But can’t I just use Chat GPT?

Copywriters are not threatened by robots...yet

"Why would I need a copywriter? Can’t I just use Chat GPT?" he asked earnestly. The words pierced through my entire being, but a part of me curiously perked up and I asked myself: “Well, could he? ...and get the same – if not better – results?" A few hours later, and deep into the guts of the bot, I decided it’s not the enemy. I think we could even be friends, especially when writer’s block strikes. Just a few prompts into Chat GPT could generate a list of ideas to inspire the weary writer and get the keyboard keys clicking once again.

I tried to not run a comparison test between me and my newfound friend, but I had to explore the possibility of this robot staring at me in the mirror telling me that it was the fairest in all the land “better than all of the hardworking and experienced copywriters”. I had to check if I should retire my pen and study for a job as a climate scientist, a sustainable farmer, or some other futureproof job.

The first brag I had over Chat GPT was my empathy, and the second was my sense of humour. The bot created some words that could be thrown on an Instagram page to blend into a sea of beige. This was a stark contrast to the work of copywriters and content written by budding entrepreneurs excited to share information about their new products and services. I understand that some business owners who struggle to write content may not be generating enough income to pay for a human copywriter yet, so AI is at least a starting point.

I asked Chat GPT to do one of my copywriting tasks. I submitted the brand’s voice, style, and examples of past writing but it still lacked the empathy that us humans can whip up with ease. Even when I asked it to add empathy, the results were embarrassing. Perhaps I need to improve my prompts, but after decades writing content, it’s easier and quicker for me to write it myself than give precise direction to an app.

I can see that some copywriters, despite their scepticism and scorn for this new technology, are embracing it so much that they are running courses to help people use AI tools for copywriting. Now this is a token of great confidence that the robots are not going to do a better job and steal clients from under their noses. They are willingly handing over potential clients to AI for a one-time fee. When their copy proves to be bland, the same as others, and not ranking high in SEO searches due to being unoriginal, these clever copywriters will have a full inbox of clients asking for a human to do the job. It’s smart marketing and shows the copywriter is certain of their skills. My final frustration with using AI for copywriting was when the copy was not exactly what I wanted. I asked Chat GPT to make it “chattier” and again it was underwhelming. As a copywriter, I usually understand someone’s tone quickly just by a Zoom chat, a call on the phone, and looking back over copy they have produced in the past. But if they ask me to change the tone or make it a bit different, I get to ask questions back to really pinpoint what they need, but so far Chat GPT doesn’t do that – maybe there are a million more that do, but I didn’t venture too far into this particular rabbit hole.

Years from now the robots may stumble upon my naïve thoughts of 2023 and laugh loudly as they spring clean the internet, but right now I’ll enjoy this peaceful – and non-threatening – relationship with them.

@writeforyouec writeforyou.info

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