You see it in advertising, you hear it on the radio, podcasts, and in the news. . . The term “AI” (artificial intelligence) has far exceeded the status of a buzzword to become a part of our everyday vocabulary. As such, it should come as no surprise that we get asked questions about AI quite a bit.

Whether it is out of general curiosity or an interest in using AI to save time and money, our clients want to know how others are using AI and how it can help them. So without further ado, here are some of the most frequently asked questions we get:

Much like the answers to questions I get asked when developing an app, my answer to this question is:

It depends.

AI is like any other tool. When used properly, a specialized tool can help you save time and money when completing a task. It is important to acknowledge that like a specialized tool, there is always a cost.

There’s the upfront cost of establishing the correct prompts and filters for generating creative assets and the ongoing costs of maintaining your AI-driven bidding strategies. You have to put in time and effort to dial in your AI tools and ensure they’re staying on the right track.

In most cases, businesses that use AI aren’t saving money as much as they are TIME. Which, as they say – IS money. They are able to get more done in less time. This allows them to take that time savings and invest it in other marketing opportunities which is the exact purpose of a good tool.

Yes, in some cases, we do use AI at certain stages of the visual content creation process. That said, the finished images that we deliver are ALL authentically unique and involve human touch and individual creativity. For example, we believe that nothing beats an authentically captured photograph or video; however, the use of digital editing tools, like Photoshop, to enhance those images has been around for years. Depending on how it’s being used, that’s what AI can be – another tool to be used – but not abused. As far as AI-generated imagery has come, individual creativity and a skilled design eye is still the gold standard.

In general, we used AI-generated or enhanced media to improve efficiencies in the process of content creation. In this way, it is very similar to the stock images, video, and illustrations that have been around for a long time. Just like sourcing the right stock image or video, there is a cost associated with finding (or generating) the right base media asset for your creative needs.

We use AI and other tools to aid in the drafting and ideation efforts of our copywriting. It helps us get our wheels turning and can help put together a general outline of what we want to say. In this way, you can think of AI as another search engine that provides information based on our input. However, it is important to note that just like content you would find from a standard Google search, we do not use the direct output as our finished content. Even the best outline requires further message crafting, refining and editing – and that is done by our skilled copywriters. You can tell when website content has been generated directly by AI – our copywriters report it has a certain inauthentic feel to and the same overused words that most audiences can pick up on.

It is also essential to verify any info or statements generated by AI. Again, AI is a valuable but not infallible tool – and we treat it as such.

As eluded to above;

• AI content is often sourced (or trained) from publicly available content that may include copyright-protected content. This can cause unexpected problems down the road if you are not careful. How would you know if AI is creating variations of content or pulling it word for word from content it was sourced from?
• Content generated from an AI tool has no idea if it is right or wrong in its response. It only matches the response it provides based on patterns that have been established in its training. It has been proven to give out false information.
• The content generated is ONLY as fresh as the model that it was trained on. As a result, most AI tools do not have the latest and greatest information within its results.
• The content that AI generates is rarely in the same style or voice of your business. This can result in content that feels generic at best and inauthentic at its worse – the kiss of death for marketing copy.

The answer to this question is a bit of yes and a bit of no.

AI is heavily integrated into most web-building tools. As mentioned earlier, we use AI at certain stage of the creation process for media elements and/or in planning for content that will appear on the site. In addition, we may use AI-assistive technologies like Copilot when developing features for a site.

However, we do not use AI to fully generate websites. While there are certainly a number of services and tools that promise a fully designed and written website in minutes for almost nothing, we have found that there are distinct disadvantages to doing so.

• Generated websites often feel very generic and will look very much like other sites that are created using the same tool. You will still need to spend a fair amount of time updating the branding and copy to best match your business needs.
• Most generators are thoroughly integrated within a template or design system that can prove difficult to modify. It’s difficult to generate a site that truly fits your dream functionality.
• Should your business evolve and require new features, you may have to start from scratch on a different platform that will support your new requirements.

That said, there may be specific cases when it makes sense for a company to leverage an AI-generated website. New businesses needing a quick launch or those with a very limited budget could decide that the practical benefits outweigh the messaging or branding disadvantages. These AI-generated websites are basically the next generation of the templated do-it-yourself website builders that have been around for decades. Just be prepared for a rework as soon as your business objectives or feature requirements grow.

People may say that AI has arrived. But the truth is, AI has been here; it’s just recently become more accessible to the general public. And as every business should, Fuzzy Duck is exploring its pitfalls and capabilities, its risks and benefits, and then making responsible decisions about how we use it to streamline our process and deliver the BEST solutions for our clients. But now, as always, the talented, creative people on our team are still our strongest asset – with an occasional bit of help from digital resources and our robot friends.

If you have any other questions about AI for us, feel to reach out.