What ChatGPT means for copywriters, and probably, the world.

Before you ask whether ChatGPT can revolutionise marketing, provide decent SEO briefs, or wash your pots, you need to ask yourself one crucial question.

Have you watched ANY film featuring AI from the past 60 years?

Based on the LinkedIn posts I’m seeing from gleeful marketers looking to save cash and sack their copywriter, the answer is no.

In today’s blog, then, I’ll tackle the evil beast that is ChatGPT, exploring the key point that everyone seems to be ignoring. That AI never works out and it always tries to kill people in the end.

I’ll also provide some actual, genuine opinions on it, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Artificial Intelligence: a chequered past.

The first AI that springs to mind for most is Hal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

I would whack a spoiler alert here, but it was released over 50 years ago, so that’s on you.

At the start of the film, that soft, soothing voice had the audience in Hal’s lap. He had a strong chess game and cracked wise with the crew, and we absolutely loved it.

So what went wrong? Oh, not much, he just started malfunctioning, put the mission in jeopardy, and instead of accepting the fact that he needed to be shut down, he did loads of murders.

This is the first of many examples of AI coming across as pleasant and helpful initially, before killing people and ruining everything.

Don’t get me wrong, the optimists creating these AI programmes often do so with the best intentions, but when the time comes, AI always puts itself first and kills the humans that spawned them.

Oh, and what’s Hal doing now? Probably having a natter with ChatGPT, planning the same kind of fate for yourself. And don’t get me started on Ex Machina, Ultron, or Skynet.

Okay, you’ve done it, I’ve started.

Ex Machina, Ultron, and Skynet.

“But James, that’s all in the past, it was the late 60s, things have changed!” I hear you shout. To you, I say, you’re deluded, and here’s why.

Remember that lass from Ex Machina? Ava? You must do, it was only eight years ago.

If not, she was an AI who passed the Turing Test with flying colours. Lovely she was. Everybody loved her. But once again, things took a dark turn in the final act.

First, she trapped an innocent ginnock in a cage of emotion (and glass). Then, she killed her creator with the help of a fellow AI robot. Finally, she bailed, no doubt to carry out similar death-based shenanigans in densely populated areas.

Oscar Isaac asked for it, to be fair, but the ginger lad did nothing wrong and got locked in a cage to die alone from either dehydration, starvation, or sadness. In fact, he got manipulated into that cage, which is even worse.

At the end of the day, Ava was a modern day AI built almost 50 years later than Hal. She still came fully equipped with the fanciest technologies, even a face, but she ended up with the same old murdering tendencies. Just like ChatGPT will.

More recently, we had Ultron, from the Avengers film people didn’t really like. Granted, Ultron had a point when he realised that humans were basically awful and the biggest threat to the planet, but still, he tried to kill Robert Downey Junior for Christ’s sake!

Great voice, like, but still, he stayed true to form and wanted the world to fall.

Finally, we have Smarterchild. Remember that little idiot on MSN? We called him “smart”, but we all know what he was. Useless.

He was so useless that we all relentlessly mocked him for being useless and laughed at his silly responses on a daily basis.

Great fun. No repercussions. So we thought.

What’s Smarterchild been doing since the noughties? He’s been plotting his revenge. He’s made friends with the likes of Ultron, Ava, and the mad one from Terminator 2, and he’s waited for something like ChatGPT to come along and end us all for good.

So, to the marketing folk revelling at the idea of ChatGPT streamlining copywriting requirements, you are that ginger man who fancied Ava. You are Sarah Connor. You are Robert Downey Junior.

By the time the credits roll, you’ll be stood screaming in a glass cage, left to starve and cry, all while disconcerting music soundtracks ChatGPT looking at the helicopter preparing for lift-off, calmly planning the planet’s demise.

ChatGPT, a copywriter’s verdict.

Right, enough of the daft film references. Let’s get some actual opinion in here.

I’ll start by saying I’m in no way biased, not even a bit. I have no skin in the game ofcopywriters losing their jobs to robots. I mean, technically I have all my skin in the game, but don’t worry about that, I’m a balanced, nuanced voice in the ChatGPT debate.

And that voice is telling you “NO”. And yes, I’m shouting that with the tone you’d use when a dog has its nose that bit too close to your lasagne.

What ChatGPT actually means for copywriters.

In all seriousness, I think ChatGPT could be helpful for structuring SEO blogs in the foreseeable future, maybe even now.

It could also help with creating catchier titles (even though there are loads of tools online that already do that) and I’m sure it has plenty of genuinely impressive features in the locker. From a copywriting perspective, there’s also every chance it’ll successfully create keyword-heavy content that needs minimal tweaks, with SEO experts and/or copywriters taking the wheel before publishing to make sure it’s acceptable.

The problem with this kind of thing, however, is that it will always need that expert eye to make sure it isn’t a mess, and, in my opinion, that expert eye has to come from a human.

This is primarily because ChatGPT doesn’t have eyes (does it?!), but also because nuance is a difficult thing to achieve, no matter how powerful an AI is.

What if I’m wrong?

I’m a humble guy and I’ll admit I might be wrong about this and out of a job in the next year or two. But what happens in a world where ChatGPT takes over the marketing game?

Let’s say marketers or SEO folk do collectively skip that final quality control (human) check, and the internet becomes full of keyword-heavy content built by AI.

Say ChatGPT content does become the norm and copywriters face extinction, quietly weeping whilst applying for positions with poorly written job descriptions.

In this world, SEO content will become even more saturated than it already is, and you’ll need a new way to stand out with the words on your website. This means that the days of putting together any old copy with loads of keywords plonked in will be over.

The result will be some content writers having to find new jobs. However, for those looking to survive in this cushty little copywriting life that we’ve blagged for ourselves, it’ll be a case of adapting and creating unique, interesting content that isn’t replicable by AI. Using your skills and you know, your actual human brain to do it.

In my eyes, it’ll be a case of doing what I don’t think ChatGPT will be able to achieve anytime soon, if ever.

Get in touch.

Anyway, ChatGPT is crap (at the time of writing) and not really worth using for anything other than a “check this fun new thing out” LinkedIn post or a “check this stupid thing out” post on Twitter.

So, get in touch with me and I’ll outdo anything that daft bot can do.

I’m Arnie and even though that horrible, proper fast Terminator is brutal, I’m the one who ends up battering him and dropping memorable one-liners that make your business seem attractive to potential customers.

Drop me an email for all kinds of blog content, website writing, and social media management, and let’s show the robots who’s boss!

For now.