Since its launch in late November 2022, there’s been tons of buzz in the media about ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence tool that follows instructions, answers questions, and can easily produce a full-length college-level essay within minutes of an assignment deadline. The potential of ChatGPT and models like it has inspired businesses to adapt AI for various tasks that were previously handled by measly humans. Chances are you’ve interacted with such an entity already, whether it’s by engaging in a chat with a “customer service representative” on a website or getting behind the wheel of a self-driving vehicle.
While people across all professions, including accountants, researchers, coders, and the aforementioned customer service representatives and drivers are worried about AI, perhaps the workers who are most panicked by the threat of losing a job to a “robot” are we creative types — writers, composers, cartoonists, graphic designers, and marketers. If students are able to fool a college professor with an argumentative paper written by a computer, won’t the average audience be satisfied with AI-generated content?
Straight from the source
To answer that question, I went to the source, asking ChatGPT if AI will ever replace human content writers. Here’s what it (He? She? They?) had to say:
AI has the potential to automate certain aspects of content writing, but it is unlikely to completely replace human content writers. While AI can generate content quickly and efficiently, it often lacks the creativity, emotional intelligence, and nuanced understanding that humans possess. AI-generated content can be useful for generating initial drafts, data-driven reports, or basic news articles, but when it comes to crafting compelling narratives, engaging readers, and delivering a unique perspective, human writers are still invaluable.
Content writing requires a deep understanding of the target audience, the ability to capture the right tone and style, and the skill to communicate complex ideas effectively. Human writers bring their own experiences, perspectives, and creativity to their work, enabling them to produce content that resonates with readers on a personal level.
That being said, AI can be a helpful tool for content writers. It can assist in tasks like generating topic ideas, providing research material, or even suggesting improvements to drafts. AI can help streamline the writing process, allowing writers to focus more on their creative and strategic abilities.
In summary, AI is unlikely to replace content writers entirely, but it can complement their work by automating certain tasks and providing assistance in various aspects of the writing process. Human creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence are still essential for producing high-quality, engaging content.
I have to say, I like this answer … and I don’t know that I could have said it better myself. Perhaps this is what ChatGPT’s programmers built it to say — that it’s not a threat to any human’s livelihood (those sneaky programmers might not understand that ChatGPT could one day take their jobs, too). However, I think the answer ChatGPT provided here is typical of the responses you’d get if you asked it about the best way to grill a steak or what kind of trees grow in the south of France — it’s objective, rather dry, factual, politically correct, academic, and not particularly creative.
What’s missing from AI
Sure, with the right code (and coders), AI could be programmed to be funny, snarky, mean, faith-filled, regional, or use language and turns of phrase from any past decade or century. (If you don’t believe me, check out this brand new AI-driven tool that can write your obituary in any tone you choose; it can even add pithy quotations.) But as ChatGPT has admitted above, it won’t have the ability to truly understand the reading audience, help them understand how a company’s product or service can enhance the target’s life, or thoroughly explain how to efficiently assemble or use the thing they have purchased.
ChatGPT also won’t be able to tell the company’s story — the reason it was founded, the people who built it, the highs and lows and learning experiences that got them where they are today. It won’t know how to (or that they should) incorporate a company’s mission, vision, and values into its content.
AI won’t sense what particular outside influences are on the customers’ mind — politically, economically, or in popular culture — and how those things impact them. It won’t be able to pivot on a dime when a company needs to respond when those things happen, and explain how their product or service can help the audience get through whatever they’re experiencing. Artificial writers won’t bring to the table the experiences, emotions, common sense, and life lessons that human writers subconsciously weave into every paragraph they compose. These tools will never put their heart and soul into the creation of the perfect content for their client — like we do here at Ad4! Group.