I’m not sure if you’ve noticed recently… but there’s a lot of conversation about AI or Artificial Intelligence.

A bit over a week ago… you could barely log on to Facebook without seeing huge posts about how AI is going to change our lives and career prospects. (New “AI Visionaries” were and are everywhere.)

One of my friends shared his insights and predictions in a super long post.

In his post he shared a bold and disturbing prediction that 80% of copywriters would be out of business by this time next year. This caused panic and pandemonium amongst many new copywriters as they tried to find out whether the prediction was true or not.

I received a number of personal messages from people who consider me to be a solid and calm influence in the copywriting storm (their words, not mine). They wanted to know what I thought about these predictions.

So, here’s my take on the whole thing…

Firstly, we need a quick definition of AI and Machine Learning because there’s a huge difference…

Artificial Intelligence: a program that can sense, reason, act and adapt.

Machine Learning: algorithms whose performance improve as they are exposed to more data over time.

So, what most people are calling “AI” is actually Machine Learning. And it’s only as good as the material it’s fed. Which for now is solid… but there is a time when that will change (more about that in a moment).

Many of the people on social media with the big predictions are enamoured specifically with an “AI” called ChatGPT.

Why? Well, because of the way ChatGPT has been trained, its answers come across as natural-sounding and human-like. Which is pretty easy to fall in love with.

But the important word here is… “Human-like.” At the moment it isn’t as articulate as most humans… but it does a decent job. It will get better though. And that is going to be a concern for a lot of people.

So, here’s the question I’m being asked all the time… “Will ‘AI’ replace human copywriters?”

And my honest answer is… wait… you need to promise you’ll read this email to the end! I’ll give you my answer… but I’ll also give you my insights on my answer. So, stick around.

Okay?

Alright… so “Will ‘AI’ replace human copywriters?” Yes! Copywriters will definitely be replaced. But not all of them/us.

The first copywriters to be replaced will be copywriters who can’t write as well as ChatGPT or other “AI.”

And at the moment, that’s not many people. “AI” still has a way to go… but it is doing it quickly.

Then the next copywriters who will be replaced will be the ones who can’t look at the output of ChatGPT and find ways for it to be improved.

You see, the copy it produces is ok… but it’s not perfect. The writing still needs some finessing to get it right. There is a “flatness” in the copy that AI produces. And that needs to be dimensionalized.

And that’s where I think the “AI” and smart copywriters will work together to create magic. Notice I said, “work together?”

For most copywriters who understand and study their craft… I think “AI” will be an accessory or a tool to write great copy, faster. That’s what I mean by “working together.”

Now where I think people will try to replace copywriters with “AI” is… business owners who want to save money. So, they will try to use “AI” as a replacement for copywriters… but my prediction is, it won’t work as well as they think it will.

Why?

Well, just as “AI” is only as good as the quality of information it learns from…its output is only as good as the question, command, or prompt it’s given.

So, based on the copy briefs and copy requests myself and my copywriting colleagues are given by our clients… I think this will be a problem for many people.

I imagine that “AI” will be asked things such as “write an email selling my X for $Y, at Z discount.”

And then “AI” will dutifully… and quickly… write the requested email. (Usually in seconds.)

But if other business owners enter a similar prompt… they will get a similar result. Then the market gets flooded with copycat copy… and consumers get bored of these “canned” messages.

However, if a copywriter knows how to write a more creative prompt that gives them more precise copy… then they will get a far superior result.

Now obviously, business owners can learn how to write better prompts. And if they are going to use AI to write their copy in a competitive market without the help of a copywriter… I strongly suggest they do.

So how can copywriters avoid being replaced?

Well, my suggestion is…

Knowledge Nugget #383:
Work With The Change…
Not Against It!

I bet you thought I was going to say we need to get better at our craft… and that is definitely true. But the fact is… we should be doing that anyway. So, it’s not the whole solution.

Since I started copywriting… I’ve been constantly upskilling myself. I still invest in copywriting and marketing courses, masterminds, and resources.

Some of the other “sage” advice out there is telling people to be more than just a copywriter… but that’s not new advice. It’s not even original advice. People have been saying that for years and years.

And I’ve been telling people the same thing for years in my Knowledge Nuggets… as well as doing it myself. I am way more than a copywriter… we all need to be.

So here are some other ways to work with the change, rather than against it…

1. Keep a solid base in reality… your reality. There are and will be a lot of predictions out there. And that is their reality.

Predictions are nothing new. Since the beginning of humanity, people have predicted the future. Even the “great” Nostradamus doesn’t get it right all the time.

