Google has begun rolling out an update to its search engine that could penalize some sites that use AI-automated copy.

Central in the search titan’s crosshairs: Web sites and other digital properties that appear to have used automation extensively to serve-up content on a wide variety of topics.

The upshot: If a digital property is found guilty of this ploy, it could be buried at the bottom of search engine returns for the primary keywords that the site uses to attract Web surfers.

Google estimates the roll-out of the update should be complete by early September.

Google issued a similarly chilling warning against automated writing earlier this year, flatly stating that it equates AI-generated writing with spam.

But there’s an enforcement problem.

Essentially, it’s not always easy for Google to distill the difference between AI-generated writing and good-old-fashioned, flesh-and-blood rendered copy.

It’ll be very interesting to see how hard the update hits users of automated writing.

In other AI-generated writing news:

*In-Depth Guide: Simplified: Writecream.com offers a mixed view of AI writer/content creator Simplified in this guide.

The product differs from most AI writers by also offering graphic creation tools for the AI writing it auto-generates.

Also innovative: Simplified incorporates Grammarly – one of the most popular writing assistants for spelling, grammar and writing style suggestions – as part of its automation mix.

But Writercream.com notes some features of Simplified can be difficult to locate.

And the content generated can be lacking.

*AI Writer Is Among Fastest Growing Companies: In yet another sign of the growing popularity of AI writing, AI writer Jasper was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of America’s fastest growing companies.

Says Dave Rogenmoser, CEO, Jasper: “We’re building what the people want – an assistant that can help you say it better wherever you are online.

“Soon, Jasper will be at your fingertips on every Web site you visit, helping you quickly craft the perfect message.

“There are some big product updates coming this fall we can’t wait for you to experience.”

*Cockroach in Love: AI’s Latest Movie Script: Leave it to AI to come up with one of its latest forays into scriptwriting – a cockroach love story.

The half-hour film is on view through the end of the year at an exhibition in New York City by the Asia Society.

Filmmaker Miao Ying says she used supercomputer-powered GPT-3 to auto-generate numerous portions of the script and “selected what made the most sense” from the AI generation to come up with the finished product.

*Automated Reporting: A Brand New Revenue Stream: What’s New in Publishing offers a gung-ho look at how publishers are using AI writing to cover sports, real estate sales, traffic incidents, company annual reports, weather, and more.

Says Helena Tell, an editor-in-chief at Swedish publishing house Bärgslagsbladet: “For a small newsroom, automation is necessary.

‘We’re forever prioritizing — and sometimes I feel all we ever do is choose not to cover things.

“If we can use technology and automation to perform tasks as well as we reporters would, there’s no doubt that’s what we should do.”

*AI Tool Auto-Transcribes Podcasts: While podcasts are often seen as the answer for people who don’t have time to read, AI tool Snipd does a full flip on that perception – offering complete transcriptions of podcasts to text.

Snipd will also auto-create and title instant chapters of a podcast for easier viewing.

And it also can automatically clip and collate a number of key moments for you from a number of podcasts that can be viewed as a highlight reel.

Says Kevin Smith, co-founder, Snipd: “We look at podcasts as one of the largest knowledge-bases in the world.”

*Chinese Social Media Giant Releases New Research on AI Writing: Social media powerhouse Tencent has new research out that some believe pushes the envelope on AI-assisted writing.

Tencent’s experimental tool, dubbed ‘Effidit,’ significantly expands the capabilities of typical AI writing assistants in five categories: text completion, error checking, text polishing, keywords to sentences, and cloud input methods, according to Synced.

Tencent’s academic paper on the experimental technology is available on Arxiv.

*Humans May Soon Need to Finesse SEO-Automated Copy: The torrents of search engine optimized copy currently being produced by AI may soon need a human touch, according to Chris Tweten.

CMO at Spacebar Collective, an SEO copywriting firm, Tweten believes it’s only a matter of time before Google finds a way to penalize AI automated content it deems mediocre and/or factually incorrect.

Observes Tweten: “Will Google penalize AI content?

‘Assuming people act as opportunistically as they have in the past — and assuming history repeats itself, as it often does — it’s extremely likely.

“If a large portion of the Internet becomes AI-generated and free from fact-checking, Google would be inclined to moderate search results for the greater good.

“This means that to avoid penalties, SEO specialists and founders alike will likely optimize their AI tools through collaboration with human editors and fact-checkers.”

*New AI Writing Assistant for Academics Released: Paperpal has released a new AI add-on for Microsoft Word specifically designed to edit academic writing.

Like many AI writing assistants, Paperpal leverages AI to suggest grammar, punctuation, style and readability changes as a user writes.

Says Nishchay Shah, chief technology officer, Paperpal: ‘The difference between Paperpal and a regular grammar tool is huge.

“It’s like the switch from submitting copy produced on a typewriter to using a word processor.

“There are lots of consumer tools that might flag a problem.

“But Paperpal will actually understand the topic you are writing about and make suggestions.”

*AI Big Picture: Quantum Computing and AI – Made for Each Other: if you think AI is cool, just wait until it’s combined with quantum computing, according to physicist Chisom Ndukwu.

Quantum computing will enable AI to operate at an even more powerful level, freeing it to be even better at finding and leveraging patterns and insights that are simply beyond the imagination of humans, according to Ndukwu.

In terms of specific, first-off-the-block applications headed our way, look for quantum/AI computers that will understand, interpret and ‘speak’ in multiple languages.

Observes Ndukwu: “The potential of quantum computing is limitless.

“But its integration into artificial intelligence will produce a technology that will be” more powerful than anything we have today.

Share a Link:  Please consider sharing a link to https://RobotWritersAI.com from your blog, social media post, publication or emails. More links leading to RobotWritersAI.com helps everyone interested in AI-generated writing.

–Joe Dysart is editor of RobotWritersAI.com and a tech journalist with 20+ years experience. His work has appeared in 150+ publications, including The New York Times and the Financial Times of London.