The End of the Beginning

A few years back I read yet another crazy internet meme that provided an insight I’d never before pondered:

"When a man reaches 40, he has two choices: broiled meats or World War II."

The point being, when you reach middle age - as the random idiocies of youth have receded (somewhat) and you've nailed down what it is you do to generate income (supposedly) - you must choose a new, deeper focus of interest.

Now, I'm more than happy to slap a slab of something on the grill and slather it with condiments while guiding it towards an acceptable condition for consumption.

But food's just not my life's passion. My wife's ability to craft amazing meals is sadly lost on me, because food's basically fuel to be consumed to keep the organism organizing. My palate’s just not all that refined – and the movie, "Raiders of the Perfectly Broiled Brisket," interests me nary a whit.

Hence, down we dove into the World War 2 rabbit hole.

Now there is a historical, family connection. Dad served in the US Marines and was one of the first to land at Guadalcanal in 1942. He never spoke much about his wartime experiences, other than share a couple anecdotes here and there, like the time he drove a tank off a dock trying to load it onto a ship. "When I hit the gas, they moved the boat," he said, "you'd be amazed how fast a tank can sink."

But he didn't speak much about any other experiences. And given what I’ve uncovered via research over the years since Dad's passing in 1978, it's not surprising. Many vets of that war were similarly tight-lipped when asked to share their recollections. Apparently, very few of that greatest generation felt any desire to share war stories.

Because what they went through was indeed a Hellscape beyond imagination – a global catastrophe that still echoes throughout our day and time.

My interest in WW2 has provided an inspiring, yet sobering journey through the lessons of history. It's taught me to always try to keep a greater perspective on the challenges I face in my career and life.

And as a "WRITER," I see what's taking place with ChatGPT and LLMs and the rise of AI as indications of a particularly challenging time for the craft I chose long ago.

For example, I've recently been researching an SEO tool developed to help businesses increase their visibility to Google and other search engines. Like most modern SaaS (Software as a Service) products, it's fully packed with gimcracks, bells, and whistles all designed to simplify this difficult, important task.

But one feature hammered home the new AI reality for WRITERS like no other.

One of the keys to getting noticed and appreciated by Google is providing ongoing, fresh, quality content on your website.

Not trite, gummed up paragraphs laden with rollicking keywords galore. But interesting content that speaks to the heart of what the site's all about and provides quality, useful information to its core audience.

That’s why having a blog where you make regular posts on that topic is a fantastic way to carry out this mission.

But cranking out a solid piece on a topic like, "Cybersecurity in the age of AI" - in a way that skillfully weaves in those targeted search terms you want pushed prominently to the wandering eyes of Google's webcrawlers - involves more than just a wee bit of research and effort.

It's a task most decent writers could pull off without too much trouble, but even so, would still require some decent amount of effort to accomplish. Certainly several hours at least.

The SaaS I'm researching can take a list of keyword search terms and generate ONE HUNDRED (100) quality blog posts in minutes.

Not garbage posts. QUALITY posts.

When I saw this the other day the reality of the world we face as writers became totally clear, for as Dorothy said to Toto:

"We aren't in Kansas anymore."

Nope.

We aren't in the old black-and-white days where the craft of writing great content took amazing skill, talent, and time.

Now you can push a button and viola!

So what now?

How do we as writers respond?

Only idiots deny reality.

Only fools will try to pretend it doesn't affect them.

You can rage against the machine all you want, but the machine solves problems on a scale you can't hope to compete against.

From 1939 to 1942, the Axis powers seemed almost invincible. But in Autumn of 1942, when the Brits and Yanks began knocking the Germans out of North Africa, it gave the Allies a badly-needed boost of morale. Churchill announced the good news by saying, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

That's kind of where I see us as writers here in Autumn 2024 in regard to determining our relationship to AI and the craft we care so much about.

The past couple years have shown just how quickly Large Language Models (LLMs) have been able to upend the apple cart for many white-collar professions. It’s not just writers who now nervously wonder about what the future means for their chosen profession – accountants, architects, programmers, attorneys – you name it, everyone who manages information will be affected.

Now regarding WRITING - I don't think there's ever going to be a time when anything produced by AI can match the very best prose written by a human - no bot has lived, laughed, loved, suffered, bled, wept in the way we can, nor will one ever be able to do so. It will forever remain a concoction of words and phrases that mean absolutely NOTHING to that which created it.

I’m talking Stageplays, Poems, Songs, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Rants, Reviews, and even – Sales Copy.

The BEST writers will remain the BEST.

But having said that, it does NOT mean we can ignore the value that AI CAN provide to our clients and customers. My career as a copywriter has primarily involved serving as the “behind the scenes” person helping the thought leader get their message out to a wider audience.

That role remains intact – but it must necessarily adapt in order to serve those clients better.

Because “working HARDER” and struggling to stay apace with technology can’t cut the mustard. As you recall, John Henry in facing the steam engine, battled mightily to grab the gold…. but died in the end.

Imagine, however, if he'd tossed aside his hammer and jumped in the cab to pound granite like no one ever imagined possible?

So as I move forward with these messages and a new direction in my career, I've gone all in on embracing AI and Automation.

The shock of encountering these new developments in technology is over. It’s the Fall of 2024 and IMO we've now effectively reached “The End of the Beginning” in terms of how writers discover, understand, and leverage what AI can do.

Let's now see what kind of future we can create together.

Write Faster. Write Better. Right Now.

- Jack Turk

"World's Fastest Copywriter"