Why I’m not worried that ChatGPT might put me out of a job just yet.

As a writer, I’ve had too many moments when I just sit at my desk and literally can’t think of what to write. It’s a hugely frustrating place to be for someone who makes a living from words. Imagine being in a sweet shop with no money to buy a bag of sherbet pips. Awful, right? Well, writer’s block is worse.

However, when the words do eventually come flooding back (and, believe me, they always do) it’s like sucking on a giant gobstopper until it’s the size of a marble. Deeply satisfying and well worth the effort.

As a team here at Front Door, we all have coping mechanisms for when the dreaded block hits. Some of us walk our dogs, some of us sing very loudly to Take That, some of us delve for the chocolate snacks and some of us simply move onto another task that needs tackling. But none of us have ever relied on a bot to write the words for us. Until now. 

ChatGPT is a new phenomenon, which can do things like write code, answer questions, and provide very specific copy using AI technology. So, is it time for bloggers, copywriters, PR gurus and marketing whizzes to pack away the laptops and retrain?

Well, let’s see. I asked ChatGPT to come up with some ideas about how I could use ChatGPT to write a blog. And this is what it said:

As a blogger, I sometimes struggle with writer’s block and finding the right words to express my ideas. That’s why I decided to try using ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI, to help me write this blog post.

OK. So far, so good.

It continued: ChatGPT uses deep learning algorithms to generate human-like text based on the input it receives. It has been trained on a vast corpus of texts, including books, articles, and websites, and can generate responses that are coherent, informative, and even creative.

To use ChatGPT, I started by entering a prompt or question related to my topic. For example, I asked: “How can I use ChatGPT to write a blog post?” ChatGPT then generated a response based on its understanding of the topic and the context of my question.

I found that ChatGPT’s responses were often insightful and helped me refine my ideas. For example, when I asked how to structure my blog post, ChatGPT suggested using a clear introduction, followed by several paragraphs that develop my main points, and a conclusion that summarises my arguments. This advice helped me organise my thoughts and structure my post more effectively.

Another way I used ChatGPT was to generate creative ideas and examples for my blog post. For example, when I asked for ideas on how to make my blog post more engaging, ChatGPT suggested using personal anecdotes, including visual aids, and asking rhetorical questions. These suggestions helped me add more interest and depth to my writing.

Ok, so I’m going to stop there. Because although this is a pretty decent guide to writing a blog, I think it’s fair to say it totally lacks any personality. This doesn’t really sound like me at all.

Every blog I write, whether it’s a personal one or one for our FD clients, has to have a tone of voice which can differ hugely between clients – and that is something that is seriously lacking when it comes to the world of AI.

Having spent some time on ChatGPT (which was actually quite fun) it’s obvious that it can steer you in the right direction but it can’t ever produce that all-important tone and personality that is crucial in any type of copywriting, PR or marketing. ChatGPT is certainly an innovative tool and while it has the potential to automate certain aspects of copywriting and content creation, I think, for now, it’s unlikely it will ever completely replace human copywriters (writer’s block and all).

Copywriting is more than just writing text. It’s something that involves research, strategy and a deep understanding of target audiences and the brand’s voice and tone. Sometimes good copywriting requires humour or sarcasm and AI doesn’t have the capacity to have that all-important unique perspective that comes from human interaction. Our work is highly-skilled and it’s more than just words. Whether we are writing a press release, a social media post, a blog or website content, the finals words we create are a culmination of meetings, briefings, business strategies and reports built on relationships, understanding and collaboration.

So, while I’m not denying that AI can be a useful tool, it can’t ever really know about a client’s content and marketing strategy or take into account social media trends, SEO targets or marketing goals.

So, for now, I don’t think we are ready to be replaced by ChatGPT just yet – even if we are cursed occasionally with writer’s block.

In an act of defiance, I told ChatGPT I was happy that I was not being replaced and this is what it replied.

In this instance, I’ll leave the final world to AI.

I’m just a machine learning model designed to assist and enhance human creativity, not replace it! Copywriting and content creation require a unique blend of creativity, critical thinking, and human touch that AI tools like ChatGPT cannot fully replicate. While AI can help streamline certain aspects of the writing process, it’s ultimately up to human writers to bring their unique perspective, insights, and voice to the table. So keep up the good work, and don’t worry about being replaced by AI anytime soon!