results can be less than perfect. inaccuracies and errors are common, which can be frustrating – or even dangerous. In some cases, such as when translating medical documents, these errors can have serious consequences. Automated content is often produced by algorithms that are not able to understand the context of what they’re translating or writing about. As a result, they often make mistakes that a human would not make. For example, they might use the wrong word in a given context or fail to capture the nuances of a particular situation. In other cases, they might misappropriate cultural references or use outdated information. While automated content can be helpful in some situations, it’s important to be aware of its limitations. When accuracy is critical, it’s always best to relies on human expertise.

People don’t want to read blog posts that are written by a machine

These days, it seems like everyone is trying to get in on the blogging game. However, there is one major problem with this: most people’s blog posts are terrible. Why is this? Well, a lot of it has to do with the fact that people are relying on machines to do the work for them.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for using technology to help us out. But when it comes to writing, nothing can replace the human touch. Readers can tell when a piece has been written by a machine, and they quickly lose interest. After all, who wants to read something that has no soul or personality? If you’re going to blog, do it the right way – sit down and write something that comes from the heart. Only then will you be able to truly connect with your readers.

In short, don’t expect AI to take over the blogosphere anytime soon. The technology simply isn’t there yet and it’s not likely to be able to produce the kind of content that people actually want to read. Until then, we’ll just have to keep dealing with the inefficiencies of human writers.