What’s the Future of Blogging After AI? (Dead or Alive in 2024)

“Forget Writers’ Block – The Pen is Now in the Machine’s Hand”

Imagine that’s the centerfold headline you see when logging in to your favorite news website.

If you’re in the blogging business, this headline sends shivers down your spine and causes you to rethink your life choices. OK, maybe that’s a little overdramatic.

However, we live in a pretty interesting time. A time when a machine’s ability to ‘think, learn, and create’ is accelerating very fast.

With this in mind, is blogging as we know it dead in this AI era? Or is it just a matter of changing how we do things?

In this post, I’ll explore these questions in more detail and explain how I see the AI blogging world developing. If you currently run a blog or are planning to start one, this post is definitely one to read as it might directly influence how you do things.

AI’s Impact on Blogging

Let’s first look at how AI impacts blogging and consider these questions:

• Can I use AI for blogging?
• Is blogging dead?
• Can blog posts be written using bots from start to finish or is this not a possibility (right now)?
• And even if it is, should AI generated content be something you use?

These are some of the questions I encountered while researching this article. And to be honest, they’re all very valid questions.

AI vs. Human

In my experience, there’s a lot that AI can do in the world of blogging.

For example, using AI to come up with article outlines is an excellent use of this technology. Another use of AI is ensuring your articles are SEO-optimized and target the right NLP keywords.

Note: NLP = natural language processing.

This term refers to words that are commonly used in search engines or by users while searching for content online. For example, in this article dealing with the ‘AI blogging’, some NLP keywords include ‘Automated Editing’, ‘Sentiment Analysis’, and ‘Content Generation’.

It’s tough for a blog writer to consider all the words they should include in a blog post without the help of AI tools like Surfer SEO.

At this stage, you might be thinking: “The future of blogging seems pretty bleak for people”.

However, it’s not necessarily the case.

AI can’t really personalize content for individual readers. It doesn’t know what their interests and preferences are. It also can’t dig deep into their dreams and desires – not as well as an industry expert can anyway.

While it can guide the (human) writer and give clues on these various aspects, the writer’s experience will be the differentiating factor between a good and a bad article.

The authority flywheel is a concept we teach in our Blog Growth Engine course. It’s the way we teach our students to pick their blogging niche.

The flywheel depends on:

• You
• Your expertise
• Your market
• Your advantages

The same concept applies to every blog post you write. These factors aren’t something an AI tool can replicate because they’re all about you the blogger.

And that is why you won’t be replaced anytime soon.

To sum up this section, AI’s impact on blogging is huge. However, it’s not the case that human writers aren’t needed anymore.

At the same time, if you’re saying no to AI, I think you’re in trouble. You’ll find it difficult to compete against the writer who uses this tech to their advantage.

On the other hand, if you’re a writer who only uses AI to write content, you really have nothing to offer. Your content could be created by anyone on the internet.

Consider this point: people buy from people (or brands) they know, like and trust. And if your content doesn’t have any of these factors (i.e., human aspect) to it, there’s no reason for people to be loyal to your content, products, or services.

Storytelling In Content Creation

Let’s consider another aspect of blogging – storytelling.

Imagine I start a blog post as follows:

“It was the middle of the night and the rain was pouring down. As I huddled under my umbrella, I couldn’t help but feel terrified. I had just received a call from my best friend’s wife, informing me that he had been in a car accident and was now fighting for his life in the hospital. And that is exactly how I started my journey into becoming a life coach.”

Now, compare that to starting a blog post with:

“Hi everyone, in this blog post I will be discussing the benefits of hiring a life coach and how it can improve your overall well-being.”

Which one captures your attention more?

The first one draws you into the story and creates an emotional connection. People are naturally drawn to personal stories because they can relate to them. They also become invested in what happens next.

And this is exactly what a great blog post should do.

I feel that the right AI usage will help bloggers tell better stories. Stories are at the heart of everything humans do. They’re the way knowledge was passed on in old times. Now, it’s a way to stop people scrolling and get them to listen up.

In a world where attention spans are at an all-time low, the right story will resonate with people and help them understand the value you offer.

