Let’s be clear from the outset: this blog was not written using Artificial Intelligence (AI), and I would not recommend that you use AI to produce your content, either.

AI has obviously exploded in popularity over the past couple of years, with creators extolling its benefits and critics focusing on its many drawbacks.

I’m not anti-AI by any means. I see lots of practical, timesaving uses for AI that could genuinely improve all our lives. No doubt you’ve implemented many of them in your business.

But when it comes to writing content that resonates with your audience, it simply isn’t the way forward with its current capabilities.

For that, you need humans who can write persuasive and compelling copy that engages a reader’s emotions and makes them think, “I need to ask my financial planner about that.” Up to now, in my view, AI simply isn’t able to do this.

To prove that AI isn’t yet the future of content, we need to go back to the past. So, come with me as we delve into the annals of history, back to a story that’s more than 900 years old.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then let us begin…

It was the year 1316. There’s speculation about the day and month, but for the sake of storytelling, let’s say that it was Christmas Day itself.

King Edward II, son of Edward I of England, sat atop the throne to which he had ascended just nine short years earlier.

The end of Edward’s reign is infamous for being rather tumultuous. He was forced to abdicate in 1327 in favour of his son, Edward III, and was murdered at Berkeley Castle later that year.

But before his untimely demise, he was relatively popular. Interestingly, he is also remembered as having had court favourites, of which two are most commonly cited. One was the Frenchman, Piers Gaveston, who was from a French province that no longer exists called Gascony.

The other – and this is where our story is really headed – was a young knight, nobleman, aristocrat and acrobat by the name of Sir John H. Backflip.

The first recorded backflip in history owes its name to young John

You would be forgiven for thinking that Sir John is just another victim of nominative determinism, with his acrobatic skillset conveniently aligning with his surname.

But this is no chicken-or-egg confusion. Instead, it is a simple case of etymology – Sir John’s surname is used for the backflip because he himself performed the first-ever recorded feat of somersaulting backwards.

Legend has it that when he wasn’t buffing his armour and plaiting his horse’s mane (or whatever else knights do), he would perform his acrobatic stunts for the king.

On that fateful Christmas in 1316, amid his regular routine that no doubt consisted of roly-polys and other moves learned in a proper English primary school, Sir John attempted his namesake move. The brave knight leapt backwards, rounded head over heels, and landed upright.

From this one act, the backflip was born.

They say that people from all over Europe came to see him perform the very stunt, naturally leading to copycats throughout the ages as the backflip spread far and wide across the land.

Every time you think of the incredible feats performed at the Olympics, spare a moment for John and his daring talent that started it all off.

And that is the tale of Sir John H. Backflip.

I have a confession to make…

Like most other reasonable people in the world, I am sure you reached the bottom of the story I have just told and thought, “Wait, what? There’s no way that’s true.”

That is indeed the appropriate response, because it is a load of absolute rubbish.

As a rational, intelligent human being, you can tell that this is farcical. It’s not unthinkable that Edward II would have had a knight or jester who he kept close by because he was a talented acrobat and could entertain the court for hours with his tomfoolery.

But, it seems stunningly unlikely that the first-recorded backflip was performed in 1316, more than 10,000 years into organised human civilisation.

Moreover, the notion that his surname was Backflip is…well, completely backwards. English names are more often than not drawn from occupations (Smith, Baker, Taylor, Wright, and so on) and not the other way around.

Furthermore, if it were a real surname, you would imagine that we would all know someone with it. I can’t speak for your friendship group, but none of my nearest and dearest share Sir John’s name.

A lesson in fact and fiction

Anyone could tell that the story I have transposed above is completely ridiculous and utterly false.

Well, not quite anyone.

Below is a screenshot I took from Google in October. Unfortunately, this little nugget no longer exists (I suspect the Google overlords found out about it and embarrassedly took it down), but trust me that this is real:

Google’s new in-built AI system genuinely, wholeheartedly reported that the first ever backflip was performed by the knight and acrobat, John Backflip.

This is, of course, not true. Indeed, as our friends at the Merriam-Webster dictionary explained when the story began to spread on social media:

Instead, Google’s AI bot took one look at this humorous answer written on Quora – by a human – and decided that it was the gospel truth:

You can’t trust Artificial Intelligence to make human-level inferences

And so, finally, we come back to my original point about the limitations of AI and what it has left to learn.

Don’t get me wrong, I am no Luddite. On the contrary, I see the immense value that AI can offer for all kinds of tasks, from recording Zoom calls and transcribing them, to being a virtual assistant for any other administrative task.

But writing content? Absolutely not. If AI can be duped into thinking that Sir John was the originator of the backflip, then how can you trust it to compose engaging, factually correct content to deliver to your clients?

Accuracy is the very basis of the content you send to your clients. Not only is there a regulatory compliance component to this, but more importantly, your clients look to you as a reputable and trustworthy source providing detailed and correct information.

Using AI to produce your content means running the risk that you do the opposite.

Need a team of humans to separate the fiction from the facts? We can help

That’s where we come in at Yardstick. Our team of (human) writers can produce engaging content that your clients want to read.

Crucially, we’re meticulous about fact-checking the work we provide, ensuring that it’s as technically accurate as we can possibly make it.

And, yes, the image attached to this blog is also AI-generated! You’ll forgive us on this occasion for emphasising our argument, but it really does prove the point: AI is not always the right tool for the job when you’re aiming for truth, accuracy, and authenticity.

So, the next time you’re thinking about using AI to produce the content you want to send, think about the story of Sir John H. Backflip, and then remember that we’re here to help.

Email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300 to find out more today.