Best AI-Powered Writing Services (And Those to Avoid)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is causing people to talk across nearly every industry, and opinions are mixed.
As Nick Bostrom, a philosopher who focuses on AI, said, "Machine intelligence is the last invention that humanity will ever need to make." For some, the possibilities are exciting, but others aren't yet sure how this technology applies to them.
However, one thing is certain — AI technology is here to stay. From self-driving cars to virtual travel booking agents, the real-life applications are immense, and in the world of content marketing, AI is starting to make some big waves, too. While marketing chatbots and social media monitoring tools have been around for years, organizations are now beginning to explore the pros and cons of Al-powered writing services.
When does this technology make sense, and who offers related services? If you're ready to uncover the possibilities of AI-powering writing services, here's how to get started.
[Spoiler: The most successful marketers will take an AI and human-powered approach, but more on that later].
A Wave of AI Writing Services Has Arrived
Since the development of GPT-3, the language model that uses deep learning to mimic human-like text, many AI writing services have flooded the market. Seeing the options can be overwhelming, but here's the thing — the vast majority are nearly identical.
Why? Because many of the top AI writing services are built on the same GPT-3 technology.
While many of these services now use GPT-4, as it works smarter, it does not eliminate the flaws of GPT-3, including incorrect information and problematic social bias. When used correctly, it's tough to ignore the benefits of the latest AI-powered writing services.
The advantage of these services and their implementation of GPT-3/GPT-4 include:
- Ability to write a lot of text quickly
- Can write about a significant range of topics
- Generates human-sounding content
However, these strengths don't come without weaknesses. The content generated by this technology is often:
- Repetitive
- Inaccurate, which is not ideal for research-intensive content
- Lacking insight concerning deeper-level thoughts and connections
- Poorly structured
It's also relatively new, so companies like ChatGPT have already hit the headlines based on bug and glitch issues.
Read more: GPT-3 Content and the Future of Content Marketing
What to Look for in an AI Writing Service?
The best AI writing service for you will depend on what you want to get out of that service. Do you want to generate outlines and sample pieces you can flesh out based on factual research and brand examples? Then you may only require a basic AI tool and then outsource the rest to freelance who are industry experts.
Some considerations include the following:
- Is it easy to use? If your goal is to save time, the tool or platform should not have a steep learning curve.
- Will the tool generate fresh content ideas?
- How hands-off can you be? And what will that mean concerning quality?
- Will you receive SEO-optimized content?
- How good is the customer support?
Need a Low-Volume Option? It's Copymatic
If you're starting to dabble in AI or want an AI writing service you will use sparingly, Copymatic offers a cheap plan with access to all its tools. It works similarly to other AI writing tools, providing templates and a step-by-step process. For example, you will receive the title, outline, and introductory paragraph options by providing a topic and keyword.
Next, Copymatic will generate content, writing sections based on the title and each heading. Many like this option because they can fill in their own content throughout each step. For example, you may require research-intensive sections or seek a more emotional connection, so you outsource those components to expert human freelancers. You can then add that content as you flesh out your article, ebook, etc.
Copymatic Pros
- Very affordable, so it appeals to any marketing budget. It can help drive efficiency and productivity to lower other content creation costs.
- The interface is very user-friendly and doesn't require any technical experience.
- Many templates for varying use cases allow you to kickstart content for nearly any campaign.
Copymatic Cons
- The content is written well, grammatically speaking. However, it is often generic or dry.
- It doesn't offer additional features, which is a plus for those who want a no-frills tool.
Copymatic Pricing
Select options based on monthly vs. yearly pricing and the number of words required per month — for example, access to 50,000 words is $49 per month.
Want Something Flexible? Writesonic Wins
Writesonic is known as one of the more flexible AI-powered writing services because of its tier system. The three tiers, Premium, Superior, and Ultimate, relate to the quality of work you'll receive. To put this into perspective, with the free Premium trial (GPT-3.5), you'll get 10,000 words. In contrast, when choosing Ultimate (GPT-4) for your trial, you'll get 2,500 words.
This service is a good fit for those who seek quantity over quality, or at least at first. Remember, the quality of content matters. So, you can purchase lower-quality work at a reduced rate to rewrite or edit. This additional step will allow you to transform potentially dry content to match your brand's unique voice and deliver what your readers expect — for example, leveraging Writesonic for proposed outlines or examples of what you seek. You can then hire human freelance writers on a platform that prioritizes quality and the implementation of AI tools.
When using this platform, you'll have access to several templates. From there, the flow is similar to other AI writing tools. Writesonic will generate titles based on your topic, create an outline, and then a complete article based on that outline.
Writesonic Pros
- It can create content across many industries, making it attractive to many organizations.
- Writesonic is known for providing good customer support and is available 24/7.
- Over 65 features, including Facebook ads, Quora answers, landing pages, etc.
Writesonic Cons
- Credits are required for each iteration of an article. Since AI can fail to combine existing ideas or create original content based on desired brand voice, tone, style, etc., many feel this process isn't cost-efficient when aiming for a polished piece. It's best to have a human writer elevate the text to focus on the connections AI can not yet make and ensure a human touch — especially if that aligns with your brand.