As a blogger, using AI to develop storylines, hooks, and compelling content is crucial.

While you could sit down and brainstorm ideas and storylines to use, doing so alone takes too much time. You’ll be at a disadvantage compared to the writer who uses AI to help brainstorm the right stories to tell.

Examples of brands that have built up great businesses around their story include:

• Airbnb – telling the story of the great experience you’ll have when using their services
• Warby Parker – They prioritize sharing their stories, going beyond the aesthetics of their glasses to shed light on how they are designed and manufactured.
• Goodlifefitness – launched several successful campaigns that showcase individuals from all walks of life, highlighting the everyday heroes in people’s lives.

Source: goodlifefitness.com

This may all sound great, but what are some great stories you can use as a blogger?

Here are some of the most popular storylines you can use in various situations:

• Hero’s Journey
• Coming of Age
• Rags to Riches
• Underdog
• Quest
• Sacrifice
• Mystery
• Betrayal

You can read more about these storylines in the 100 timeless plot archetypes.

The type of storyline you use will depend on your blog’s niche. However, with a little thought there’s always a way to incorporate a story in your content.

Source: fictionwritingwithai.substack.com

Content Monetization Strategies

A big part of blogging is the business aspect. If you’re not making money from your content, you don’t have a business – you have a writing hobby.

So, how does AI impact this blogging aspect? With AI, you facilitate the process of making money – beyond traditional ads in multiple ways.

Here are some ideas.

Sponsorships

As you publish more content with the help of AI, you can either:

• Reach out to brands and ask if they’re interested in sponsoring your blog/specific posts
• (Even better) Brands will reach out to you and make the ask themselves

The bigger you get, the less you’ll have to do of the first. Also, more of the second will happen.

Said differently, you increase the chances of finding blog sponsorships with higher-quality content.

Affiliate Marketing

Another way we monetize our blog at AdamEnfroy.com is through affiliate marketing. With content focused on informational and transactional keywords, the opportunities for affiliate marketing income are vast.

We make an affiliate commission when we create content around the “best x” keyword and site visitors click on our links and buy.

There are many ways to use AI affiliate marketing tools to help. Firstly, these tools help with product research.

Understanding what a product does, the pain points it solves, and which type of customers it can help took hours to complete. Now, AI can do the job faster.

AI can also help outline the content itself. Then, a human writer can create the blog draft based on this initial outline.

Finally, AI can review the draft and find any content gaps we might have missed. We can then repeat the process for as long as needed.

Choosing high paying affiliate marketing products is important in this type of marketing. It results in making more money with the same amount of work.

Digital Products

If we discover our target audience can benefit from specific types of information, AI can also help create an outline for a new digital product.

We then use our expertise to create these products and market them to our audience.

Again, notice that we’re working with AI to make the magic happen.

Whether creating content for blogs, digital products, or online courses, this collaborative work is crucial.

Opportunities For Bloggers

Let’s again address the elephant in the room. You might be thinking that the future of blogging isn’t looking too bright. Does it even make sense to start or keep going with your blog?

The answer is a big definitive yes – but ONLY if you know what you’re doing.

There’s never been a better time for a blogger to leverage AI to make the most of the current opportunities.

If you focus on your human strengths there are more opportunities than ever before.

Strengths like:

• personal touch
• community building and
• speaking about your own experiences

…are crucial.

Let’s explore two important concepts (that directly tie in with blogging opportunities) and then I’ll get into the opportunities themselves.

Authenticity And Transparency

There’s never been a better time to lean into these two qualities that allow you to be yourself.

In a world that’s full of social media filters and people trying only to show their best side, it pays to be authentic.

Being authentic and transparent with the good and the bad while adding your own expertise to any topic is not only a good idea. It’s the only way to stand out.

Let’s say you run a blog about self-development. Speaking about your story and the (potentially negative) aspects that made you start your blog is not something any AI can take from you.

People in the same (or similar) situation can easily become your #1 fans because they resonate with what you say. And that’s where your authenticity will help you shine through.

Integrating Social Media Platforms, YouTube And Blogging

A big opportunity I see for bloggers in this AI-filled world is the ability to build up their social media, YouTube, and blogging presence.

