I am sure you’re thinking. “I’m going on a trip to Cape May, NJ, and need a true ‘hidden gem’ of a travel guide.” So if, by a freak chance, you find BuzzFeed AI-assisted content on your results for a search, avoid it.
This is because BuzzFeed has published several low-quality travel stories under “As Told to Buzzy.” These are all extraordinarily formal and written from a first-person perspective. What do we need to label it “the “first-AI point of view”? (Does AI have a point of view?)
Why we are concerned, many articles are calling the guides “SEO-driven” travel guides. Stop it immediately. If these pages are ranked for any competitive keywords, Google has failed as an engine for search.
What BuzzFeed has done isn’t “SEO.” BuzzFeed has published low-quality, superficial, AI-generated stories written in a first-person account by an AI on places that exist around the globe. Nothing more, no less. If these pages get ranked online, they’re on a trusted website rather than because it’s good.
As told by Buzzy. That is the profile that the 44 articles published. The biographical details of the AI writers “Articles written with the help of Buzzy the Robot (aka our Creative AI Assistant) but powered by human ideas.” However, this is BuzzFeed; therefore, E-E-A-T isn’t essential.
Every Buzzy article I reviewed contained a note at the top of the page: “This article was collaboratively written by [insert name here] + Buzzy, our creative AI assistant.” The Verge said the collaborators appeared to be all employees who were not editing (from the sales and business departments of the company).
- A fun fact BuzzFeed offers a distinct AI Quiz writer’s byline on behalf of Buzzy the Robot, who is the creator of 26 questions.
Horrible. Some of the negatives of futurism:
- “Now I understand what you’re thinking. …”
- “A hidden gem”
- And even further.
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced its big ambition in January: to “lead the future of AI-powered content.” If the future is now, I’m not impressed.
AI can make the content creation more accessible (e.g., brainstorming topics, structuring the article). The one thing AI clearly can’t do yet is improve the final product for the unfortunate humans who try to read it.
You can easily create tons of AI-assisted or AI-generated content about whatever topic you want now. But the question is: should you?
And the bigger question is – how will Google respond? Will the helpful content system catch low-quality, AI-assisted content and prevent it from ranking
