Why ChatGPT Isn't the Solution to Your Advertising Needs

Cracking the art of headline writing is the Everest of advertising. As the legendary David Ogilvy, known as the 'Godfather of Modern Advertising,' once declared, "Five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. So, for every dollar you spend, 80 cents go into crafting that perfect headline.”

In this high-stakes game, ChatGPT can generate a headline in six seconds. Just toss it a prompt, and voila—a headline!

Think you should use it? Many people want to, even professionals.

Hold your horses, and here's why.

Since OpenAI launched its groundbreaking software, I've been its constant companion, exploring its potential. The software is a marvel, generating text and images, and sounds much like a mathematician would calculate a "curve of best fit." But there's a hitch - the software picks up words and ideas that appear "most likely" given the data it possesses. That’s not usually the best answer.

Let's unravel this with an example.

I once asked ChatGPT to list the greatest advertising and marketing executives of all time without restrictions. And within seconds, it churned out names like Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuck, and Neil Patel, among others.

No disrespect to these remarkable individuals, but 'greatest of all time'? Seriously?

Where were the titans like David Ogilvy or Rosser Reeves? When I posed this to ChatGPT, it backpedaled and agreed that they were worthy of the list.

For those unfamiliar, Ogilvy is hailed as one of the greatest advertising executives ever, and Reeves is the genius behind the "Unique Selling Proposition." Omitting them from a list of "the greatest" is akin to leaving Tom Brady or Joe Namath off a list of "the best" NFL quarterbacks.

I repeated this exercise with about 20 luminaries from the advertising world, as none of the names made it onto ChatGPT's list.

So, how exactly did ChatGPT compile its list?

The answer lies in the software's reliance on popular discourse and citations. Unfortunately, marketing and advertising are composed of professionals primarily exposed to the jargon of digital marketing gurus.

As a result, ChatGPT delivers a result that reflects the bare minimum, the lowest common denominator, based on popular beliefs. You will only discern the difference if you're an expert. I looked at it and was like, "You're kidding, right?"

Consequently, corporations are now prohibiting their agencies from using any generative AI, as they would be liable for the content produced, not knowing its origin if it comes from AI. This is because these companies expect their agencies to produce original creative works. That's what they're paying them to produce. What they afraid of is that ChatGPT will suddenly steal the "Oscar Meyer Weiner Song," and some account executive is going to present it as "gold" in a meeting, and the corporate executive guy isn't going to know any better, and before you know it - everyone's sued.

Sounds crazy - but if nobody knows better - that's what will happen. Companies have figured this out, so more and more master agreements now forbid their agencies from using AI in any part of their work.

As my experiment shows, ChatGPT, while impressive, does not have guardrails on the truth since it relies on consensus rather than ontology.

However, I employ AI to refine my original copy and spur creativity. Occasionally, it offers a fresh perspective, making my writing crisper, more concise, and punchier. I don't use it in any final work or client work.

AI is also a valuable research tool, superior to Google in some ways. For instance, it can provide a narrative response to a complex query - a feature Google lacks. If you want to synthesize a lot of data quickly, AI is a godsend for that task.

However, the real art lies in interpreting this data and transforming it into compelling copy. AI cannot do that, at least not yet.

AI can't replicate the human ability to listen to clients, understand their needs, and devise a strategy to engage customers. It would need an extensive database of customers, the client, and countless action trees to determine how to induce a specific customer action.

Will AI ever reach that stage? Perhaps.

Is it there yet? Not even close.

Will it happen in my lifetime? Highly unlikely.

AI won't take my job for a while.

Don't use ChatGPT to make your advertising.