Now, I understand that some people are more comfortable behind a keyboard. That might be the main reason why having a blog is enticing. Some people’s introverted nature makes them more inclined to write stuff – rather than switch on their cameras and show their faces.

I get that… because I was that person for many years.

However, just hear me out for a second.

When you overcome your initial fear of being on camera and start producing online videos (and to an extent, social media posts), you probably won’t be great at it.

Again, I speak about this based on my own experience.

I didn’t like the way I looked and sounded on camera. It took a lot of effort (and recording videos) to overcome the initial resistance.

However, about 2 years after I started my channel, I now have more than 175,000 YouTube subscribers and release new videos every week.

Once I decided to learn how to be good on camera, my YouTube business started taking off.

I wasn’t unique or “born with any special talents”. I simply made the decision and followed through

The great news is that now I use AI to help me scale my YouTube business (and so can you). I brainstorm ideas, organize what I want to speak about, and even find external references to help prove specific points.

Just like blogging, I add my twist to my YouTube videos to make them personalized and best suited to my audience.

This is also another key point. AI can help you find where your audience “lives”.

If you’re targeting mums, Pinterest + blogging might be your best combo. If you’re targeting gamers, YouTube might do the trick.

But what about social media?

Again, AI provides plenty of opportunities to create more and better content.

In my case, I use my Instagram profile to post business stuff. I also post personal stuff from time to time.

You can use AI in multiple ways to help with your Instagram growth (or any other social media channel).

Some examples:

• brainstorming photo opportunities
• getting caption ideas
• coming up with ways to reuse posts that get lots of user engagement

Remember that when you’re on more platforms where people can find you, the chances of them finding you increase (duh).

While most would agree with this statement, only a few people are omnipresent.

And this is a pity, considering how easy it is to repurpose content for different social platforms.

Selling Services As A Blogger

One of the best ways to start making money as a blogger is to sell online services.

Your blog can serve as the best portfolio you can create, showing potential clients proof of service through actually doing the work.

You can then find clients that you can help.

For example, creating a blog post for a client versus creating one for your blog is pretty much the same process.

You can do the same with email newsletters, website copy, etc.

The same applies to selling services like:

• SEO optimization
• keyword research
• keyword planning
• content calendar building.

You can apply the same ideas to social media management, YouTube video creation, and more.

There’s even better news.

You can use AI to your advantage to work with more clients while providing higher-quality work.

As you improve at what you do, you can also consult and coach clients needing specific advice. In other words, doing the manual work yourself is not always required.

Think about it this way.

Offering your services means you’ll start making an income faster than you would by creating your own blog posts. It takes time to rank these articles and monetize them.

By speeding up the money-making process, you’ll have the funds to invest in your blog, hire team members, and more.

My AI Blogging Stack

Let’s now turn practical and discuss the tools you can use to make blogging easier. Note that these tools are what I use. I encourage you to do your research before investing in any of them.

Before

Before starting to write blog posts, you need to develop a plan.

First, I use a tool like Ahrefs to create broad content ideas. I look at the search volume and keyword difficulty of keywords within the main niches I write about.

Researching and writing content about niches I know nothing about doesn’t make sense.

For example, while there might be easy keywords I could rank for in the gardening niche, it’s not within my area of expertise.

After I have a broad idea of keywords I could go for, I then like to use tools like ChatGPT to expand on the keywords. Getting ideas from various sources increases the amount of options I have.

It also makes eliminating the ones that don’t make sense easier.

Next up, you could use any AI writing tool to come up with an article outline. As I’ve mentioned before, remember to add your own expertise to this outline.

Why? Firstly, it will make writing and editing the article easier. The more accurate you get at this stage, the easier it becomes in the later ones.

Moreover, many AI tools do not get to the point quickly when generating article outlines.

For example, many tools will get into the “history of X” (with X being your chosen keyword), rather than getting into engaging content.

This might have been the way to do it 10 years ago. However, in a world (where the average person’s attention span is less than a goldfish), you need to provide value – and do it quickly.

During

This is where the human element is most important.

We value the writing voice we use, the tone, writing style and much more

Within my team, we don’t use AI content tools at this stage. This is where “the human brain” takes over and creates the best articles possible.

