ChatGPT, friend or foe? Industries worldwide are questioning what impact ChatGPT, and artificial intelligence more broadly, will have on their business.
A highly advanced language processing model, ChatGPT’s ability to generate natural, unique content is seen by some as a threat to the role of in-house marketing and communication teams. They see a future in which ChatGPT will take over the production of all written content – social media posts, web articles, speeches, media releases, removing the human from the process entirely.
ChatGPT no match for skilled comms professionals
While technically possible, Content Empire believes there are three good reasons why ChatGPT should not and will not replace humans in the production of written content. These reasons reflect the three characteristics that distinguish quality writing from meaningless waffle:
- Judgement
- Life experience
- Empathy
ChatGPT has none of these attributes. And that deficit can become very evident in the content it produces.
As news editor Jay Peters reports in The Verge, BuzzFeed’s recent foray into the world of AI-generated content has produced some less than stellar results.
An internet news and media company, Buzzfeed is using an AI tool (Buzzy) to produce online travel guides. Drawing on information provided by a human, Buzzy produces the content which is then reviewed by a human editor.
As Peters notes, “Buzzy the robot and its human editors have a few writing crutches” with Buzzy-produced articles often including over-used and hollow phrases such as “now, I know what you’re thinking” and “hidden gem.”
Peters writes “The thing is, the travel articles just aren’t that good right now. Sure, they have some nice pictures and generic advice about the destinations. But if I wanted to go to any of these places, I don’t think BuzzFeed’s guides would give me the information I’d need to actually plan a detailed trip.”
Psychologist Steven Pinker echoes Peters’ observations on the current limitations of AI tools.
In an article published in the Harvard Gazette entitled “Will ChatGPT supplant us as writers, thinkers?” Pinker notes, “For 25 years I’ve begun my introductory psychology course by showing how our best artificial intelligence still can’t duplicate ordinary common sense. This year [2023] I was terrified that that part of the lecture would be obsolete. … But I needn’t have worried.”
ChatGPT a handy tool, but nothing more (yet)
Far from being a threat, marketing specialist and RMIT lecturer Marina Garbiou sees ChatGPT as a useful tool for communications and marketing practitioners, a tool that can be used amplify and enhance creative outputs. She says ChatGPT can be used to:
- Automate tasks
- Condense information
- Accelerate writing
- Brainstorm ideas
- Expand perspectives
- Simplify the complex
- Produce a first draft
But she points out, for quality content, you need a skilled human involved at every stage of the content creation process, from crafting useful prompts to reviewing and editing the final product.
Human involvement critical for quality content
AI generated text, for example, is often filled with common superlatives and displays a repetitive rhythm – neither of which reflect the variances of original, human written content. Machine generated content, by definition, is also limited to what the machine has ‘learned’ and not all of the information it draws on is accurate. Skilled human intervention is required, at a minimum, to undertake fact checking, injections of tonal variance and removal are repetitive language.
There are divergent opinions on the impact ChatGPT will have on creative industries, but one common view, and one shared by Content Empire, is that while ChatGPT may be a valuable tool in the production of content, it is no replacement for skilled, talented marcomms specialists.
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For another interesting perspective on whether ChatGPT will replace writers, read Amelia Tenne’s amusing LinkedIn article or read Hubspot’s article on What jobs will AI replace and which are safe in 2023.
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