Content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) hit a new level last November when OpenAI launched ChatGPT. The program uses natural language processing (NLP), which can give computers the ability to understand text and spoken words in a similar way to how humans understand them. Generative AI, including ChatGPT, gathers its data from already-existing content published online: websites, news articles, blogs, books, and more.

ChatGPT is already being used in a variety of ways, from designing travel itineraries to finding a new book to read. 

“Build my trip from St. Petersburg, FL, to Austin, TX, from May 15th to May 20th. Include stops for great Mexican food and must-see parks.”

“Create a list of five books for millennials that cover personal finance, productivity, and building a side hustle into a business.”

As ChatGPT settles into our everyday world, there are some valid concerns particularly when it comes to how it will affect creatives, copywriters, and marketing in general. Will it create effective or better content? Will it take jobs away? 

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Pros and Cons of Generative AI

We know that it’s here to stay and companies that choose to integrate it into their workflow are seeing the benefits. By using generative AI strategically and sparingly, it can help generate ideas, build foundational content, and create copy for more efficient messaging. 

Here are a few examples of how ChatGPT can be useful in marketing: 

• Writing meta descriptions: “Take this sentence and rewrite it in 10 different ways, keeping it under 160 characters.”
• Keyword research: “Give me a list of keywords for launching a new product, and include high-performing keywords.”
• Email marketing: “Take this subject line and rewrite it to get a higher open rate.”

While ChatGPT can be an excellent resource to add to a digital marketing toolkit, it cannot replace experience, emotion, or the inherent nature of human creativity. AI is not a full-fledged solution to high-quality work that our talent can produce. In fact, there are some major flaws to AI, if not properly managed by an actual human, that can provide content that lacks originality, emotional intelligence, and accuracy. 

1. AI isn’t original. Because generative AI is composed of already-existing data, everything that the program produces is repackaged content from somewhere on the internet. ChatGPT cannot generate something that hasn’t been seen before. It does not have an original bone in its body. 
2. AI has no soul. Again, because the program is a piece of technology and only knows a confined pool of information, ChatGPT cannot draw from culture or incorporate human emotions. The content produced from ChatGPT is very straightforward, practical, and mostly lacks wit and humor that only people can communicate. And, if you know us, you know we love a bit of snarkiness, AI would miss out on this opportunity for us. 
3. AI isn’t always right. Although ChatGPT is a fascinating feat in technology, it is not all-knowing (sort of like someone else around here who thinks they are). Fact-checking is still needed by a person who can perform due diligence to ensure 100% accuracy. 

ChatGPT can be an amazing springboard when combined with our team of experienced, emotive, and award-winning creatives! It will allow us to do what we do best—create attention-getting, original, and response-driven content that will bring your brand to life with your own unique tone of voice. Generative AI won’t replace copywriting and content creation in our agency, but it can help the process. The program may inspire new ideas and improve efficiency in some short-form copywriting, but it is never a replacement for our witty, snarky, pun-loving team—who also know enough as to when to leave the wit, snark, and puns out of your copy! 

If you are in the process of looking for a marketing partner, it’s natural—and smart—to ask, “where will my content marketing efforts come from?” When exploring agencies, don’t be afraid to ask who—or what—is actually doing the work. 

And if you’re wondering…yes, this was 100% written by us humans—several of us had our eyes and brains on this blog!