My team writes, proofreads, adds links, and more.

In our Blog Growth Engine course, we go into detail about how we do this in what we call our content assembly line.

After

This is where polishing the blog post article is important.

First, we use Surfer SEO to include the right keywords in the article. These are the keywords that will help us rank on Google for any given search term. At the same time, we don’t over-optimize our articles.

“Keyword stuffing” is a practice we stay as far away as possible. Considering recent Google updates (such as the Helpful Content Update), we use AI SEO tools to help make our articles better. We don’t “let” these tools take over the writing process.

We also use AI tools like Grammarly to ensure our articles are free of spelling and grammatical errors. These errors show a lack of professionalism if left unchecked.

As with Surfer SEO, we don’t want to ‘over-correct our articles’.

Grammarly sometimes makes suggestions that, while correct, would make our articles sound like something we wouldn’t say.

This isn’t necessarily a good thing. As a team, we like to keep in perspective when considering Grammarly’s suggestions.

Practical Tips To Become A Thriving Blogger

Here are some final tips to become a thriving blogger (you can use these now and in the future).

Embrace AI As A Collaborator, Not A Competitor

Using AI tools to research your ideas is great. This process ensures it makes sense to dive deeper into specific ones.

Using the right tools also helps with research, outline creation, and data analysis.

At the same time, be aware of what AI can and cannot do. Right now (and in the near future) I don’t think AI can do a better job than someone who has ‘lived the experience’ and is writing about it.

If/when that happens, there would be no use for human writers. This would spell bad news for all of us.

The good news is that there are a lot of uses for AI tools. For example, there are lots of tools to help market your business.

If you publish social media content based on blog posts you create, many tools help with scheduling. These tools analyze the best times to post based on your audience engagement.

They can also help ensure publication consistency without you being at your computer to push the publish button.

Moreover, many of these tools can help you understand your audience better. Business owners used to pay lots of money for data analysis.

Now, AI can analyze the most essential data points and provide suggestions to optimize your business.

And when you need to make the right decisions, these data points help provide a clear picture.

Learn And Adapt

The world of AI blogging moves fast.

Stay on top of things and learn about new developments. This can make your blogging journey easier.

I also suggest not only keeping an eye out for what’s happening in the blogging industry. Sometimes, ideas in other sectors can quickly transfer to blogging with some adjustment.

However, you can only figure this out if you don’t close off these possibilities.

Experiment With Different Content Formats

It’s easy to experiment with different content formats. The upside is that you learn something new about your audience. If things don’t work out, you won’t have wasted too much time anyway.

What does this look like in practice?

If you’ve only created long-form content focused on transactional keywords before, why not try more informational posts? These posts could include more infographics, how-to guides, or listicles.

Unless you try, you won’t know if your audience might resonate with something different.

Speaking of trying new things, I also asked you to keep an open mind regarding formats like video marketing.

Using AI, you can add multiple dimensions to your business. These dimensions weren’t possible before so I encourage you to explore them.

Network With Other Bloggers

Fully building relationships using AI tools isn’t something that you can do.

You don’t want to create robotic-sounding content when reaching out to people.

However, AI can also help add substance to anything you produce. If you want to respond to another blogger’s call for help on social media, you can ‘discuss’ potential solutions with an AI chatbot as a way of brainstorming.

You can then use your expertise to focus on the best ideas and offer these as suggestions.

Again, the message is clear: use AI as your assistant, but never entirely rely on it. Take it for what it is and utilize it to help you create better content.

Conclusion

AI doesn’t have to spell the end of the blogging landscape.

It’s more about collaborating and using its strengths to get better at the content you produce.

For those willing to learn, adapt and innovate, the future looks bright. After all, the essence of blogging and sharing our human experiences remains the same.

While the “pen might be in the hand of the machine”, it’s still guided by the human mind.

Further reading on AdamEnfroy.com: If you’re looking for a more practical article, here’s how to make money with ChatGPT.

You can also read about using AI art to make money.

Finally, if you want to learn how to start your WordPress blog this year, here’s my complete guide on how to do so: