ChatGPT - The good, the bad, & the downright not cool
I suppose it’s about time I jump on this bandwagon.
If you’re in the world of business, entrepreneurship, marketing, content creation, or you just like to nerd out over technology… you’ve likely heard all the commotion around none other than: AI.
As a copywriter, a lot of the content I consume is related to copy, content, marketing, etc. And man, when ChatGPT seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the fall, it was ALL I FREAKIN’ SAW.
Like, literally, all I saw. And not going to lie, it became a little overwhelming.
Then, of course, there was alllll the back and forth going on about what’s going to happen next. SO many copywriters and other creatives were throwing themselves into a frenzy that their life is over and they’re going to lose their jobs.
While on the other side of the boxing rink, many entrepreneurs and small biz owners, who have a million other things to do other than write their own copy, were like, “Hell yea, I never have to write again because AI will do everything for me”
And I just sat back with a big ol’ bowl of popcorn, watching all the AI madness unfold.
I’ve read an ungodly amount of posts, emails, blogs, and articles about it.
I’ve watched videos, listened to podcasts, and attended live discussions about it.
I’ve played around and experimented with it.
And now, it looks like I’m going to start writing about it 🤷🏻♀️
Why AI is great… and where it just won’t do
I think, as with many things in life, we all need to find a balance when it comes to how AI is going to affect our lives and our businesses and how we’ll choose to use it.
Really, many of us have already been using AI in some form or another but may not have thought about it as “AI".”
So when monsters like ChatGPT pop up like AI is something new, it’s not actually new. It’s just more robust and “intelligent” than what we’re used to.
And that’s exciting. And freaky.
But from what I’m gathering, at least right now in April of 2023:
Creatives: AI is not going to replace you. It is, however, a great tool that you would benefit greatly from to help make your creation process faster, and ultimately, give you more time to do the things you love.
Non-writers/non-creatives: AI is not going to do all the work for you. Yes, it will generate content and save you time but…
A) you have to know what to prompt and how to do it effectively
B) you have to fact-check the output, edit it, and it’s often generic and tone-less, so you’ll need to make it sound more, um… human.
And ALSO… can we please take a moment to address ethics?!
I’ve been mortified to see biz owners saying they have ChatGPT write their entire blogs, social media posts, emails, etc. and use them withOUT editing first.
Like, what?!
Listen, your people are expecting to hear from you. YOU. Your thoughts, your insights, your experiences, perspectives, and all the amazing things that make you who you are.
To have AI 100% write your content… Isn’t that breaking trust with your community? Isn’t that crossing the line of plagiarism?
When does using AI become unethical?
Ugh, anyway.
I’m trying to stay neutral because I know there are both pros and cons to using a tool like ChatGPT. And that’s what I want to focus on with the rest of this post. Why a human is better than a robot… but also, how this little robot can be a useful tool.
So for these next two sections, I decided to Chat with my friend, Gabi Paulina Toro (... get it? Get it?? ChatGPT 😂) and get her thoughts…
And then, we wrote this next section together. And by “wrote it together,” I basically used her to help brainstorm the points I wanted to touch on and then I used MY brain to elaborate.
…and if you didn’t get it. Gabi = ChatGPT 😉
Why you, a human, are better than ChatGPT
To start, I wanted to ask Gabi some questions specifically about writing.
>>> Yes, I’m TOTALLY personifying ChatGPT here and will refer to it as Gabi because, why the hell not. If it’s all about “chatting” then I want to feel like I’m talking to/about a person! Hopefully it doesn’t get to “her” head 😅
Anyway, here’s what I asked her.
Why is writing my own emails better than using AI?
Or, if I don’t want to write, why should I hire a copywriter instead of relying only on AI? (Assuming I’m not a copywriter here).
Here are some reasons she gave:
Unique voice, tone, and perspective
No one thinks, writes, or speaks quite like you do. And that’s a good thing. If you haven’t actually made a formal tone guide (maybe something I should touch on later?), you’ll find that as you write more and more, you begin to find your voice. Your emails just sound like you and your brand. As much as you prompt AI to mimic your tone, it may struggle with getting it just right… which could end up with people thinking “huh?” when they read something you supposedly wrote.
Human and emotional connection
There’s a reason why you started doing what you do, right? To connect with other people on that human level and help transform their lives or businesses with what you offer. You understand the emotions, you lived the tough experiences, and you gained the unique perspective you now get to share. When you tell YOUR stories with your own writing, you get to create a deeper connection and build trust with your readers.
Authenticity
When you write your own emails, you are being 100% authentic to who you are, what your brand stands for, and your mission to help others. People can see bullshit a mile away. When AI writes your content, it can feel generic and lack personality or character. It doesn’t sound like you, it doesn’t pull from your own experiences. It also doesn’t feel relatable or engaging, which definitely won’t help you when it comes time to put your offer out there.
