Knowing the difference between AI-generated content and content created by humans is becoming increasingly more difficult due to the advances of Artificial Intelligence. Take the images below for example. Can you tell which is created by AI and which is created by a content creator? It can be hard to tell. As the line separating the source of the content becomes harder to distinguish, let’s dive a little deeper into which content performs better.

By the end of this article, you’ll know how to utilize AI effectively in the content creation process and how others understand what type of content performs better, AI v.s. Human curated content.

The Rise of AI in Content Creation 

AI first started becoming popular in the 21st century. Between the 1940s and1950s digital computers were created, laying a solid foundation that would lead to even more advanced discoveries and innovations (The Rise of AI). One major innovation was the introduction of machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence.

A few years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, AI hit a turning point, developing language and image recognition capabilities comparable to  human proficiency. This resulted in a surge of interest, leading corporations to invest more time and money into furthering the capabilities of AI. People became more invested in AI and testing the waters by giving prompts and ideas to AI to build and create.

Knowing whether or not something is AI-created is an important thing to be able to determine. In schools, students are using AI, such as ChatGPT, to write their papers and solve their problems, leading to exponential distrust between educators and learners. 

In a professional context, AI can be used to generate ideas and business strategies. When used in moderation this kind of AI augmentation can be beneficial. However, issues begin to arise when there is excessive reliance on AI, and it starts to replace individual creativity and independent problem-solving

Survey- Comparing AI-Generated and Human-Created Content 

We conducted a survey about AI and human content creation and how important it is for individuals to know whether or not a piece of content is AI created. 

58 Participants were asked to rate on a likert scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being very important, and 5 being very unimportant.

Averaging all the responses recorded showed that most people stood at a 2 on the scale meaning that understanding AI created content is important to people. Let’s dive deeper into AI and its involvement in content creation and look at some of our primary data on how people feel about knowing and understanding AI content. 

AI in Content Creation

How AI Works

Before you can determine if AI or Human content performs better let’s take a look at how AI creates its work. An article put out by CSU Global explains how AI can produce content from text by, “…Combining large sets of data with intelligent, iterative processing algorithms to learn from patterns and features in the data that they analyze.”

This means that AI is referring back to a huge database of information and taking bits and pieces to try and create a piece of content that best matches the written prompt. AI cannot make original content but it can take existing ideas and images to craft content that hasn’t been seen before. 

With this kind of algorithm AI uses, we wonder if it is damaging or supporting content creation in general? In a survey that our team conducted, we asked the question, “Is AI Creating Damage or Support?”, the results came back showing an almost equal divide on both sides. These results show us that this fairly new AI technology has a lot of mixed reviews and it has yet to win the people over. There are people who are skeptical of AI content but there are also people who embrace it.

Written Content

There are AI classifier tools available like GPTZero or Copyleaks that can help determine if content is written by a human or AI. Classifiers at this time are not 100% accurate as they produce false-positives and false- negatives.

As of July 20, 2023 Open AI’s classifier is no longer available because of its low accuracy. 

On the OpenAI website, they claim the classifier worked a quarter of the time at truly detecting AI-written content. They say that the longer the text is, the easier it is to differentiate who wrote it. To get the most accurate results you will need to put in a minimum of 1,000 words.

There are times when AI-written content might give inaccurate information as the priority is creating sentence structure to that of a human. You see an example of this when you ask an AI system to write a joke. It can get the structure of a joke, but it doesn’t always make the most sense. 

Visual Content

AI technology is getting more advanced when it comes to visual creation. It has the power to create photorealistic human faces with full bodies. It also has the ability to create some remarkable works of art in various mediums. Not too long ago, you could examine the content AI produced and instantly spot many flaws and determine that AI generated it. 

AI systems used to have problems with creating complex physical objects like human hands. Looking at the hands and face were common ways to spot AI-created photos, like an incorrect number of fingers and unnatural facial features. However, it didn’t take long for AI systems to overcome this problem and make human features look normal. Ultimately blurring the line between what is AI-generated and what is real.

Sora OpenAI

OpenAI recently released an AI model called Sora, which is currently not accessible to the public. Sora allows you to create minute long videos from text prompts.

Currently, Sora is available to testers to assess areas of risk. It is also accessible to select visual artists so Open AI can receive feedback on how to advance the model for creatives. 

OpenAI has released many videos showing what Sora is capable of. Some videos include Mammoths running in the snow, or a flower blooming. The quality of the videos are quite impressive, though there are slight problems with the cohesion of the visual elements. 

The process starts with a video or image that looks like static noise. The noise is removed over multiple steps, transforming the video into a scene with multiple characters and attention to detail. 

The model does have its weaknesses, like correctly simulating the physics of certain scenes. That is why OpenAI is taking time to test the software to create an even more accurate model. 

