Quality content can be automated now

Pretty soon most technology companies will fully automate content creation, and it will be indistinguishable from all the human-written content they have produced in previous years.

(People who disagree with this tend to a) under-value the current capabilities of generative AI and b) over-value the quality of the average company’s marketing)

Many of the limitations that have prevented “quality” content automation are eroding. It’s now easier for non-technical people to:

  • Chain multiple LLM processes together into one continuous workflow,
  • Provide fairly rigid guardrails to avoid much of the probabilistic “wobble” we see when LLMs usually try to follow processes,
  • Integrate AI into existing workflows across other tools and locations,
  • Ground content in bodies of research, in samples of existing writing, tone of voice, brand guidelines.

I’m not attempting to scare-monger, simply trying to share the reality I see unfolding right at this moment. Scary though this may be, you are not powerless!

In the SHORT-TERM, there will be huge demand for writers with good taste and editorial judgement AND the ability to build content creation pipelines with Claude Code or Codex, write SKILL.md files, use MCPs from Ahrefs, Figma, Linear, etc. Start playing: it is useful and fun in equal measure.

In the LONG-TERM, we will continue to see AI platforms democratize access to all of this amazing functionality. The skills of the “content engineer” will become just another workflow in every major LLM platform. Content automation will become completely tablestakes, unremarkable, and ineffective. There will be huge demand for marketers with a personal brand, with an engaged audience, with spiky opinions, with authority in a given field: influencers, creators, thought leaders.

Crucially, consumer demand will continue to exist, marketing will continue to exist, and yes, CONTENT MARKETING will continue to exist. Content remains the single most important medium for influencing traditional and AI search.

But crucially, the unit economics, processes, mediums, and performance expectations of content will change radically. What worked previously will be little guide for what works in the future. The onus is on you to start experimenting and porting your very valuable skills into a new, more valuable format :)