47% of people report not seeing any speed gains when using AI for writing. They’re still spending the same amount of time working as before — and in some cases, AI is making these writers slower.

But wait a minute — how can this be the case? We’ve all seen AI spit out content and it’s borderline instantaneous, isn’t it?

No process, big problems

Here’s the issue: while AI can generate text on a page quickly, that text isn’t always usable for your intended purpose. When people sit down to write content with an AI tool, the AI is simply speeding up parts of their existing workflow.

AI won’t turn you into a novelist or journalist overnight. You’re naturally going to bring your existing mindset, processes, and ideas to the AI … and then the tech will speedrun through those elements.

All this means is that if there’s a problem or inefficiency in your process, the AI is just helping you get to that point faster. It’s not negating the issues.

Sometimes, AI even creates more issues in the long run.

How are real people using AI to write website content?

I’m not being a cynical naysayer here — I ran a survey of over 100 professionals in the U.S. to find out what tools they used to create content, how they created that content, and how quickly they could work.

What I found was that:

• 47% of people aren’t seeing speed gains when writing with AI vs. without it.
• 21% of people spend two or more full workdays trying to create content with AI.
• 42% of people skip any sort of manual editing process and go right from prompt to publish when generating AI content.
• 50% of the people who skip editing AI content still spend at least one full workday coaxing usable content out of the tool.

If you don’t know how to structure your blog posts or articles, you’re dealing with an AI that’s making up factually inaccurate statements, and getting the right tone is a problem, well, the AI experience is going to be rough.

Only 26% of people surveyed reported a “much faster” writing process when using AI.

So what’s the solution for low productivity when writing with AI?

The solution is to actually take a step back from AI. Frustrating, I know, especially when you’ve spent money to get the AI tools and licenses in the first place. But without getting a solid system in place for:

• What you need to write
• How you’re going to structure it
• What your brand voice sounds like
• What data points must be included

Then you’re more likely to run the risk of spending more, not less, time trying to coax content out of an AI tool.

Check out my full report on AI and content production timelines for more.

Waiting on the Robots to Write was originally published in Stress-Free SEO on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.