To AI or Not to AI? That's No Longer the Question

ChatGPT came up as a big surprise in November 2022. It became the 'cool' thing. Everyone was talking about it. People started using it with mixed results. But everyone knew that something phenomenal had come up. The subsequent releases of the product came at lightning speed and what we have now as ChatGPT 3.5 and 4 are highly powerful products. Microsoft's investment in Open AI makes it privy to cutting-edge tech which they have used in Bing and Microsoft Copilot. Google's Bard is now renamed Gemini and they have offered a two-month trial plan after which users need to pay for it. So, did AI come into content creation only after ChatGPT? No, not at all. We have had tools like Jasper.AI for writing, Revisely for integrated learning and the ability to generate flashcards, notes, and quizzes using AI, Grammarly one of the most popular online writing checkers also uses AI extensively. These are just some examples that come to my mind. But it would not be incorrect to say that ChatGPT kind of democratized the use of AI-powered tools by everyone and there is no arguing the importance of its presence and usage in modern life.

The Rise of the GPT Juggernaut

Today we have GPT stores, which offer solutions for a wide variety of use cases. Tech and marketing companies are developing products that are heavily reliant on LLMs and custom GPTs, and 'yes' the elephant in the room - this super-powerful technological leap is impacting human jobs. Entire support teams have been wiped out as first-level responses are now being addressed by pre-programmed chatbots. Copy writers and creative designers are questioning their own self-worth as now there are solutions like Framer, which let you build a powerful, visually stunning, no-code website with all relevant information based on the prompts that you feed into the tool. On one side, we look at the ethical concerns of using AI for our work and addressing the legal ramifications of re-purposing content generated by AI, which itself is extracted from archives of copyrighted work. We have seen The New York Times suing Microsoft and Open AI. There's no clear solution yet and unless these large tech firms start paying for the content that they are using to train their AI models, it is going to be an ugly mess of sorts. All of this will create another scenario, the need for an individual or a team of experts, who will validate/verify any content that they put out into the world for consumption and ensure that it is not plagiarized or erroneous. CMOs across organizations would also have to address this challenge as using AI now is no longer an option but becoming a mandate. As we look to work faster, better, and smarter, AI has to be seen as an ally, or we will get sucked into a cesspool of drudgery and monotony. A differing perspective, which is already evident in print ads is the seemingly similar ads that are coming up or websites and in-app content, that's deceptively similar or template-like in nature.

The Human Touch

We are at an interesting juncture in time. As generative AI and all the innovation that it brings becomes the most important element for digital transformation in organizations, let's remember that the 'human touch' is what will become the differentiator. Remember that the content that we create, be it an ad on LinkedIn, a personal post on Facebook, a comprehensive white paper for a new product, or an email campaign to nurture potential leads, we are creating content for humans. It is a human being who will decide to go ahead with a purchase or not. Content has to drive an emotional connect. One can be all 'salesy' and say - 'tell me what you can do for me with your product or service'. But if there's no emotional leverage, or connection, why would I even care to read what you send??

As usual, I have gone on to ramble, but I assure you, no AI tool was used to write this content. Wishing you a wonderful day ahead!