ChatGPT Friend or Foe, Great Conqueror or Doomed to be a Flop?

There has been a lot of chatter (excuse the pun) about ChatGPT since its launch. Some have predicted that it will destroy the copywriting profession, others that to use it, from an SEO stance at least say it will lead to disaster.

But which is true? We have to remember that not all content is subject to the scrutiny of Mr Google, which means that if it can produce good copy then indeed copywriters are right to think that their livelihoods could be a risk.

But what is Good Copy?

The thing about copy is that everyone has different tastes, so what makes good copy is going to vary anyway, depending on who is reading it. But, there is one thing that has to be there and that is to make it interesting and also, that the facts are right.

Currently, the content from these AI writers could be said to be interesting (although they can get a bit repetitive once they get a key phrase in their teeth), but they certainly are not always right in a factual sense. However, I expect they will get better as they are tuned to look at more data before constructing their answer to any request.

Besides Facts, What is Important

Using the correct facts is of course vital, but facts alone do not a document make.

No, you have to encase these facts in sentences and paragraphs. We can see that these AI systems are pretty good at grammar and sentence construction, but what about making these words interesting to read?

Here, I am not talking about using the right words, but rather how they are put together to tell a story.

Story Telling

Storytelling is a very human thing, in fact for many years, virtually every scrap of information was passed from generation to generation verbally. This to a degree means that ‘storytelling’ is to a greater or lesser extent, embedded in our very genes.

So can AI tell a story?

There is no doubt that it can, or will be able to do this to some degree, but will it ever perfect the art? Storytelling is not just about constructing a document based on facts, but rather the building of a word picture in the way that puts across the message in a way that the writer desires and that ‘engages the reader’.

They also have to write it in a way that flows from one part to another in a way that is not just about grammar and using the right words.

Perhaps the difference between human copy and AI copy is that the former has a soul?

I know that will sound strange to some, but I hope it rings true to some.

Why do I say this? Well, I have two reasons for believing that is right.

Consider the argument about which is best, the humble CD or the Vinyl record?

The CD is of course far easier to use and is less likely to become damaged over time. But, some (and the number is increasing) say that although the CD offers a crisper sound, that it lacks the nuances that Vinyl offers. Perhaps they too are saying that the music produced has no soul?

There is some truth here when you consider the way the music is stored on these two mediums. A CD being a digital storage device has to record every note in a binary form. No matter how many bytes of code you give to each note, there will be a hard step to the one above and the one below, this perhaps being one reason the music sounds crisper?

Vinyl however works in a totally different way, the sounds literally being etched into the vinyl, a process that allows the transition from one note to another to a smooth line, not a step from 0001 to 0101 (this being a Nibble of data or half a Byte for the technically minded), if see what I mean.

Those that prefer Vinyl say that the sound is basically smoother and thus more real.

Perhaps one day, it will be possible to store music using so many data points that the human ear at least will not be able to detect these ‘steps’ who knows. But at the moment, I too believe that the sound of vinyl is better on the ear.

My other point is a bit less factual, it concerns Data from the Star Trek Generation series. Data, for anyone who is not a Trekkie, is an android, one that can mimic a human in many ways. But, he is not, to his disgust, a human and lacks emotions (even though he has an emotion chip) that we all, to one degree or another show.

Why do I use Data? The reason is, to a degree, on the same lines as the CD v Vinyl. There are at least two instances in the series where Data’s lack of emotions shows his limitations.

In one episode, he was playing the violin in the manner of all the greats of the past. He had listened to everyone and could mimic their playing exactly in the technical sense, but Captain Picard (a great music lover) told him that his playing lacked the ‘emotion’ behind the music.

Data acknowledged this, pointing out that he lacked the ability to show emotion, which is perhaps the point. He could not show something he did not have the ability to produce.

The other, perhaps more important, episode included a scene where Data was delivering a number of poems he had written. They were exceptionally well constructed but again lacked ‘emotion’ not only in the words used, but in their delivery. They again, perhaps lacked ‘soul’….

This is the reason that I believe that AI is some way from being able to totally replace the human writer, as they are long way from being able to tell a good story and to give their words a soul….

And When It Comes to SEO

The issue of AI copy being bad for SEO is another thing in the news. Google are of the opinion that AI copy is just not good enough for their readers, and have therefore declared a sort of war. They say that their SmartBrain AI system can detect AI written copy (this is a fact, other AI detection systems being available e,g Copyleaks.com>).?

They go on to say that this will either cause the page to be removed or downgraded rank wise, and I would imagine that if a site uses too much of it, that the entire site would be given a lower overall ‘Quality Score’ in the same manner that those that have too much thin content are, which again will reduce the sites ability to get a good rank for any search term.

This a very serious threat and one that all businesses that want to maintain or gain traffic from Google should take to heart.

By the way, this means that not only should you ensure that any copy you write for your site is not detectable as being written by an AI, that also that any you take from another site when using Curation is also OK.

So How Can You Safely Use AI

I believe that AI should be used as an assistant rather than the total solution. It can after all give the writer a great framework on which to build their final masterpiece.

Just remember to check any facts and, when completed, run the document through an AI checker, just in case too many AI ‘markers’ have been used.

Oh, and do remember to tell a good story too, it will make the whole thing much more memorable.