Seen by many as both a promise and a threat, the increasingly powerful capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming pervasive and impossible to ignore. While the full implications of this new technology have yet to be realized, changes to policy and procedure are already well underway in nearly every modern industry, including automotive search engine optimization (SEO), which is what we specialize in here at Wikimotive.
Regardless of how anyone feels about it, AI is here to stay, and in order to best use it to our advantage, we first have to understand exactly what it is, what it can do, and what that may mean for the future.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial intelligence language models are programs that have some ability to understand and simulate human intelligence. Within this space of AI, there are a few categories, each of which demonstrates different capabilities:
- Reactive AI works and responds based on data in its system. This type of AI does not have the ability to infer from or hold onto past information and interactions.
- Limited Memory AI operates based on its internal data and has the ability to study past data to inform decisions and actions for better outputs. Limited Memory AI gets smarter over time as it continues to learn.
- Theory of Mind AI focuses on emotional intelligence in order to best understand the human thought process. While not currently active in the world of AI, Theory of Mind models would have the ability to understand mental states based on scenarios and develop human-like qualities, such as empathy.
- Self-Aware AI is also not currently active in our technological world. If and when it is, though, it will be designed to have a sense of self and a true ability to understand its own existence.
The different levels of artificial intelligence are much like the stages of human development. As we grow, we gain the ability to move on from simple reactionary responses to more thoughtful and empathetic ones, taking our past experiences into account. Artificial intelligence is simply an imitation of human thought, becoming more closely aligned to what we would consider adult capabilities as the technology continues to develop.
To best understand how we may reach those levels of artificial intelligence and how we got to where we are now, it’s important to know how AI came about.
The Growth of AI
Rudimentary Beginnings
The field of AI can trace its roots back to the 1950s when researchers first began experimenting with the idea of using simple computers to mimic human intelligence. In those days, there were no large language models or neural networks. In fact, the earliest examples of AI had almost nothing to do with human language. They were simple programs designed to solve math equations or play games of strategy like chess based on logic, rules, and formulas. While these were huge technological advancements for the time, the results were often unreliable or inaccurate, and the models were limited to only the most basic tasks.
Integration with Our Lives
As the years go on, technology has continued to improve at exponential rates, spurring the parallel growth of AI. As data storage becomes cheaper and computers become smaller, it has become more and more economical to integrate some forms of AI into our daily lives. In fact, much of this integration has happened so subtly that we often don’t recognize how ubiquitous it has become. From the grammar-checking software on our computers to the increasingly sophisticated ways Google finds and serves the search results you need, AI is everywhere—powering the tools and platforms that we interact with on a daily basis.
Large Language Models
While the sudden explosion of AI to the forefront of our consciousness and discourse can feel shocking, it’s important to remember that many of the tools we are now able to access (such as Google’s Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT) are merely extensions of those we’ve already been interacting with through various platforms. Of course, there are some major developments and differences—this is the first time the public has had such broad access to interact with AI directly, allowing the average person to experiment and see what it can do outside of a purpose-driven app or tool.
It’s also the first time the technology has been advanced enough to make this kind of interaction possible. Scientists and developers have worked for decades to create these large language models that can now learn from themselves while drawing on vast amounts of data and written works to interpret and deliver the results of non-coded human language requests.
The Power of AI in Today’s World
The result of the AI advances made over the last few decades is a system of technology that is more powerful than ever and incredibly versatile. Across a multitude of industries, AI can be used as a faster, cheaper, and sometimes more accurate alternative to many things we already do. Over the last couple of years, we have even seen the capabilities of AI turn into life-saving measures as it has performed medical procedures and helped to make in-depth surgeries more precise. It goes without saying that that is truly impressive.
AI isn’t only being utilized in professional settings, though. This technology now goes beyond the workplace and has taken a seat in many people’s day-to-day lives. From the voice assistants on smartphones, which can be prompted as easily as saying “Hey Siri” or “Hey Google,” to the use of self-driving cars, the modern world has a lot of AI built into it, and it continues to grow every day.
With the pervasiveness of AI in our world, it’s hard to imagine how one would avoid adding it to their toolkit, be it individual or professional. This technology is something to be embraced, not avoided. As made evident by its use in the medical industry and many others, as well as the conveniences it places at everyone’s fingertips, AI has the ability to improve and bolster many areas of life and business—including what we do here at Wikimotive: SEO.
The Power–and Pitfalls–of AI in Today’s SEO
The Power
Just like in other industries, our SEO specialists have been experimenting with the new and improved capabilities of AI, learning how best to harness them. In many ways, AI is helping to make the work of SEO faster, more efficient, and more nuanced. Large language models can support content marketing by generating ideas for your website (or proofreading content that’s already been written), writing or checking code for developers, and automating time-consuming tasks like data analysis.
AI is also changing the way that SEO specialists approach complex and time-consuming projects like keyword research. Rather than manually developing lists of keywords or poring over pages of search results on Google to identify search intent, these tasks can be outsourced to AI. From a single prompt, AI can create an entire table of keywords, clustered by topic or search intent, complete with viable article topics for each. The value of this work cannot be overstated: as a brainstorming and time-saving tool, the advances of AI are making the world of SEO faster and more methodical every day.
The Pitfalls
While impressive, there are also risks associated with AI and its newfound capabilities. Because large language models are trained on text written by actual humans—from books to online content—they are subject to the same biases as the authors of these sources. Scientists are working to remove those biases every day, but they will likely always persist to some degree.
AI models can also simply get things wrong: their language comprehension and generation are based on a sophisticated predictive algorithm, not a genuine understanding of the topic at hand. There is no true creativity or independence in its work; AI can’t make judgment calls or develop unique viewpoints.
And even as AI continues to advance and produce remarkably natural-sounding language, search engines and real users still want genuine human-written content. Precisely because it’s not human, AI content will never meet Google’s standards for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. So while AI can be useful for outline creation or topic brainstorming, tread carefully: engage critically with what’s being produced and always make it your own.
The Future of AI
The use of artificial intelligence in industries around the world is increasing as quickly as technology advances. To some, this pace may seem frightening, threatening, or unnatural, while others find it inspiring or empowering. The fact is that AI has a remarkable potential to transform the way we, as humans, work and live with technology.
Nonetheless, it’s important to remember that the emphasis will always be on working with technology as humans. Despite alarmist claims to the contrary, AI is no replacement for human intelligence, ingenuity, and creativity. The best uses of AI will always be where it operates with careful instruction and oversight from humans, and nowhere is this more true than in the realm of search engine optimization.
In many ways, SEO is the perfect case study for the benefits of humans and AI working together. Effective practices like local SEO require a deep and broad understanding of search data and patterns, which AI is very good at identifying and distilling. But good SEO also requires the synthesis of this information with a genuine understanding of how the human mind works, as well as excellent judgment and creativity when executing strategy on a larger scale. These are things that AI simply cannot provide.
Wikimotive is Your AI and SEO Partner
At Wikimotive, we pride ourselves on our years of human knowledge and experience with SEO. We have the necessary foundation in the industry to understand what is coming next and are committed to working with new technology without compromising our high standards and core values; we are unapologetically human.
So if you want to work with a team that not only embraces the future but can guide your dealership through it as well, give us a call today. We’ll give you a free audit of your website, talk about your goals, and answer any questions you may have. The sooner we start, the sooner you can crush your competition.