If I had a pound for every time someone asked me if I was worried about Chat GPT, I wouldn’t need to worry, because I would have retired.

The last twenty years have seen a wave of panics as different jobs have been threatened by technology. From intelligent shop checkouts to self-driving cars, technology seems to have been seen simultaneously as a threat and a timesaving, money-saving game-changer for as long as I can remember. It’s something that I have looked at from afar and benefitted from with little thought, considering it occasionally but not dwelling on too much; until technology came for my job.

My content writing career happened to me accidentally. I was working part time while doing a degree in English Language and Psychology, when I was asked by a friend’s husband to write one piece of content. That one blog turned into four and, thirteen years later, I am still freelancing for Bravr, as well as a handful of others. A chance conversation with a friend in a toddler group had unveiled the thing that I was really good at: understanding what other people want to say and conveying it on their behalf.

Over those thirteen years, work has ebbed and flowed and there have been times when I have had to consider actively seeking new contracts. There was a time when overseas content writers were the preferred option as they were quick and cheap, and work slowed down as even long-standing clients sought bargains further afield. Trends have come and gone but, inevitably, former and new clients have come to me because you can’t beat high quality, tailored content, and I am a known and trusted entity.

So, what about Chat GPT?

When I first heard of Chat GPT I must admit that I, somewhat naïvely, dismissed it out of hand. Recalling conversations about AI creating art masterpieces, I scoffed at the thought that AI could write intuitively, until I saw my first Chat GPT article. At the end of a Bravr meeting, one of the team asked me the inevitable: “what do you think about Chat GPT?” After glibly replying that I wasn’t too worried, the same team member entered the title of one of my recent blog posts into the app and sent me the resulting article. For a moment, I my stomach dropped as I read a beautifully written introduction that was not dissimilar to my own. It was, therefore, which huge relief that I realised that whilst the content was essentially correct and well written and the tone was pretty good, the title had been slightly misinterpreted, making the content entirely inappropriate for the client.

It's all about the writer

A proud self-confessed grammar pedant, I can honestly say that I am more frustrated by poor-quality human writers than Chat GPT. In recent months, I have had people approaching my clients or me direct having been charged ridiculous amounts of money for substandard content. So, for the purposes of this article, I am assuming that the human in question is au fait with the English language and at the very least knows their plurals from their possessives. So, with that in mind, let’s talk about:

Woman vs Chat GPT

As well as my love of the written word, I adore an analytical framework. So, when it comes to assessing Chat GPT and its capabilities versus my own, I leapt at the chance to pop it in a basic spreadsheet. It is hard to be entirely objective here, but when creating content, there are primary parameters to consider: Speed (cost), Quality (tone, grammar), Originality, Accuracy, Context, and Perspective.

Speed is an important consideration both in terms of meeting deadlines and cost. This piece of content will take me 2-3 hours to write. It took Chat GPT 13.32 seconds to answer the same question that I am still pondering on. Here’s what it said:

In the interest of accuracy, I expanded slightly and asked Chat GPT to “Write 1000 words on woman vs Chat GPT”. 22.52 seconds later:

Aside from being charmingly self-deprecating and assuring me that it is NOT after my job, Chat GPT definitely wins on the speed stakes. So, that’s 1-0

Quality of both tone and grammar are vital when producing communications. Tone is as important as brand colours; if you go slightly off tone it may not be immediately noticeable but it will undoubtedly affect the overall user experience. Grammar, meanwhile, may mean nothing to some, but to others it can be a critical factor in creating brand trust. As humans have the capacity to make mistakes, Chat GPT has to take a point for grammar, but when it comes to tone, it is impossible to replicate the subtle gathering of understanding and nuances that contribute to a good content writer learning a brand’s “language”. So, that’s a point for me (finally). 2-1 to Chat CPT

Originality - Chat GPT can’t produce anything that hasn’t already been created. What’s more, if the same question is asked by different users, the AI may well produce exactly the same response. I, on the other hand, travel a wonderful journey of discovery with every piece of content that I write. Taking the parameters given to me by my clients, I create something that is truly unique, every time. 2-2.

Accuracy is an interesting one, because both sources of content are as reliable as their sources. While Chat GPT can scour through huge amounts of data to obtain information at a rapid pace, I have to painstakingly research and meticulously fact check. However, I also have the capacity to make judgements on the reliability of a source, and to cite my sources if needed. 3-3

Context - I will confess that I am the kind of person that thanks the ATM machines (or used to – in the old days of cash). My family laughs at me for apologising to Alexa when I tell her to “just shut up” and, of course, I always thank her for her services. However, no matter how much AI replicates something similar to human emotion, it is just not capable of replicating the subtleties and variations of emotion that humans experience from one second to the next.

Chat GPT can gather information about different social norms or nuances; we can even specify different styles of writing to help AI to provide the cultural and social references that we need to attract our target audience. However, at this point, AI can’t replicate or translate the various subtle human responses to different situations. Nor can it take a range of different opinions and provide a unique, critical analysis. So, thankfully, that is 4-3 in my favour

Perspective is another key skill when it comes to creating content. My job is not that dissimilar to an actor’s, but my “acting” happens on paper, as I take on the persona of my client or their target audience. Whilst it is, in fact, rare for me to write from my own perspective in a professional capacity, my own experiences and research, as well as my reactions to different environments and advertising campaigns, help me to understand my clients’ perspectives, and ensure that they are present in the content that I create. The final point goes to me.

Will speed and accuracy win?

Despite a convincing “win”, when it comes to kiss-me-quick, keyword-rich content, all it takes is a little weighting on speed to tip the balance in the favour of Chat GPT. So, I anticipate that organisations who prioritise box-ticking and money-saving over longer term results will ditch their content writers in favour of the cheaper AI alternatives. However, just as clients came back having learnt that overseas content doesn’t quite hit the same mark as the home-grown variety, I have faith that they hiatus will be brief, and discerning clients will know to stick with the humans.

A place for Chat GPT

Having swung from blasé ignorance to marginal fear, the more in-depth analysis has reassured me that Chat GPT can try to take my job, but it is unlikely to be successful in the long run. However, having used it for the first time today to write this piece, I must confess that I may well use it in the future to inspire me when I experience a touch of writer’s block. Likewise, with a little human editing, AI may well be a useful tool in creating social media posts and meta data.

Conclusion

I love my job. I love working with a small, committed team that will go over and above to deliver results because they are craftspeople and perfectionists, and I love getting to know a client, working out what they like and what they hate, and learning their unique language. I even (maybe especially) love the “difficult” clients who come to us because nobody gets them, because learning their language is something that no one else has succeeded at yet, but which I am determined to do.

I thought I would write this piece and grudgingly admit that AI was better, but I am surer now that Chat GPT can’t do what I do nearly as well as I can. The fact that I have actually used Chat GPT and may well do so again in the future is a bit of a volte-face, but then I can do that – because I am human.