The Role of Human Creativity in Content Creation

As AI continues to repurpose existing content, humans have the unique ability to create relatable content that has never been seen before. This results from the capacity to think outside the box. Think about it, we have been creating since we were kids. Creating paper snowflakes, drawing pictures and building with Legos, creating is a natural part of being human. So, it makes sense that we would play a vital role in content creation. Because as humans, we bring something to content that AI can’t — emotion.

In the survey previously mentioned, the question was asked, “Would knowing if content was AI created change your opinion on the content?”. Of the responses received, 53% indicated “depends on the content”, 37% said yes, and 10% said no. That means in total, 90% of the respondents agree that knowing if content was created by AI would have some impact on their opinion of the content. This shows just how important content creators are as AI becomes increasingly prevalent in the mainstream media and marketing.

Adding Emotion and a Personal Touch to the Content Creation Process

We all have our own lives. We have all lived through different experiences and have seen different things than others. But we have all felt sad, happy, mad, confused and many other emotions. As a content creator, you can utilize this skill and human aspect to your content in adding a unique aspect of emotion.

Going back to the survey, if only 10% of people do not care whether humans created the content or not, we can conclude that human content creators are irreplaceable. This is because we understand complex emotions and underlying context that don’t logically make sense.

To create engaging content, it is important to consider how you can make your audience feel. You can do this by asking yourself the following questions:

• How can I make my audience laugh?
• How can I pull on their heart strings?
• How can I start their day with happy feelings?

Once you have a good understanding of how you want your audience to feel, you can start creating content that will achieve those goals.

Now that we’ve reviewed the role of human creativity in content creation and how we can be creative, let’s look into the differences between AI and human content creation.

AI vs Human: A Comparative Analysis

AI-generated content is still not as good as human-created content in the eyes of most people. This is largely because we are naturally driven by storytelling and human connection, resulting in the most impact when personal experiences are shared. As social media practitioners, it can be helpful to rely on AI in the brainstorming and ideation process, but not on the actual creation of the final content. In doing so, we risk losing the emotional touch that makes human content so impactful which is our primary goal as content creators.

Scalability and Efficiency of AI Content Creation

Content creation requires time, effort, and energy, which is what makes it so meaningful to its viewers. AI can help creators save time on tedious tasks, allowing them to focus on other aspects of their work, but it does not create content at the same level of human creators because it lacks emotion as mentioned above.

Though there are fewer creative and artistic viewpoints to explore with AI-generated content, there is going to be a cost-benefit in using AI. There is a well-deserved price that comes with the expertise of graphic designers and content writers. To have free access to something that is a bit less creative but better than what we are able to afford, it seems to be a give-and-take situation. 

Startups now have access to resources that were out of their budget and help them go a long way. On the other hand, larger businesses are looking at standing out from the crowd and heavily investing in creative expertise that isn’t a compilation of computer information.

Leveraging AI-Assisted Content Creation

Benefits and Challenges of AI-Assisted Content Creation

While AI-assisted content creation comes with numerous advantages, like time and cost savings, it’s essential to understand the challenges. AI-generated content may require additional editing and might lack human-written content’s unique voice and style. However, these drawbacks are mitigated as AI becomes more sophisticated. In just a year, AI has made strides further than society often acknowledges. One can only wonder what its capabilities will be in years to come. 

Practical Tips for Social Media Practitioners Leveraging AI-Assisted Content Creation

So, how can you, as a social media practitioner, leverage AI tools effectively? Here are some practical tips:

1.     Embrace Collaboration: View AI as a collaborative tool, not a replacement. Use it to enhance your creativity and productivity.

2.     Experiment: Try different AI tools to see which fits your needs best. Remember, many of these tools offer free trials. Additionally, each tool can be drastically different from another, so recognize that there will always be a learning curve. 

3.     Editing is Key: Be prepared to edit AI-generated content to ensure it’s polished and reflects your unique voice.

4.     Stay Updated: The world of AI is rapidly evolving. Keep yourself updated with the latest developments to fully leverage these tools.

5.     Balance is Vital: Strive to find a balance between AI-generated and human-created content. Doing so will ensure a unique voice and personal touch in your content while reaping the benefits of AI.

Conclusion

The intersection between Artificial Intelligence and human creativity in content creation is not a win-lose game. Rather, it represents an evolving partnership that leverages the strengths of both to produce engaging and effective content. 

As technology continues to advance, AI’s role in content creation will become increasingly significant. As it becomes more integrated in the creative process, informing brainstorming sessions, and personalized content for specific audiences, its impact has the potential to be even more astonishing. 

It’s important to remember that AI, in its current state, can only replicate and learn from existing data. While it can mimic various artistic styles and generate content based on patterns in the data it has been fed, it cannot originate new ideas or perspectives. This is where human creativity shines. Humans bring a unique touch to content creation, providing originality, emotional depth, and the ability to connect with audiences on a personal level.