The robots are coming, and watch out or they're going to take your job! We work in a creative industry, and there is a lot of talk about AI learning to do our work. The purported existential threats range from visual art to marketing strategy to writing. Here's why I'm not too worried about AI replacing us...
The latest and greatest AI tool is OpenAI's ChatGPT. If you've missed all the buzz about ChatGPT, all you need to know is that it's a Turing-test-passing-level artificial intelligence chatbot. In non-techy terms, it's a robot that's really good at writing things. And it's got the world all up in a buzz about whether the robot overlords are finally smart enough to take over.
Good news, AI in general is pretty unintelligent. It works by searching the whole internet and replicating patterns it sees. So when you ask a question that has been asked before, it recognizes the patterns of the existing answers and puts together an answer that follows that pattern. (Anyone in the comments who wants to correct my mediocre explanation of learning algorithms, feel free.)
Now I could put work in to write the rest of this article myself, spending a bunch of my morning Minecraft time on a lesser pursuit. I chose to live life on my terms though, and asked ChatGPT to help write the article.
Here's what I told the machine:
"Write an outline for a blog article about why it's good that AI copywriting is changing the industry, making some jobs obsolete, and allowing humans to work on more important things."
Here's what the machine told me:
I. Introduction
A. Definition of AI copywriting
B. Overview of how AI copywriting is impacting the marketing and advertising industry
II. The Benefits of AI Copywriting
A. Increased Efficiency and Speed
1. AI can generate large amounts of high-quality content quickly and with minimal human input
2. This allows for faster turnaround times on projects and more efficient use of resources
B. Improved Personalization and Targeting
1. AI can analyze data to create highly targeted and personalized content
2. This can lead to more effective marketing campaigns and better engagement with customers
C. Cost Savings
1. AI can reduce the need for human copywriters, leading to cost savings for businesses
2. This can be especially beneficial for small businesses and startups
III. The Impact on the Industry and Job Market
A. Obsoleting of certain jobs
1. Some roles within the copywriting and marketing industry may become obsolete as AI takes over certain tasks
2. However, it's important to note that AI can't replace all aspects of human creativity and strategy
B. Creation of new roles and opportunities
1. AI can free up human workers to focus on higher-level tasks, such as strategy and campaign management
2. As AI becomes more integrated into the industry, new roles and opportunities may arise
IV. Conclusion
A. Summarize the benefits of AI copywriting and its impact on the industry
B. Discuss the potential for AI to improve the effectiveness of marketing and advertising campaigns while also allowing human workers to focus on more important tasks.
C. Highlight that this change is not something to be feared, but rather embraced as it will bring new opportunities and growth.
Yeah, that about sums it up. I'm interested in hearing a bit more about III.A.1...
Me:
"Write more about how AI can free up human workers to focus on higher-level tasks, such as strategy and campaign management."
ChatGPT:
AI has the ability to take on repetitive and time-consuming tasks, such as data analysis and content creation, which frees up human workers to focus on higher-level tasks such as strategy and campaign management. This can lead to more effective marketing campaigns and better engagement with customers, as human workers can use the insights gained from the data analyzed by AI to create more targeted and personalized campaigns.
For example, AI can be used to analyze customer data and create segments based on demographics, behavior, and other factors. This can be a time-consuming task for human marketers, but with AI it can be done quickly and accurately. This allows human marketers to use that data to focus on creating tailored campaigns that target specific segments of customers.
AI can also be used to create large amounts of content quickly and with minimal human input. This means that human copywriters can focus on the strategic and creative aspects of content creation, such as crafting compelling headlines and calls to action, rather than spending hours writing multiple versions of the same content.
Then it kept writing, and writing, and writing, almost like it was trying to prove a point...
Not bad though. A bit vague, but does a decent job providing the structure of thought I was looking for. So what do I make of this?
AI, including ChatGPT, is not generative — it is repetitive. It can only output based on inputs and existing patterns. As long as humans can continue to be properly and truly creative. AI will not harm us creatively, AI may even be able to write in the style of a particular author, but it will never be able to create a truly new style. This opens the door for the top tier of creative individuals to set new standards creatively. This has the potential to change the industry and create a higher stratosphere of the most excellent creators, while lowering the value of creators who are less original.
When it comes to creative activities, pretty much everything is copied at some level. However, some people copy stuff in more effective and impactful ways, and add their own uniqueness to it. Those people will rise to the top. Everyone else will have to learn new skills, since their admittedly unoriginal work can now be replicated by a robot. Every revolution does this, and no revolution has replaced humanity. Revolutions like this merely take a job that required thousands of people and allow a few highly skilled individuals to complete it. This frees up the rest of humanity to do other work. The advent of AI will unlock new areas of work, and new talent will flock there. There will be some individuals who suffer collateral damage, but that is inevitable — with or without the incoming changes. This revolution is no different from any other.
AI seems to me to be the furthest thing from a robot overlord in the making. It is a tireless low-level employee that takes the pressure off of humans to do menial tasks that require a few brain cells and a lot of time. Forget the doom and gloom. Join me in welcoming our new robot serfs.
