Why Competitor Use Of AI Provides You A Real Opportunity

You’ve likely notice that we’re currently in the middle of a technological change that’s already influencing every aspect of the modern business world, even if not everyone knows exactly how or why just yet. Artificial intelligence is being spoken about in almost every boardroom, and in some respects it’s already in play, and in many different areas. We’ve seen it present in customer service, data analysis, automated content, even more creative tasks like brand development and social media management, all of these can now be influenced by AI-led tools.

That means your competitors are likely making use of AI in one way or another, even if they’re only testing it. They’re doing so to get the edge over you, not only because they trust it, because they worry about what will happen if they adopt the new tech too late. As such, perhaps they’ve started using automated chatbots,  or maybe they’re speeding up content production with generative tools. Everyone has different opinions on this, of course.

However, despite all this, there’s something worth remembering. That’s the fact that just because your competitors are using these tools doesn’t mean they’re using them well, or even using them to solve the right problems. That means this could offer you a golden opportunity.

Competitors Will Show You What Not To Do

In the early stages of any new technology, there’s a tendency to rush things and make promises. Think back to how silly and quaint the “metaverse” looks now. In a market often defined by promise more than anything else, people will see the benefit, want to be early adopters, and start making big decisions before they’ve really thought them through. 

So if you’ve noticed that a competitor has started using AI-generated blog content, for example, there’s a decent chance that the content doesn’t read particularly well or that it lacks the human insight and relevance your audience is actually looking for. Maybe that could make a doubling down on curated, well-thought-out articles on your end, assisted by a good SEO company to leverage the content, could help you stand out even more.

You Can Define Your Brand By What Makes You Human

It’s true that many brands see themselves as not necessarily centering a human-first approach but more a professional image, which means the value of distinctly human insight starts to rise. That’s because when everyone else is pivoting towards volume and speed, it’s true that we all find something incredibly refreshing about work that feels personal and reflective. 

You can tell when someone has taken the time to understand the subject they’re writing about, when they’ve sat with the challenge or can explain their own personal story, and certainly when their conclusions come from real-world experience instead of scraped information from another website. In some fields that might not matter, for example a law firm isn’t going to promote their services based on the past cases they want to remain confidential about out of respect, but a pottery business is defined by the creations they make, not general platitudes generated by a GPT.

Trust & Timing Still Matter Most

AI can pretty much secure your tone, you’ll find it can generate arguments or hit all the marketing notes you need, and it may even create convincing scripts for videos or posts you’re putting together. That said, where timing is concerned, it can’t feel out a room, figure out whether it’s the right time to speak or the right time to hold back, and certainly not understand context of a cultural moment, or understand the specifics of your unique audience without being trained in a very deliberate and limited way to do so.

That means there’s still plenty of room to build relevance by being timely and thoughtful. Your competitors might flood their feed with material every hour, but a single well-chosen post that reflects something happening in your industry, in your community, or your business is much more pleasant and appropriate when it relates to something you’ve actually been speaking of. It’s a nice way to feel like an actual presence worth listening to as opposed to someone churning out, effectively what the youth of today called “AI slop.” If there’s ever been a time to convince your audience you’re a real firm with real values, it’s now.

With this advice, you’ll be much more able to curate a use of competitor AI and benefit from that. It’s not always easy to forgo some of the shortcuts, and you don’t have to think in binary “yes or no” terms, but at least this way you won’t be letting AI tools define you.