Start to look through the predictions to see the real agenda of people. Some of the same people who are predicting all the doom and gloom are also selling products and programs to help people. How convenient!

2. You need to get good at writing prompts. There are more and more resources to tap into to help you with this. (A quick Google search will help you find them.)

And my suggestion is to start a prompt “swipe file” you can model your prompts on. I’ve already started one. Every time I see someone on social media post about a prompt they used… I take note of the results they received and if they are good, I add the prompt to my list.

3. Use “AI” as a writing assistant: Use “AI” for a quick draft or an outline… and apply your skills to “copify” it.” You need to know how to make AI generated copy better… or you will be left behind.)

That’s exactly what some of my copywriting friends are doing. But they don’t make a big deal about it. In fact, many of them have been using it for way longer than many of the new “AI Visionaries.”

And I’ve been dabbling with it for a little while too. I can see a time in the near future where I’ll use it more and more.

But here’s something else I want you to know about AI… many of the people jumping on the bandwagon were promoting crypt0, then NFTs and every other recent fad as little as a year ago.

Now I’m not saying AI is a fad. It’s definitely not.

But it’s not new either. It’s been here for years.

Yet, people are raving about it as though it’s new, and are busy making these dire predictions. Here’s the thing though, ‘Human replacement” isn’t only rolling out in our industry.

People have tried to replace humans in many industries for ages.

• Medicine and nursing have a plethora of machines that can monitor everything in patients… but nothing beats a “nurses’ intuition” when it comes to knowing when a patient is going to “crash.” (And we need nurses to monitor the machines monitoring the patient.)
• Over a decade ago, VA’s (Virtual Assistants) and Content Writers were outsourced to places like the Philippines, then India and Pakistan… and people predicted the end of American VAs and Content Writers. But here we are about to go into 2023 and people in the US are still making good money doing what they have always done.
• People are flooding social media with AI generated profile pictures. And again, people are so enamoured with the result they predict AI will take the place of artists. But… when you look into the eyes of the AI generated portraits, they are empty. They are flat and lifeless.

True artists capture the essence of the human they paint, photograph, draw etc. I don’t think the Mona Lisa will be replaced by an AI generated portrait any time soon.

• Speaking of photography… phone cameras were supposed to replace big bulky “real” cameras. But they haven’t. Actually, the technology of DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex) and Mirrorless cameras gets better and better each year.
• And self-driving cars are supposed to be the way of the future… but there are people who actually enjoy driving. So, they will continue to drive. And some people prefer cars that have no onboard computer at all. So, although self-driving cars will be around… I doubt they will take over completely.

Now, here’s something interesting… AI and Machine Learning is being “fed” and trained with information on the internet. So far it has absorbed data up until around December 2021 (I’m sure this changes day by day). And most of that data is human generated.

But… there will come a time soon when Machine Learning and AI starts to absorb “AI” generated data. So, then it will be learning from itself, but if that content or data is not improved… wouldn’t the quality deteriorate?

I guess time will tell.

Depending on what ChatGPT is used for… people are seeing flaws in its “thinking” because it doesn’t have the same reasoning as humans.

Right now, there are so many people trying to tell us that the sky is falling… but here’s a different perspective. What if the sky isn’t falling at all and we’re all rising up to a level where we can actually touch the sky?

AI will help us to level up. So, my recommendation is… find a way to work with it. You will be stronger, faster… and richer for it.

Until next week, stay awesome and Happy Holidays  : )

Pauline  x x x 

Pauline Longdon
a.k.a. “The Copy Alchemist”

P.S.  Since the topic of AI “blew up” on social media, my new favorite copy critiquing “insult” is… “your copy is a bit AI-ish!” lol. Which means it lacks dimension or it lacks a human in the copy. I’m joking… but only a bit.

There’s a huge difference between human written copy (even when it’s bad)… and AI generated copy. We need to know how to tell the difference… and more importantly, what to do about it.

P.P.S.  You know how people say, “The sky is the limit!” I have never liked that saying at all because it’s not the limit. Not even close! The sky is so small compared to what lies beyond it.

Having an open mind and expansiveness of thought will allow you to see beyond the limits other people are trying to set for you.

P.P.P.S.  I’d like to wish you a happy holidays. All my love and friendship to you and your loved ones. Thank you for giving me your time and attention. I appreciate you!

(I’ll be back next week with a yearly wrap up Knowledge Nugget to help you get ready for 2023. I’ve given my mentees this same tip… and they are loving it!)