Will AI Replace Copywriters?

 

We’ll consider the potential for AI to replace human copywriters.

 

Will AI Replace Copywriters?

While AI tools have been gaining in popularity over recent years, there’s been a whole new focus on their game-changing abilities since the launch of ChatGPT. There’s a thought that such advanced AI chatbots could one day replace copywriters, as business owners realise the benefits in terms of efficiency and money savings. We’ll do our best to separate the hype from reality in this blog. Read on as we consider just how likely it is that human writers will be replaced by the bots.

Introducing ChatGPT

As anybody who has used ChatGPT will tell you, generative AI technology has immense potential. It can be used for the writing of everything from product descriptions to marketing emails. Based on the user’s prompts, such tools can produce content in a matter of seconds. There have been numerous examples of businesses that have used the generated content to build awareness and boost sales.

Here are some more examples of content that could be produced with AI:

• Travel guides
• CVs and cover letters
• Social media posts
• Book reviews

Just because you can use AI to generate such a wide variety of content, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should, or would want to. After all, there are various issues and limitations associated with the use of the AI chatbot. 

Open AI’s introduction to ChatGPT tells us that the chatbot “sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers”. It will also “sometimes respond to harmful instructions or exhibit biased behaviour.”

Considering the Copywriter’s Role

Of course, you can’t be 100% sure that a human copywriter will write with absolute accuracy and avoid all bias. As with ChatGPT, texts should be carefully checked to ensure that they don’t mislead or offend. However, you can be confident that an expert copywriter will take the time to research and produce content to the best of their abilities. After all, a single negative review could have a serious impact on their reputation (this isn’t the case with ChatGPT).

There will inevitably be some variation in the quality of content produced by human copywriters. Factors such as their familiarity with the topic and understanding of proven copywriting techniques will have an impact on the words that end up on the page. Generally speaking, if you’re prepared to invest in first-class copywriting then you can expect content that engages and improves your business prospects. Drawing from their real-world experiences, such copywriters can write with high levels of creativity and originality.

These qualities are also common to professional copywriters:

• The ability to understand and empathise with other people
• Natural curiosity and hunger to learn
• Commitment to collaboration for the production of outstanding copy
• Awareness of the latest news and trends.

AI Advantages & Limitations

Having highlighted the value of human copywriters, it’s also worth considering the AI benefits. As already mentioned, tools such as ChatGPT can produce written content at amazing speed. Whether you want a blog on Falkirk’s finest nature spots or an email raising awareness of an upcoming charity event, the AI chatbot will do the job faster than even the most experienced copywriter. You can expect the generated content to be consistent in terms of style and tone.

Proving the point, ChatGPT came up with a list of AI copywriting benefits, including: 

• Cost-effectiveness: Hiring a human copywriter can be expensive, especially for ongoing content needs. Using ChatGPT reduces costs as it requires no salary, benefits, or training
• Accessibility: ChatGPT is available 24/7, allowing content generation at any time. It removes the limitations associated with human copywriters, such as working hours, availability, and time zone differences
• Adaptability: ChatGPT can quickly adapt to changes in requirements or instructions. It can be trained on specific data or fine-tuned for specific purposes, ensuring flexibility in content generation.
• Scalability: ChatGPT can handle large-scale content generation without compromising quality. It can generate content for multiple platforms, channels, and formats, ensuring scalability for growing content needs.

There’s no denying that the generated list of ChatGPT benefits has its merits. The content is fairly easy to understand, with short sentences used to break up key points. While it doesn’t say anything new, such content could be used as the basis for further research and inspiration. Although a little dry, it could also be edited so that it matches your brand style.

We also used the AI chatbot to come up with a list of ChatGPT limitations, which included:

• Lack of domain expertise
• Inconsistent quality
• Limited creativity
• Insufficient context understanding
• Ethical concerns
• Lack of strategic thinking

Highlighting one of the main issues, ChatGPT expanded on each of these points at great length. If we wanted to highlight ethical concerns, such as the possible inclusion of biased or inappropriate content then we’d have to spend time editing the generated text. Such editing might take just as much time as writing the content from scratch. You could be sure that the content would draw on your up-to-the-minute expertise (rather than relying on ChatGPT’s database of information, which only goes up to 2021 at the time of writing).

Looking to the future

As we’ve shown, tools like ChatGPT can be great time-savers, giving inspiration so that we aren’t faced with the curse of writer’s block. They can boost the efficiency of human writers through the rapid generation of content outlines, research findings, and repurposed posts. However, judging by the number of advertisements for human copywriters, the limitations mean that the AI programs are viewed as tools rather than replacements. This looks set to remain the case, despite the potential for AI learning and development.

The short answer to the question of whether AI will replace copywriters is no. However, we expect there to be more human-AI collaboration, with such tools allowing skilled copywriters to focus their energies on tasks calling for high levels of creativity and originality. 

If you see the need for such human qualities then drop a message or call thefingerprint on +44 (0)7740 348 521.

 

If you found this helpful then you should also have a read of Why You Should Invest In Professional Copywriting Services, Why Writing a Blog is Important for Business and SEO, or thefingerprint wins Design Agency of the Year for a third year!