Artificial intelligence is changing our work routines. Working with websites will also change. There will be even more scams; today, it is easier than ever to generate an entire website at the touch of a button. But of course, you can also do useful things with AI support.
LLMs (large language models) are commonly used on websites. This is a (sub)form of AI that can handle language. This means that someone asks a question and the LLM system searches for something suitable from the information it has been trained with and uses it to generate a response.
Many routine processes can be made more efficient with LLMs.
- Automatically generate product descriptions in a shop
- Automatically generate ALT text for images or subtitles for videos
- Optimize content for specific search engine keywords
- Have texts read aloud
- Translate content
- Write content
- Create images
AI plugins for WordPress
In the WordPress repository, you can currently find many offerings under the keyword AI that deal with chatbots, SEO optimization, and text creation. The plugins bring the major AI engines (e.g., OpenAI, Google, Microsoft) into the WordPress backend. You can then use the AI tools directly from the WordPress backend. There are plugins that deal with individual aspects such as SEO, ALT texts, or product descriptions. Others deal with multiple use cases.
The services that perform the AI work are connected via an interface (API). To use the services, you need corresponding accounts with the providers. Without a paid account, you usually won’t get very far.
Where is this journey headed?
Small everyday helpers like ChatGPT are just the beginning. Much remains to be seen, and only time will tell in which direction things will develop. But the topic of AI is here to stay, and it will change the way we interact with the web.
AI can perform repetitive and uniform tasks faster and cheaper than humans. You will be able to generate any amount of code, layouts, and text without any special knowledge. Increasingly complex processes can be automated.
When it comes to automated processes, I am always a little skeptical. It always sounds great—who wouldn’t want to get rid of tedious tasks? One sticking point is that such processes need to be controlled. The time saved through automation should not exceed the effort required for proofreading and correction.
Search engines will change
When you type a search query into Google, there still appears a list of websites. But at the very top, now an AI summary is displayed. For many queries, this snippet of text already answers all questions, which means that people are less likely to click on one of the links in the list below.
This has already led to complaints as traffic to many websites has declined. Since the first page of search results usually mostly consists of paid ads, this is naturally a somewhat delicate problem for Google.
It is unclear what impact AI summaries will have in general. In any case, search results have long since ceased to be selected based on relevance, despite Google’s claims to the contrary. A search query would have to be very niche for this principle to apply. I suspect that AI summaries will only bring about a gradual change in this regard.
It is certainly interesting for search engine optimization (SEO) that people are increasingly phrasing their search queries as questions. Two years ago, if you simply entered the keywords “turf, Munich” into the search box, today’s search query might be “Who can lay turf for me in Munich? Find me the contact details.” With a certain degree of probability, the website will then appear in the AI summary that has already pre-formulated this exact question in its content.
New WordPress-Team
Incidentally, a new team was formed within the WordPress project in June 2025 to deal with the topic of AI. Here is Rae Morey’s assessment in The Repository: The Repository: WordPress Has a New AI Team. Here’s What They’re Planning to Do.
The announcements are still quite vague and there is no roadmap yet, but I think the goal will be to tap into the potential of the open source WordPress system for AI. Open source systems have an open and easily accessible structure; they communicate with all conceivable external data sources via interfaces. For companies, this would mean, for example, that systems that handle customer data, marketing, and sales could actively work together. CRM, analytics, email, marketing, and websites would network with each other and carry out tasks and actions independently.
It doesn’t happen all by itself
A funny image effect can be created quickly, and ChatGPT generates some kind of text from every prompt. But the very quick results are not really useful in a business environment. If you want good results, you have to invest time.
A chatbot designed to answer questions about a product must be well implemented and trained. Otherwise, no one will enjoy using it. We all know how frustrating it is to interact with a disoriented chatbot.
Creating high-quality texts requires well-thought-out prompts and numerous rounds of revision to refine and elaborate on the results. Plus, you should thoroughly check all the facts at the end to make sure the texts don’t contain any nonsense.
When you have a layout built, you should define the requirements precisely beforehand. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a design that looks fancy but leads to a dead end after a few clicks.