Writesonic Pricing
When Seeking the Best Integrations, Jasper Is It
Jasper is one the hottest AI writing tools available today and offers plenty of integrations, including Grammarly and Surfer SEO.
While it provides some great features and many integrations, it is similar concerning output quality. It's built on the same technology as other AI writing platforms and can present similar issues. For example, one of the main concerns of GPT-4 is ongoing quality issues. While the model has impressive capabilities, it's imperfect — the generated code can have inefficiencies or bugs.
That said, Jasper can be a highly efficient tool for specific applications. It has read millions of newspapers, blog posts, Reddit threads, websites, etc., allowing it to grasp human language to create content. It is built on remarkable technology that involves natural language generation and deep learning. So, under the right circumstances, Jasper can be an invaluable tool in your marketing arsenal.
Jasper has many great features, including tone of voice settings, but some significant considerations exist.
Jasper Pros
- A document editor offers an interface to help you more easily format your content (i.e., add photos, bold text, etc.).
- Many templates are available, including cold emails, blog posts, product reviews, etc.
- It can help save time, as it jumpstarts the content creation process, especially when you want to create a rough outline or a sample piece. You can then use these as a basis to complete a more polished piece that is accurate and representational of your brand.
Jasper Cons
- Fact-checking is often recommended with AI writing tools, and Jasper is no exception. It's not uncommon for Jasper to write content that isn't true.
- This AI writing service isn't completely hands-off. You will not receive a finished article without entering a certain amount of user-generated content throughout the process to keep things on track.
- There are content limits, as the highest-priced plan has a limit of 50,000 words generated per month.
Jasper Pricing
There are three options, two of which will appeal to businesses. Growing businesses and teams are urged to create a custom plan. Small teams can get away with the Boss Mode plan, which is around $82 for 100,000 words per month.
Need AI-Powered Content With a Human Touch? Scripted Is the Solution
Scripted has long been known as a content marketing platform that offers high-level client support and expert writers. End-to-end marketing solutions and Scripted's top talent network have always set it apart, and now, Scripted is upping its AI game.
As Google shifted its stance on AI-generated content, Scripted started to develop tools and services that would assist writers and editors in continuing to produce the highest-quality, industry-relevant content. Unlike the other services on this list, Scripted takes a hybrid approach. The platform implements tools and features to enhance human-powered writing for greater efficiency and optimization.
Scripted isn't strictly an AI-powered writing service. Instead, the platform uses available AI technology to support its writers and editors, ensuring SEO-optimized content that meets the needs of your readers. Fueled by AI technology but written with a human touch — that's the Scripted difference.
Some example tools and features being implemented include:
- AI-powered outlines to generate ideas
- Keyword research
- Competitor analysis tools to ensure you beat their content
- AI-powered grammar platforms, like Grammarly
Scripted Pros
- Scripted also an AI-powered content creation assistant called Scripted Copilot that boosts your marketing efforts. This strategy involves real, industry-expert writers and greater AI efficiency.
- If you have AI-generated content that needs a little life injected into it, Scripted writers can rewrite or edit based on your desired tone, style, and voice guidelines. So, with Scripted, you get the best of both worlds — professionally written content created with the best tools available.
- You can combine the power of AI tools concerning plagiarism, grammar, keywords, etc., with expert writers, outsourcing the entire process. Check out Scripted's managed services.
- Scripted offers excellent support to both managed clients and those who are self-serve.
Scripted Cons
- It costs slightly more upfront for content. However, you will receive a polished piece. Scripted's team of experienced editors checks each piece of expertly-written content — you can also request revisions to fine-tune the text until it's exactly what you want. AI tools are used throughout the process to ensure each piece is high-quality, original, and optimized. Scripted is affordable compared to other content creation marketplaces when considering the cost of quality work.
Scripted Pricing
Choose what makes sense for your business based on four membership plans, starting at just $199/month. All plans come with a 100% quality guarantee. That perk is tough to beat.
AI Writing Services to Avoid
AI technology may seem like it's taking over, but that's far from the case. Right now, AI is like the Wild West, bringing up security concerns and issues surrounding ethical boundaries. So, for every credible tool, a handful or more are looking to get rich quickly. Unfortunately for users, they end up sinking their money, or worse, publishing low-quality content that affects their searchability and reputation.
On your journey toward greater AI implementation, stay clear of the following:
- Article Forge is known for over-promising, as the content generated comes with the same issues as other AI-generated text. The issue is that this platform dismisses that and makes claims that aren't accurate. This dishonesty or lack of insight, based on the samples provided on their site, makes this option outputting. Also, there is no editor, which prevents you from interacting throughout the content creation process. For many, that's a significant disadvantage.
- Kafkai is another platform that doesn't deliver on its promises. It was created to help with SEO, yet lacks the incorporation of keyword research into the content it writes. The samples provided are underwhelming; this is one tool you should avoid, at least for now.
Which Option Is Best?
While writing software may be the future of marketing, it's far from a complete solution. AI writing services act more as writing assistance than an expert, personable writer. So, investing in services that offer the features you need to optimize your content creation process is crucial. For example, you can create a blog post with Writesonic or Jasper and then have a human editor fact-check, tweak sentences, adjust the tone of voice, etc.
Ready to connect with expert content writers who understand the value of AI tools? Get started with Scripted today!
