16 October 2025
Confessions of a Copywriter: AI is OK
I recently asked an AI tool how it could benefit my work and it said: “Using AI to assist copywriters in creating B2B and B2C content offers a wide range of benefits that significantly streamline content production, improve quality, and enhance personalization.”
Sassy.
I don’t take umbrage at its over-confident tone. In fact, I have realized that my AI pal is, well, right – I can create the same output as a small fleet of copywriters working ‘traditionally’, and in less time. So I feel like a superhero.
But let’s look more closely at those superpowers.
Increased efficiency and speed. This is my personal favourite, for reasons stated above, but also for the fact that, with careful questioning (and also fact checking), AI allows me to create basic content on subjects which I’m not a particular expert in.
For example, in my work, I create, augment, and edit content for clients across a wide range of industries. Yesterday I was writing social media content about the automotive industry; tomorrow, I’ll be creating case studies for a global digital software company. Of course, for lengthy, niche, in-depth pieces, you’ll still need a subject matter expert (SME) copywriter to take the reins and provide content.
In the olden days, it would’ve taken me hours, maybe even days of research, to even begin to understand subjects of which I had little or no experience. Now, with an AI tool, I can get a hit-the-ground-running understanding which will get me through lightweight content, though I’ll still (thankfully) leave the heavyweight stuff to the SMEs.
Yes, many have tried to leverage AI in producing content that requires the equivalent of 10+ years of experience in the relevant field, together with a batch of qualifications. I have just two words to say on this matter: AI hallucinations. Without your own expertise, can you even discern which bits of AI output might be a little more suspicious?
The classic chicken-and-egg dilemma for copywriters has always been quality vs quantity. With an AI tool as your trusty sidekick, you can get pretty close to having both. Pretty close.
My AI buddy says that it helps copywriters “to produce large volumes of content” much faster than manual methods, especially if it’s a repetitive task. I’ve got 27 one-page case studies to write, listing challenges, solutions, and key results? Easy, I write and collate the initial version myself, and then AI will help replicate the style and tone across the following 26 case studies, all ready for the designers to drop into the template. It literally saves days.
Marketing departments (we love them) always tweaking the brand message, updating the company style guidelines – it can be hard to keep up. All you need to do is update your AI pal with the latest tone-direction rules or glossaries, and it can take care of implementing them into a wide range of routine missives, such as weekly e-newsletters, socials, blog articles, and push notifications, to make sure the brand message stays on point across all platforms.
Yes. That. A lot of copywriters don’t like SEO. They say it interrupts the flow of the text and the integrity of the content. But if your Marketing or Creative Strategy team wants it in there, then that’s what you’ve got to do. Like the Hollywood directors of the early 1930s who were suddenly saddled with the infamous Hays Code (rigorous censorship rulings), you just have to learn to work smarter in order to make great movies. Or content.
Your AI BFF can help in two ways. By interpreting user behavior, AI can identify trending topics and spot content gaps to inform strategy and content planning. This, in turn, helps with SEO optimization. The information gathered can help AI tools optimize copy for search engines, improving ranking and visibility through keyword placement, meta descriptions, and technical elements. Meanwhile, copywriters can focus on developing ideas for really awesome copy – the bit they love doing.
We’ve all suffered from it. The thing is that AI tools don’t suffer from it. So, therefore, neither do you. AI can propose new angles, topics, and approaches, it can suggest lists of blog titles, themes for white papers, social media campaign ideas. In short, you AI work colleague can help you overcome creative blocks and spark innovation. Basically, it’s another sounding board but one that doesn’t reply with “Um, I dunno”, or “I’ll have to think about that”, when you run something by it and you’re pressed for time.
This is especially useful when you’re grappling with the challenge of having to write about something that’s outside your comfort zone, or topics that are super niche. Oh, so it’s doing the hard work for you, you might think. No, it’s just starting you off. You have the power, the intellect, the whim even, to take or leave whatever the AI tool suggests. It doesn’t get upset. Or, if you’re not happy with its output, you can push it to deliver better ideas – because, reassuringly, not everything it will suggest will be good. Some of it will be downright stupid, and most of it will need further research.
Basically, it’s this: an AI tool can help you do your job even better. It can do the repetitive bits, the ‘conveyor belt content’, and the fiddly cut-and-paste bits so you have more time to focus on the truly creative part of your tasks. An AI tool helps boost your knowledge quickly, works fast in everything you tell it to do, and allows you to do the job of three people. All this can make you look good to a) line managers, b) clients, and c) your team mates. Also, it doesn’t need coffee breaks or take vacations, unless the server goes offline. But hey, everybody needs a little bit of downtime.