Strategic thinking
The beauty about doing your own thing is you get to learn, create strategies, and pivot when things aren’t going as planned. You might discover something new your community really struggles with or discover your current idea isn’t quite hitting home with them. AI doesn’t have insight into this and it can’t analyze these “metrics” that are based on things like the emotions and pain points of your readers. Sure, it can write content using existing templates or formulas, but it can’t come up with new ideas or “think outside the box” like you can.
Creativity
Writing an email (or any copy! A website page, social media post, landing page, freebie…) involves more than just stringing words together. When you pair your knowledge, expertise, passion, ideas, and aaallll that good stuff, you get to be creative when you make your content. You know what will capture your readers’ attention and what will be truly helpful to them.
Feedback
Whether we like the criticism and negative comments or not, they’re actually SO HELPFUL when it comes to running your biz. Taking that feedback into account and actually changing or pivoting your plan to make sure you’re actually helping your people shows you’re listening. And it all goes back to building that trust. Writing your own emails allows you to improve your communication and skills around how to talk about what you’re doing, understand and take your readers’ concerns/requests/struggles into consideration, and then address them!
How ChatGPT is the perfect sidekick
After talking with Gabi for a while about how humans are so much better, I could see she was starting to feel a little down. I know tools like ChatGPT can be helpful, but again, they’re a tool. Not a replacement!
Gabi was excited to share how she can help you all with things like this:
Saving time
Raise your hand if you feel like you’ve got enough time to do ALL the things!
*crickets*
Yea, I hear yah. Using AI can be helpful when it comes to those time-consuming tasks that are worse than watching paint dry.
Transcribing podcasts, audio, interviews, etc. can be done MUCH more quickly with AI.
Same with summarizing blog posts, articles, or long-form text… you can quickly get key points without having to go back through everything.
Blank screen overwhelm
I’m sure we’ve all experienced that horrible feeling of staring at that blinking cursor on a blank screen and not knowing what the hell to write. As a writer, it’s rough. As a non-writer, I’m sure I’d want to throw my laptop across the room. AI can help so you’re not starting from scratch.
It’s great for topic generation and writing prompts, helping you think of relevant ideas to write about when your brain literally just isn’t working.
Organizing and outlining thoughts
When you take my time in college, teaching, grad school, and copywriting and put it all together, I’ve spent a LOT of time searching and researching on Google. Imagine having a little helper gather all that info for you into one neatly organized list. That’s what our dear friend Gabi can do.
ChatGPT is great for pulling info, stats, and other data you might need to write about. It can also help you create structured outlines for your writing, and then help you brainstorm things like headlines and subheads to make sure it flows and info is easy to find.
BUT WARNING!
The content ChatGPT spits out is not guaranteed to be true, fact, real, accurate, or any other synonym you want to throw in here.
You absolutely MUST double-check what it’s generating.
Gabi said this herself, and I quote:
“Ultimately, the responsibility for the accuracy and quality of your writing lies with you as the writer. AI can be a helpful tool, but it's always important to exercise critical thinking, evaluate sources, and use your own judgment to ensure the accuracy and credibility of your work.”
Should you use it or not?
So… now what?
Should you use AI? Should you not? What’s the “right” thing to do?
I’m pretty sure EVERYONE is going to have a slightly different opinion here based on a million different factors.
But me?
I say, use it.
It’s a great tool and it’s going to make your writing process that much more effective.
I even stated above ☝🏻 I used it to help me write this post!
How did I use it? I asked questions to generate bullets and ideas and help me brainstorm what to write about.
But then I did the writing.
So that being said, and I’m probably going to sound like a broken record here, it’s not a replacement. It’s a tool.
And if you’re reading this blog, you probably know I’m all about creating a genuine connection with your readers.
How do you do that? Through YOUR stories… your perspectives, insight, expertise, skills, background, etc. etc. etc.…
I predict (as do many people in the copywriting/marketing/online biz industry) that as companies start using AI more, and our worlds become filled with more AI-generated content, people will be looking for that human connection more than ever.
Brands that value their community are going to take a stand against using AI to generate their content. And people are going to seek out things that are human-made.
If you start using AI as a replacement, you will not build the connection that your community wants, because it’s not YOU.
Yes, use it to help you come up with ideas. Use it to generate a list of 20 bullet points you can pull from when you’re in a season of hustle and can’t think of anything when you’re writing at 6pm. Use it to help you research a topic.
But from my standpoint, please, don’t use it to write FOR you.
Give people what they signed up for.
And if you’re still struggling with writing your own story-driven emails…
-Not on my email list? Grab my freebie Make Your Emails Unforgettable. You’ll get actionable steps you can start using next time you sit down to write!
-On my list? Reply to ANY email and let me know what you’re having a hard time with. Seriously! I read every response. Chances are, if you’re struggling, someone else is too. So let me know what you need. 💜
Before disappearing for now, tell me, are you already using AI to help you in your biz?
What are your favorite ways to use it and what are you looking forward to trying?
Do you feel differently about what I’ve written above?
