There are two camps when it comes to using and defining what is AI copy.
I see the split play out all the time in my AI training sessions.
One camp looks at AI-generated copy and says, “It’s just… off. It feels flat, like it has no soul.” They’ll call it boring, robotic.
And I get it—these are usually the writers, the ones who have been perfecting their craft for years.
Some are scared for their jobs, while others are too proud to admit that sometimes, AI actually gets it pretty darn right.
Then there’s the other camp. The ones who are fired up because they now have a tool that can take the pressure off. They aren’t usually writers; words are hard to come by for them. They’re amazed by its power.
“I use AI copy all the time!” they’ll tell me. “It makes things easier. It’s my go-to, every day.”
Defining What AI Copy Means
Somewhere between these two camps lies the truth. And since two things can be true at the same time. AI copy can feel robotic or fantastic depending on where you sit.
So, let’s strip everything down to the basics and define what is AI Copywriting
AI copy refers to content generated by a Large Language Model (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.) based on the input you provide.
And when I say input, I’m talking about the query, a question, or a guiding instruction that you plug into the language model’s interface. These are called prompts.
AI Copywriting means using the generated output in your blog posts, ads, speeches, content, and wherever else you use words to meet your objective.
And since we all know integrating AI and writing effective copy goes hand in hand it’s going to become even more important for us business owners to get things right.
RELATED: I write more about AI prompts >>> HERE <<<
When AI Copy Is Not What It Seems
Alright, let me tell you why this isn’t all as straightforward as it seems.
There’s a little cautionary tale here about AI vs human-written content and it’s based on a true incident that happened to my friend, RaeAnn.
RaeAnn is an accounting analyst, and she was getting ready to host this workshop—like, she had her ducks in a row and wanted the perfect copy to attract the right audience who’d say, “YES, I NEED TO GO TO THIS!”
So, she used ChatGPT to help draft some of the promotional material. No big deal, right?
Well, when RaeAnn looked over what the AI had given her, she had this moment of déjà vu. She thought, “Wait, I’ve read this before!”
And sure enough, when she went digging, she realised that the AI had pretty much handed her a duplicate of copy from a workshop she’d attended in the past.
The same words, the same phrasing—it was uncanny.
What Is AI Copy vs Plagiarised Copy?
To answer the question of plagiarism, I went to the best source, ChatGPT. Here’s what I learned.
“ChatGPT doesn’t ‘copy’ other people’s work in the traditional sense of directly retrieving and repeating verbatim chunks of copyrighted text from its training data.
Instead, it generates responses based on patterns it learned during training,” the bot spat out.
Some things will always make me go, “HMMMM.” This was one of them.
Because while I know the dataset training is large and varied, I wondered about this specific case.
Suppose the training data for RaeAnn’s prompt wasn’t vast enough, or just think about if the prompt she fed it closely mirrored something that already existed.
It’s possible for the generated output to sound a lot like something that already exists.
For sure, that would narrow the margin on the “stolen content” question.
Facts are facts. And since RaeAnn’s prompt led to something almost identical to what she had seen before, we have to call it by its name—Copied Copy, at least in this instance.
Hot Tips To Write Effective AI Copy
To avoid walking in RaeAnn’s shoes, and write effective AI copy I’ve got a few tips I always share with my students:
✔️ Make your prompts unique by adding specificity. You want to personalise whatever output you get by adding in details and data points that are unique to you.
✔️ Use AI as a starter ingredient, but don’t finish your meal with it. Add personal stories and individual touch points. Don’t forget editing is also your best friend.
✔️ Verify all your generated content for originality using plagiarism checkers. They are so many to select from.
As I’ll keep saying, specificity is your best friend when it comes to using AI Copy. And if you want to use AI effectively, you’ve got to know how to guide it—how to stop it from running off the tracks and how to get it working for you.
How? Learn more >> HERE. <<<
7 AI Copywriting Tools To Use
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ChatGPT: Definitely my fave and the one that spawned a host of the other models. Best used for generating content in the widest of all copywriting ranges. To get the most out of it, don’t forget to craft clear and specific prompts.
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Jasper AI: A marketer’s delight for its sheer ability to craft landing pages, copy for emails, funnels etc. Big plus for its tone customisation. If you’re struggling with your brand voice, Jasper is a gift.
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Copy.ai: Who doesn’t like pre-built templates? No one should be raising their hands. Pre-built templates for different content needs is Copy.aI’s super power.
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Writesonic: This AI tool works overtime to generate everything from blog posts to Facebook ads. If you’re into blogging and SEO is still a mystery, WriteSonic will work magic to create content that ranks because of its built-in SEO optimisation capabilities. What’s not to love?
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Rytr: One of the least expensive on the AI block, Rytr generates content for emails, blogs, and other marketing materials. Not every AI model gets its user interface right, but Rytr does. Great to use if you’re just beginning your prompt journey.
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CopySmith: Is eCommerce your jam? Then consider CopySmith. It can help craft your product descriptions, ad copy, promotional material etc An added feature includes its plagiarism checker because let’s face it, no one should be using AI copy without editing and adding a heaping spoonful of customisation. We also love all CopySmith’s integrations with other tools.
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Frase: Ok so Frase isn’t just about copywriting exclusively. But it really lights a spark for AI copywriting because of its ability to create SEO-optimised content. Think research, outline, and ranking. It’s a real time saer on all those pesky but necessary SEO chores that makes your blog to do list drag on.
Related: 4 Good Reads On ChatGPT Prompts For Writing
👉🏼 3 ChatGPT Prompts To Help With You Content Writing
👉🏼 How Adding Specificity To An AI Prompt Changes Things For The Better
