With ChatGPT, are copywriters A.I. ("almost irrelevant")?

Everyone’s buzzing about ChatGPT, the amazing new AI chatbot that can write almost anything faster than you can check your Facebook feed.

Have you tried it?

You should. It’s free (at least for now). 

And it’s mind-boggling!

Just now I asked it: Write me a haiku about garbage pickup each Tuesday morning.

In two seconds, I got:

Trucks rumble through the street

Garbage day, Tuesday morning

Nature's cleansing crew

(Not bad, but not awesome since a haiku is supposed to have 5 syllables in the first line, and this poem has 6.)

Next, I asked: What are 5 tools every business owner needs?

It quickly gave me:

  1. A computer with internet access for communication, research, and managing business operations.

  2. A smartphone for staying connected and easily accessible to customers and clients.

  3. A financial management tool (e.g., QuickBooks, Xero) to track income, expenses, and profits.

  4. A project management tool (e.g., Trello, Asana) to organize tasks and delegate responsibilities to team members.

  5. Marketing and advertising tools (e.g., social media, email marketing) to reach and engage customers.

Okay, that's at least decent. Finally, I told it: Give me an intriguing email subject line about ChatGPT.

It immediately responded: 

“Discover the revolutionary chatbot that uses AI to generate responses in real-time!"

Not bad, huh?

Because of AI like ChatGPT, a lot of copywriters are freaking out, “Robots are stealing our jobs!”

Not me. Not yet, anyway.

Here are two big things I’m discovering as I experiment with the technology:

1. AI-generated content is fairly antiseptic and generic.

There’s no personality or emotion (and we all know that impersonal, unemotional copy leaves customers cold). We’re a long way from AI being able to evoke deep feeling.

2. AI-generated content isn’t always accurate.
AI can only deliver the facts and details it's been fed. If they're wrong, then...

As such, all AI results always need to be double-checked. 

So, can we use AI? Should we?

Absolutely! 

Tools like ChatGPT can spit out quick lists that get you thinking. Or create rough outlines and sketchy first drafts. Or do swift, basic research (again, always vet its results).

As for me, I’m going to keep experimenting with this technology. But I’m not losing any sleep.

The one quality we humans have that machines don’t is heart.

And that will never be irrelevant or obsolete.

Here's to writing great copy in 2023!

Len Woods