Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a powerful technology already playing a role in our daily lives. Online news sources and many within the business sphere frequently tout the merits of AI, but the reality is many people do not comprehend the many use cases of AI. While there is plenty of talk about future AI applications that are still years off or misconceptions based on science fiction, AI is already currently in use now for many common sense and practical business needs.

The use of AI can be found in the things you regularly read; not magazines or books per se, but recurring items such as product descriptions on e-commerce websites like Amazon and Nivea, air quality reports and earning reports within a news section, financial reports and social media content.What is the technology behind these capabilities? The answer is AI-powered content generation software. It’s rapidly changing how many businesses grow, create reports, interact with customers, and scale written content globally — and also writing the bulk of text populating their websites.

The evolution of the history of the written word started with the Gutenberg printing press, and progressed to the manual, and then electric typewriter, and eventually the word processor.

Content generation is the next evolution of the written word. It works using natural language generation (NLG) software powered by AI and natural language processing (NLP). Simplified, what NLG does is take structured data and transform it into a piece of writing that is almost indistinguishable from a human writer. The software isn’t able to generate more sophisticated content like complete stories or essays (at least not with semantic control by its user); however, it can create detailed, serviceable content on par to what a human would write. What’s notable about the process is that the writer remains involved — defining the parameters of the writing and helping the software to produce better and more engaging writing over time.

Here are four industry sectors being impacted and advanced by AI-powered content generation software:

E-commerce

One of e-commerce’s biggest pain points is the continuous need to create and update vast quantities of unique product descriptions, in multiple languages, at scale. Traditionally scaling content has meant hiring large teams of copywriters to produce detailed product descriptions and update website content manually. In today’s global market and digital world, e-commerce companies simply cannot hire the volume of people needed to produce the sheer volume of content required to meet their goals and keep pace.

AI-powered content generation software makes automated content generation accessible to e-commerce companies of all sizes. The software allows them to automatically generate unique, detailed product descriptions in different languages within minutes, and then easily change it days, weeks or months later, depending on inventory and seasonality. With NLG automated content, the transition time into new markets is cut down, SEO improves due to unique product descriptions, returns diminish and obstacles decrease. And, once you have your automated processes going, you don’t have to manually maintain the text if something changes.

Financial Services and Banks

Financial services and banking institutions are required by law to create recurring financial reports, regulatory filings, executive summaries, and other written communications. All of this requires massive amounts of financial data from disparate sources to be gathered, analyzed and translated into text customized for a broad range of audiences and languages. For example, a financial company that manages 401k plans might need to send updated regulatory information to customers quarterly or even annually — and in multiple languages.

Content generation software allows financial services companies to not only automatically produce content, but also rapidly revise it when an important development or a new regulation occurs — saving significant resources in terms of man-hours and costs. With content generation software, financial companies simply input the data or information, and the software helps generate content that fits the bill.

Pharmaceutical

For pharma companies, the most challenging phase of bringing a drug to market is Phase III, the human drug trial. Clinicians must write Clinical Study Reports (CSRs) that describe the pharmacological impacts and trial outcomes. Typically, this requires medical writing teams to collect all data from the human drug trial and manually compile a report. It’s an outdated, arduous and time-consuming process that can delay life-saving medications from getting to market sooner.

AI-powered content generation software allows pharmaceutical companies to generate regulatory Clinical Study Reports (CSRs) on medications up to 40% faster by automating 30% of CSR writing. Content automation driven by NLG technology connects to the clinical study database and instantly generates HIPAA-compliant, auditable reports that quickly meet regulatory requirements. Life-saving medications get to market faster, benefitting public health.

Social Media

Internet influencers are all about making a splash on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and other social platforms. They build small empires off the ability to engage followers through original written content. However, many are usually a staff of one or have limited means to hire an entire team to create content around the clock.

Content generation software allows influencers to generate new written fixtures and posts, so they have more time for the creative process and finding the next viral piece of content. Influencers can also quickly update the written content on old posts based on follower feedback or new angles and ideas. Moreover, they can use content generation software to create personal websites, rapidly filling their site with personal profiles, engaging stories, and more.

The Future of AI-Powered Content Generation 

The future of AI is incredibly exciting and certainly makes for much more scintillating conversation than the practical use cases of AI. It’s fun to speculate where AI will take us in the future. Who doesn’t want to ponder on planning road trips in a self-driving car, a robot companion, nanobots that can detect and eradicate diseases within your body, or a personal AI assistant like Jarvis in Iron Man? All the same, the next time you hear AI discussed, don’t lose sight of the many tangible ways AI technology is already making a difference for many industries, today.