AI tools can accomplish a great deal. However, the quality of the results is not always satisfactory. A text may not get to the point, an image may contain irritating errors, and a code snippet may generate a cascade of error messages and paralyze the entire system.
One does not need a great deal of prior knowledge to place an order. However, one needs all the more when it comes to checking and correcting the output of AI tools.
What AI cannot do
The AI model is at a loss when it cannot find anything in its data that matches the task. In the best case scenario, the system has access to a search engine and can query the internet. If this is not the case, though, the model simply continues to calculate and piece together puzzle pieces. This can result in texts that sound credible but have no connection to reality.
For example, the AI tool may recommend books that do not exist or cite sources that are completely made up. This is referred to as hallucination. The term is not actually appropriate: since AI systems have no reality, they cannot hallucinate.
AI models follow clear rules to deal with unimaginably large amounts of data. They calculate probabilities. Thinking creatively outside the box and breaking new ground is therefore not the strength of these systems. Critically evaluating things is not their forte either.
Nor can they provide answers to the “big” questions. What really interests my readers? How can I win new customers for my specific product? What would I have to do differently to increase my visitor numbers? What don’t my customers like about my website? The AI model has no answers to these questions other than general marketing tips.
So, who needs AI for their website?
I can think of three scenarios in which I believe work processes will change:
- Websites that publish a lot of content (text and images) on fairly general topics at short intervals.
- Websites where a lot of text and images need to be optimized for SEO.
- Websites that serve as communication hubs and interact with other marketing tools (analytics, email, social media, CRM).
On extensive websites where the same processes are repeated over and over again and which thrive on publishing similar content in ever-new variations, AI tools can certainly save time. However, you shouldn’t have high expectations when it comes to text quality. And the topics shouldn’t be too specific.
Of course, you can also use AI assistants if you only write a text once every six months or need an image quickly. For me, however, that would fall more under the category of personal preference. AI does not necessarily make a text better, nor does it necessarily make it easier to write if you are not used to do it.
The situation is different for smaller websites with a personal profile that focus on a very specific topic. Websites that do not use large amounts of text and images and do not target a mass market can continue to thrive without AI. Of course, you can make your life easier and get AI support, but FOMO is not the order of the day.
So, Kirsten, how do you use AI tools?
AI tools are very good at summarizing texts. This can actually save time when preparing a text. However, I would not have my text written by AI. I feel constrained by a half-finished text; I find it difficult to break free from the path that has already been trodden. Personally, I find revising tedious and time-consuming.
I would never use ChatGPT & Co. as a search engine. AI tools are not suitable for researching facts. Due to the nature of the system, at least 35% of the results are incorrect (so-called “hallucinations”), and sources cannot be identified. I hope that this will change in the future, but I am rather skeptical. LLMs do not look at sources; they more or less blindly assemble texts according to probability rules. This makes it impossible to trace where the information comes from. It remains unclear who is serving me information and with what ulterior motives. This is a massive problem; chatbots consume clicks and sources.
The huge amounts of garbage and disinformation currently flooding the internet worry me. That, combined with the market power of a few corporations, makes me wonder how information diversity can survive in the future.
I find the current changes in coding exciting. Many processes that used to be very cumbersome are becoming more accessible thanks to AI tools. On the one hand, this is great because it removes many obstacles. On the other hand, it naturally leads to a flood of dubious results. As in other areas, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the useful from the useless. Only someone who is familiar with the subject can verify how good and useful a piece of code is.
How can you stand out from all the AI noise?
Texts and images generated by AI are currently flooding the internet. This content often comes across as shallow and lacking in substance. There is a term for this: “AI slop,” which refers, among other things, to the uniformity of articles whose titles begin with phrases such as “The ten best [search term].”
How can you set yourself apart from this?
- Communicate your expertise from your personal perspective.
- Critically evaluate information and provide your customers with guidance.
- Seek personal interaction, whether through forums, groups, comments, or face-to-face encounters.
If you want to grow a relationship between website owner and visitors, content with personality and genuine expertise is essential.
Be unpredictable, be creative.