Can AI Be Used For Thought Leadership? Key Pros and Cons
So you want to position yourself as a thought leader… but you haven’t got the time to turn your opinions into content. What do you do?
Well, the obvious option is to turn to AI tools that can help you create the content you want, on the topic you want to talk about, at maximum speed and with (relatively) minimal effort required at your end.
But will that content achieve its objective, in putting you (and/or your brand) out there as thought leaders who are shaping the future of your industry? People who can be trusted to lead the way? And the people that your peers turn to when looking for advice?
The answer is ‘probably not’. Ultimately, if an AI tool is generating the content for you, then it’s the one coming up with the viewpoints, not you. And in any case, who is going to care about AI’s opinion on something?
Of course, that doesn’t mean to say that AI in general has no use when it comes to thought leadership. Let’s weigh up the pros and cons:
The pros
It can help with research: if you’re looking for facts, statistics and case studies to back up your argument, then AI tools are an excellent way of expediting that work, and casting the net much further and wider.
It can provide new perspectives: that research, and the summary of it that the AI tool generates, can suggest new ideas that you might not have thought of. This can help you reshape your arguments and views, and enable more informed content with up-to-date expertise.
It can speed up the creative process: if you only have a set amount of time to create your thought leadership content, then having the above two points covered by AI means you have more capacity to hone your work and add some creative flair.
The cons
Your content will lack original insight: by its very nature, AI works by assessing content and information that has already been created. If you’re aiming to offer a unique viewpoint that nobody has come across before, that’s going to make things much more difficult.
Your content won’t be as authentic: if you’re using AI as a major part of creating your thought leadership content, then you can’t really say with conviction that those are your opinions. That might not necessarily matter to you, but if you’re writing to a particularly discerning audience, they may be able to see through content that is unoriginal or generic.
Your content risks being filtered out by search engines: if you use long passages of AI-generated content in your thought leadership pieces, then there is a very high risk of that content being filtered out by search engines. This can seriously restrict the scale of the audience that you can reach, at least partly defeating the point of creating the content in the first place.
So what’s the best way forward?
There’s clearly plenty of value in using AI to create thought leadership content - but it’s equally clear that there’s a balance to be struck between AI-driven efficiency and human creativity. This balance should ideally include:
Using AI as a research and information tool only
Ensuring that all AI-generated content is properly edited and fact-checked
Getting a second opinion from a creative mind that what you’ve written is accurate, original and compelling
The simple fact of the matter is this: there is no ‘silver bullet’ that will allow you to create genuinely valuable thought leadership content by using AI to cut most of the corners. Even if you use AI for research, it will always be a good idea to get a second opinion from a creative mind, whether that’s helping you sharpen up the copy, fact-checking your sources, or rewording passages to avoid search engine filtering.
Whether you’re a CEO, or an experienced copywriter like me, good content takes time, effort and care to create. And however AI might progress and advance in the future, it’s the opinions of people that will always matter to people. That’s why AI can be used as an assistant in creating thought leadership content… but it shouldn’t be leading the way.