It’s been happening a lot lately, I get asked what it is that I do, and I passionately talk about content marketing. And then follows “So what do you think of Chat GPT?” And I must confess, when it started surfacing this year, I did have thoughts of ending up with an obsolete skill.
In the marketing world, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the disruptor. You can get AI to do just about anything; draw or paint an image, create photography, write copy and its application keeps on growing. If you’re an artist, graphic designer, photographer, copywriter or content marketer – it’s intimidating.
I asked ChatGPT what it thought, “What are you when your skill is replaced by a robot?” And this was the reply…
“As an AI language model, I do not have emotions or a sense of self-identity, so I cannot be “replaced” by a robot in the traditional sense. However, if we are talking about humans whose jobs have been taken over by robots, it can be a difficult and challenging experience. Losing a job to a machine can be a significant emotional and financial setback for individuals, and they may need to explore new career paths and develop new skills to remain competitive in the job market. It is important to remember that technology is constantly evolving, and it is likely that many jobs will continue to be transformed or even eliminated in the future. As a result, it is crucial for individuals to stay flexible and adaptable and to continuously learn new skills to stay relevant in the job market.”
It reminded me of a time when it was predicted that the need for an accountant would be gone within five years of the introduction of online accounting software. Xero was founded in 2006 – so it’s already been around for 17 years. Whilst Xero has made significant strides in many of the routine tasks (bookkeeping, data entry, etc), there are still complexities that require people. What it did, was create new opportunities for accountants to provide higher-value services that require human judgement, communication skills and customisation for individual businesses.
Right now, AI language models have a lot of shortcomings. There’s a lack of creativity, wit, and tone of voice. They don’t show the appropriate understanding we do, and it’s missing emotion and empathy – for now. These problems will all disappear over time as the software improves, but even as it does, you will always need people to guide the content generators to get what you want, and then make sure it’s fit for brand and audience.
Google can detect patterns in text that are indicative of AI content. So, if you use AI-generated content as a way of getting to the top of Google, it will figure it out. It’s not against using automation to generate content, but if you use it to generate SEO-optimised junk, it will still be considered spam and attract penalties.
We still need human judgement, communication skills and customisation for individual businesses. With that in mind, I’ve decided to use the tool to provide a new service. At MasterJack we have created an AI content marketing package – I predict that it will be trendy for a while, perhaps even useful to fill gaps in content, but eventually, the human connection of creating content by exploring stories, passions, and knowledge, in a person-to-person setting will be the preference.
AI can be used to create content, but you still need to know what to put into it. And then when the content pops out, you still need to upload it to your website, publish your newsletter and input it into your social media channels. We’ve created a new package for our clients that covers this. How are you going to create new opportunities in your marketing business?