ChatGPT – it’s everywhere we turn and in every conversation of late. But in case you’ve been sleeping on the job, let us fill you in.
ChatGPT is powered by Open artificial intelligence (AI) and is the latest development in language-driven AI. It’s made headlines with claims that it can write university-standard essays, debug codes and even pass exams for you.
Did we mention that it’s free too? Yep! 100% free of charge – for the time being anyway.
Since its release in 2022, not only has the tool exploded in every day conversation, it’s also raised some questions for the creative industry. Within the marketing sector specifically, everyone wants to know – will ChatGPT take over copywriters?
As a team of copywriters and content strategists, it’s a question that’s been posed to us more time than we can count. So, we set out to do some digging of our own.
If you want to know whether ChatGPT will replace your job as a copywriter or whether it should be harnessed for your small business, you’ll want to read on.
What is ChatGPT?
Let’s start at the beginning – what actually is ChatGPT and how does it work?
In the simplest of terms, it’s an AI tool that is said to be able to converse like a human by drawing on masses of data and knowledge to write content, answer questions and solve problems. All you need to do is type in a question or brief and it’ll respond in your requested style.
The chat bot works by tapping into a neural network that’s been trained to respond to user-generated prompts. For example, we asked ChatGPT “What are the content marketing trends for 2023?” and it responded with what you can see below:
Crazy, right? In a split second, ChatGPT scoured the net, found the relevant information and condensed it into an easy to consume summary for us.
The questions you can ask are seemingly endless too. Some of the topics we played around with included:
- Making recipes
- Writing blogs
- Researching topics
- Coming up with content ideas
- Translating languages
While every question seems inherently unique on the surface, there’s one thing they all share in common – every one ties back to a job.
Which begs the question, should we be concerned about the future of our positions?
From our research, the short answer is not really.
President and Co-Founder of OpenAI, Greg Brockman, tweeted that ChatGPT is “not ready to be relied on for anything important yet”. The New York Times followed this up with commentary from the data scientist behind ChatGPT that said it’s “not immune to mistakes” and “does not always tell the truth”.
But that doesn’t mean we can ignore it.
So, where does that leave us?
There is undoubtedly an opportunity for businesses and startups to capitalise on ChatGPT. The key to success is not to go all in, but not to ignore it either.
Instead, it’s about finding a balance and being a little strategic with your implementation of the tool.
How can businesses use ChatGPT in 2023?
Create an outline
For copywriters, content strategist and marketers, the goal of content is to generate a return on investment. It’s important to write about topics that resonate with your target audience, provide relevant information and come across in a simple, engaging manner so that you can gently guide leads down the sales funnel. That’s why many of the best marketing leaders spend the majority of their time researching, planning and strategising.
ChatGPT can be used to create a thorough outline that ensures your content has all the key points you need to cover and is structured in a way that’s easily digestable for the audience. Basically, it can gather research for your chosen topic, map out the flow of your information and inject relevant calls to action. With this trusty guide, you then have a clear direction for your writing from the get-go.
Provide creative briefs
One of the biggest hurdles in the creative industry is project briefing. While one person may have a vision, it’s unlikely to come to life unless everyone working on the project is on the same page. Yet, doing the research, planning it all out and finding the right words to clearly express your idea isn’t always a quick job.
While ChatGPT certainly can’t provide the level of nuance needed for a comprehensive brief, it can be used to provide the background, insights and details needed to ensure everyone is aligned from the get-go. Some ways you might consider using ChatGPT as part of your briefing include:
- Compiling the relevant background information
- Generating some thought-starters for content
- Creating a list of references for further research
- Providing content samples for specific sections for an outline
We’d suggest typing your questions into the tool, then tweaking it based on the answer until you find exactly what you’re looking for. You can also take bits and pieces from each questions and use it to create your own brief.
Scan the market
By nature of the way it works, ChatGPT is a great way to see what people are already talking about online. If you ask a question, your provided answer will reflect the most popular topics, insights and opinions already floating around on the internet. This is a great way to keep a tabs on the interests, behaviours and discussion points within your target audience. And if you follow this to a tee? Your content will look exactly the same as everyone else’s.
No one stands out by blending in, so we certainly wouldn’t recommend a rinse and repeat of exactly what ChatGPT provides. Instead, this can be used to identify how you can make your content unique. After mapping out the areas that already interest your demographic, you can curate a list of topics that sit adjacent to the popular content – ensuring they appeal to the audience, while also remaining unique.
Will ChatGPT take over copywriters?
Like every shiny new tech development that goes viral, many people are already sliding down the ‘machines are taking over’ slippery slope. This includes theories that companies will start choosing AI programs like ChatGPT over actual copywriters.
What these claims fail to take into consideration is empathy.
Successful content is not only unique and engaging, it’s authentic and personal. The latest research shows that consumers are becoming desensitised to advertising and aren’t engaging with anything that feels forced or fake. The content that continues to perform is the pieces that feel native – like a friend is sharing their thoughts with you.
In the copywriting space, this is why so much of our focus is on your brand voice and identity. Our job is to curate a persona for your brand that strategically and cohesively connects with the right people and shares the message in the right way. We use this framework across every project we complete to ensure the brand remains consistent – a key component for marketing strategies in 2023.
While ChatGPT is growing in leaps and bounds, it simply doesn’t have the human touch and emotional intelligence needed for this level of personalisation. And without it, your content just won’t perform.
INFIX on the other hand? We can certainly help you create the building blocks you need to build a content engine geared for strategic growth. Keen to hear more?