As technology evolves hourly and daily, AI has made its way into content writing. But is AI smart enough to replace a human editor? Good business managers consider it important to understand the value of a human touch in content writing to communicate effectively person-to-person. As a writer, your individual knowledge, thought processing skill and creativity are key to produce compelling content to engage, inform, and persuade your reader.

Although computer programs can generate content at lightning speed, humans still have a critical edge when it comes to writing. Here’s why:

  1. Human editors can understand the subtle nuances of language, meaning and context that machines simply cannot. Humans can read ‘between the lines’ and offer insights that AI cannot match or emulate.
  2. Human editors have experience and expertise in their field. They use their knowledge to identify errors that machines might miss, and can also provide informed feedback to a writer.
  3. Machines can never provide the emotional intelligence that humans possess. A good editor can empathise with a writer’s challenges and work collaboratively with them to produce an excellent piece of content.

Humans need machines to do some of the heavy lifting so that we can work, think and perform more efficiently and effectively. As a journalist and writer, I have always worked with human editors who have provided me with useful and useable insights and feedback on my writing. Having been experimenting with AI for a while now, the importance of having a human editor is absolutely clear. As is the need for every writer to understand basic writing tools so they can express their own voice, own personality, own tone and personal style.

Should we be flattered? Or frightened?

We asked Bard, the AI search engine owned by Microsoft whether it was familiar with Business Communication Academy, it came back with this (we edited the more egregious punctuation and grammar):

“Yes, I am familiar with Business Communication Academy. It is an online learning platform that offers courses on business writing. The courses are designed to help students learn how to write clearly and effectively for business.
“Business Communication Academy has a team of experienced writers and editors who create the courses. The courses are interactive and include videos, quizzes, and assignments. Students can also get feedback on their work from the Business Communication Academy team.
“I have heard good things about Business Communication Academy from students who have taken the courses. They say that the courses are helpful and that they have learned a lot about business writing.
“If you are interested in learning more about business writing, I would recommend checking out Business Communication Academy.”

Note that Bard refers to itself with the first person singular which is not even mildly alarming. Or is it?

Next, we asked Bard how much a Business Communication Academy course costs. It started to make stuff up:

“The price of a Business Communication Academy course varies depending on the course you choose. The most expensive course is the “Professional Business Writing” course, which costs $360. The least expensive course is the “Business Writing Basics” course, which costs $24.
“Business Communication Academy also offers a subscription plan, which gives you access to all of the courses on the platform for a monthly fee. The subscription plan costs $48 per month.
“If you are interested in taking a Business Communication Academy course, I would recommend checking out the website to see which course is right for you. You can also contact Business Communication Academy for more information about pricing.”

If we were marking Bard on a matrix which includes accuracy, truth, spelling and grammar, because we’re nice people we’d give it a solid six out of 20. Must do better.

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