AI, Writing and Donuts - Oh, My!

I used to write donuts. No, really!

If I told you those two sentences were created by an AI, you'd probably believe me.

But they weren't.

I wrote them all by myself.

And they're perfectly true.

You see, the donuts I'm talking about refer to the middle of old style radio jingles, where you had the beginning and ending of a song and some changeable copy in between (the donut hole).

When I began my ad agency career, one of my first tasks was writing donuts for a national car service chain. ("Get 20% off your spring oil change"—that was me! ??)

And while it was fun at the beginning, I will admit that after a few months, it turned into a bit of a chore.

But I did my best to make the offers sound interesting by infusing a spark of creativity where I could.

I Didn't Realize I Needed an AI

Of course, that happened a long time ago. But I think the point of the story is still relevant today.

Because in marketing and PR, service writing is a big part of your role.

This includes pitches, backgrounders, ad copy, the aforementioned donuts, news releases, fact sheets and blurbs of all sizes and shapes.

And you probably consider some of your output to be quite clever. (I know I do.)

But, if we're being honest, much of the copy we produce could be categorized as "good enough".

And that's OK!

You see, we were hired to be fast and make deadlines. Literary masterpiece wasn't part of the job description.

But what if you had a little extra help with your writing process? Wouldn't that leave more time for your creativity to shine?

Well, thanks to recent.breakthroughs in natural language processing (NLP), we now have a variety of AI tools at our fingertips capable of writing up a first draft storm.

But Isn't That Cheating?

Look, I get it. You were hired based on your wordsmithing prowess.

If you simply paid for an AI writing app to spit out your copy, does that mean you're not doing your job?

Or worse, what if your employer found out about your little trick? Would you be turfed out onto the street with the other ink stained wretches, while the artificial intelligence got all the praise and a big corner office?

I think the answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no.

Because narrow AI is only as good as the specific task its given. It can help generate ideas or come up with a first draft.

But it can't solve a problem in a strategic way.

And AI copy on its own isn't quite ready for prime time.

Pen -> Typewriter -> Computer -> AI

As I said in an earlier newsletter about Open AI's GPT-3 natural language processing model, AI is more of mimic, not an original thinker.

It's good at finding patterns in words and phrases and then putting them together to approximate what we write or how we sound.

But it doesn't filter for truth and constantly makes up things that seem plausible, but aren't.

So instead of thinking of AI as a competitive creator, think of it as a tool.

One that can help you get your job done faster and open your mind to new word combinations and possibilities.

I place a natural language generation (NLG) in the same category as pen and paper, typewriter, and computer. Each is an improvement on the one that came before. But none function at all without you and your mind.

Think of NLGs as more of an automated assistant or smart thesaurus. An always on brainstorm, where you can peek in and notice a surprising turn of the phrase you hadn't considered before.

That's when your craft, creativity and hard work comes in, sorting through the options, choosing a piece of one idea and blending it with a line from another. Or revising sentences completely.

A machine-human collaboration that creates something new.

Meet CopySmith: Your AI Writing Assistant

Natural language generation and AI writing assistants are what I talk about in this week's Digital Marketing Trends video.

I take you through a demo of CopySmith, a startup that uses Open AI's GPT-3 natural language processing model and its own proprietary algorithms to generate writing that's pretty darn good.

Of course, CopySmith is just one of the many AI writing tools currently available. Here's an overview of five other NLG offerings and what they do.

Check out the demo in my video and let me know what you think.

And While We're on the Subject of AI

Just a quick reminder to complete the AIinPR readiness survey developed by the CIPR AIinPR panel (I'm one of the members).

The goal of this research is to determine level of knowledge and competency in data and artificial intelligence within the global public relations profession.

Responses will be analysed by leading AIinPR academic researchers and those working on AI in PR and I'll report back on the results in a future issue.

Connect with Martin

And with that, it's time to put down your pen on issue #30.

Before I go, I wanted to mention I reached another newsletter milestone this week—over 200,000 subscribers!

Thank you so much for reading, subscribing and all your support! I'm both honored and humbled to have you along for the ride.

And I'd love to hear any ideas you have for future Digital Marketing Trends topics. Please share them in the comments below.

Have you had any experience with natural language generation and synthetic copy? Are you using an AI assistant to help with your writing? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Be sure to reach out if you have questions about any of the videos in Digital Marketing Trends, or my other LinkedIn Learning courses.

And if you want to find me, follow or connect on LinkedIn or Twitter. (And if you are connecting on LinkedIn, please add a short note so I know how you found me.) Or visit my website and send a message or a question.

Check out the #LiLDigTrends hashtag for quick updates between videos.

And that's all the AI wrote. See you next time!