4 Steps to Take to Ensure the Accuracy of Your AI Content

Whether or not we realize it now, Generative AI is all around us. It can take the form of a social media caption, the music in the background of a television commercial, the images that accompany a magazine article, and even the response we get from the chat feature on a retailer’s website. Put simply, it’s more commonplace than ever before.

For PR professionals, using Generative AI platforms like Propel PRM, ClickUp and Open AI can help support our own ideas, strategies and creativity. When used correctly, these resources can provide new ideas for a media pitch, build the foundation for a feature article, process audience data or help us craft the narrative for a campaign. 

But like any emerging technology, Generative AI has its own limitations. It’s new and ever-evolving, and its accuracy is never guaranteed. Blindly trusting its output could result in the spread of inaccurate data and embarrassing mistakes, which in turn erodes trust and can damage reputations. 

For this reason, large corporations, universities and other organizations are working to put safeguards in place to check (and double-check) AI output, and now the PR profession is offering its own guidelines as well. 

1. Look at the source material.

The information that an AI tool uses to generate content should come from a trusted author or source — not another AI source. Check the source material to see if an author and/or a credible publication is listed. Also, be sure to look at the date of the original material to make sure it’s recent.

2. Fact-check everything.

Any information you pull or content you create using Generative AI should be thoroughly fact-checked before it’s used in your work. From numbers and names to dates and other historical data, AI is only as good as its sources and needs human eyes to ensure that the facts it shares are actually, well, facts. While simple Google searches can help, you can also use tools like Google Fact Check Explorer and PolitiFact.

3. Proofread.

Just like humans, AI content is fallible when it comes to misspellings, grammatical errors, and incorrect or confusing wording. Take the time to thoroughly proofread any AI-generated content, using tools like Grammarly for extra support. While you’re reviewing the content, this is a great opportunity to confirm that it aligns with your voice or the voice of your client, making edits and revising sentences as needed. 

4. Trust your gut.

As a PR professional, you have an eye for quality content. And as a human being, you view content in a way that an AI bot never will. When you’re reading through the data or writing produced by a Generative AI platform, trust any uncertainty or uneasiness you feel, and do your due diligence to check the work. 

Our work requires us to constantly think creatively, in new ways with new perspectives. Generative AI can help us do that while working more efficiently, but taking the time to fact-check and ensure its accuracy is an essential step. 

By having the final word on the content that you create, you’ll preserve trust with your clients and your audience, and solidify our own reputation as a purveyor of quality ideas and content.