Natural Stupidity and Artificial Intelligence

I once saw a Netflix documentary about Lady Diana, where a journalist talked about how the invention of autofocus cameras completely changed journalism. Many people who lacked the necessary skills, hadn’t put in the effort to learn the craft, and didn’t have the respect or dedication for the profession became journalists.

The introduction of autofocus cameras harmed the ethics and craft of journalism like nothing else. This shift contributed to the toxic paparazzi culture that ultimately led to the death of Lady Diana.

I couldn't help but notice that the same thing is happening in the field of marketing and communications, especially when it comes to the craft of content creation.

With the rise of GenAI tools like ChatGPT, many people who lack a solid understanding of marketing, messaging, and communication strategy have entered the field. They often rely heavily on these tools for everything, rather than developing their own understanding.

This article is not a case against using GenAI altogether—I use it myself. English being my second language, AI helps me with grammar, improving sentence structure, and articulating random thoughts in a meaningful way. However, as the expression goes, naqal ke liye aqal chahiye.

The same would apply to GenAI.

Using content created with ChatGPT effectively requires aqal in the first place.

Where does this aqal in context to content creation really come from?

• By following a marketing campaign just to learn?
• By writing 1000 word articles from your own research without having to depend on AI?
• Knowing the industry inside-out?
• Learning to take constructive criticism?
• Watching podcasts for a deeper understanding of issues?
• Reading a book from cover to cover, just for the fun of it?
• Watching movies with complex narratives and trying to understand what makes them so good?

I'm not sure I know the answer.

Yuval Noah Harari once made a thought-provoking statement: "I'm more worried about the dangers of Natural Stupidity than Artificial Intelligence."

With GenAI, Natural Stupidity can easily masquerade as expertise. In certain situations at least.

People will stop putting the effort to understand why things are the way they are, which will further lead to the degradation of the craft.