Anyone who writes for a living (from the content writer to the screen writer) has had to look deep into their souls over the last few months.

“What does AI mean for our jobs?”

“Will the robots be replacing us?”

“Can the machines really do what we can do?”

Questions like these are keeping professional scribes up at night. We’re no different. But rather than freak out over the future, we leaned into it.

With an open mind and a willingness to be impressed, we tried almost all the AI content writer options out there.

We prompted them to write all the kinds of writing, editing and translation we do, from product descriptions and home page copy to pitch decks and passive aggressive breakroom signage.

Here’s what we learned:

The “content writer” role is very much in jeopardy

Because a content writer is given a message and asked to blow it out a thousand different ways over a thousand different channels. It’s hard work and takes lot of experience to produce quality content — and the effort should be compensated.

Here’s the problem, and you know it’s a problem if you read enough content:

Quality generally isn’t at the top of anyone’s priority list. Quantity, however, is being force fed to marketing leaders.

So, of course, any technology that promises quantity without cost is worth a look. We looked and found that AI is excellent for producing quantity at a fraction of the traditional content writer cost.

Bad news for content writers, but good for what we do.

The “copywriter” role is very much alive and well

If you recall about 15 seconds ago, you ready that “a content writer is given a message and asked to blow it out a thousand different ways.

A copywriter creates that message. And this is where a business MUST invest in quality over quantity if it wants to succeed.

What can a copywriter do that a content writer can’t?

While a content writer gives your audience information they may or may not want to consume at any given moment, and that they can most likely get from your competitors, a copywriter presents your solution to a problem your target audience is experiencing right now. And by framing your solution in a unique way, a copywriter compels your audience to act by inviting them to imagine their lives after considering a story they’ll only get from you.

In other words, while a content writer gives you what you think you want, a copywriter gives your audience what it needs to give you what you really want.

This is an important difference between a copywriter and content writer

And both have value.

The copywriter will help you craft your overall message, including the five pieces of writing you absolutely need to have in place if you want to grow your business. The copywriter will carve out place for your brand in the vast competitive landscape you’re in. And they’ll get your target audience thinking, feeling and speaking the right way about you.

The content writer will serve up your copywriter-crafted messaging in enough different ways to keep the Google bots somewhat happy enough to incrementally raise your ranking and drive traffic to your website.

But here’s the million-dollar question not enough marketing executives ask:

What good is spending all that money driving traffic to your website if the message there isn’t compelling enough to get that traffic to stick around?

So, how should companies be leaning into their writing?

They should start by having a compelling, unique, air-tight, human-centric message that creatively and unmistakeably separates them from their competitors in their target audience’s eyes.

From there, they should follow our lead and try an AI content writer. Because once a message is crafted with the human touch, what AI can do with it is shockingly impressive.