The answer to that question is not will they be, but when, in my opinion. There are already applications which will provide a pretty well-written article with just a few questions and answers as their input – most people would be amazed to see what they can do. Take a look at reviews of Copy.ai or Copysmith for example.
Remember that we’re only in early days too. So while it’s still quite easy to criticise the output from these applications, that’ll become increasingly less the case. And I’d argue that even now, they can come up with something as good as much of the stuff we see in everyday business life.
I gave Copysmith the title at the top of this blog (nothing more) and asked it to write some introductions to an article with that title, in a friendly style. It offered:
“No one wants to lose their job, and for technical writers, the prospect of being replaced by AI isn’t far-fetched. Fortunately, there is a more positive way to look at this — as a means to create an even better user experience for your audience. AI will help technical writers focus their skills on more difficult tasks such as strategy and analysis, and put their time to better use.”
…or
“Technical writers have existed for as long as there have been complex machines. Historically, they’ve been tasked with creating documentation for everything from sewing machines to fighter jets. In recent years, however, the rise of artificial intelligence has led some industry experts to question whether technical writers will eventually be out of a job.”
…or
“A recent discussion in my LinkedIn group got me thinking about this question. I mean, technically everything on the web can be written (and has been written) by a computer or software. But is that how we want content on the web to be? Humans are hu-MAN not human. So is there a future for us technical writers? I’d love to know your thoughts!”
…or several others. But you get the point. I may use one of these AI services to write a blog post in the next few days. See if you notice. Or then again, maybe I won’t. Who’ll know?