WordPress has announced a proprietary AI-powered writing assistant to help users create and edit blog posts. The new tool, called Jetpack AI Assistant, is now readily available on WordPress.com and seamlessly integrates into the editor interface.
The assistant is the work of Automattic, the company that owns WordPress.com and contributes to the development of the open-source WordPress platform. Automattic describes the tool as a “creative writing partner” that lets users “generate diverse content at your command, significantly reducing the time and effort required in content creation.”
WordPress’s introduction of this generative AI feature seems well aligned with the prevailing trend of companies embracing AI-powered assistants for business automation and content creation. Notably, OpenAI’s AI models have quickly gained adoption by various companies, including Grammarly Inc.’s GrammarlyGo and Microsoft Corp.’s Office365 products, such as Word.
Demos show the tool being used to summarize a blog post in a headline, adjust the tone of text (users can choose between options including “formal,” “provocative,” and “humorous”) and even generate an entire blog post from a single prompt: “Write a list of Tokyo’s must-visit destinations, and give me a table with exchange rated from JPY to USD and Euro.” Automattic says the tool can also correct spelling and grammar and translate between 12 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Hindi.
Although the feature is a logical launch for Automattic, which draws users to WordPress.com by adding extra features for things like security and support, it’s hard not to also see the harmful effects such a feature will likely have. Copywriters are already losing work as clients switch to generative AI tools like ChatGPT, and many worry about the web being lost in a tsunami of low-grade AI-generated spam. Generative AI tools are notoriously inaccurate, and the default copy they produce is often bland or out of date.
Indeed, in Automattic’s own demo, you can see that the exchange rates it provides for a trip to Japan are from August 2021. (This date is the cutoff for information available to ChatGPT, though Automattic doesn’t say what software it’s using to power the tool.)
