Should content writers launch a Luddite rebellion against ChatGPT? 

You’re probably too young to remember the Luddites. I’m not talking about the 11-piece folk orchestra but disgruntled textile workers who took to smashing up the weaving looms that made them redundant. This happened in the 1800s (and no, even I’m not old enough to remember that). The anxiety around new technology is an old fear but a persistent one. The 21st-century’s weaving loom is currently ChatGPT. 

You have no idea how many times I have written ‘ChatGPT’ incorrectly. Certain words seriously twist my melon. I bet AI never has that problem. 

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a chatbot. (I know, total disappointment. I too was expecting something far more exciting but then I always am. I must learn to lower my expectations.) To sound more impressive, ChatGPT is a large language model (LLM) chatbot. It’s trained on lots and lots of data. And it’s pretty smart, it can understand and answer open-ended questions (which is more than any of my romantic partners could ever do).

It has endless potential. For example, it can help folks who struggle with literacy. It can also write code. It can do the boring donkey work, like keyword research. (Although, I love keyword research.)

Should content writers be shitting a brick right now?

You’re expecting a glib snobby writer’s answer, something about being human, and creative, and superior… oh, you just want the short answer? Well, it’s not that straightforward but sure, the short answer is no. 

A caveat: at this present time, mediocre content writers might be touching cloth. I’m talking about the peeps defecating banal perfunctory guff. Those people should be worried because ChatGPT can write that crap effortlessly and by default.

Interesting fact: banal and perfunctory happens to be 95% of B2B content so no doubt there will be hordes of business owners——and content farms (disguised as agencies) positively clucking to get their hands on it. Why pay a human to write shitty blogs when AI can write shitty blogs? So for the lazy, disinterested and feckless organisation, ChatGPT will seem like the content-writing silver bullet. 

I do sound a little snobby but stick with it, I don’t think what you think I think. Well, not entirely. 

Here’s what ChatGPT can’t do:

Create. Certainly not in the way we humans do. But interestingly, when we first got our hands on ChatGPT, we asked it to write poems and funny stuff, a sort of humanity test and I was no exception. The first thing I asked it to do was write a poem in the style of Bernard Manning (obviously):

“In a world so politically correct,

Where jokes are met with disdain and reject,

I’ll tread the line, walk the tightrope,

With words that provoke and give hope.”

It goes on…

“There once was a lad from Manchester,

Whose jokes could make your laughter stir,

He’d poke fun at people, every creed,

From up north to down south, indeed.

With a cheeky grin and a twinkle in his eye,

He’d push the boundaries, make us all cry,

Tackling taboos, without a care, Bernard Manning, the king of his lair.”

It doesn’t scan all that well. And the pov changes from the first-person to the third-person narrative, still, it’s an impressive effort. My biggest beef though, is the tone, which it’s mistaken for biographical information. So I asked it to try again but this time using the voice of the obnoxious comic (and the subject I chose was cheese)…

“Now, gather ’round, you cheese-loving folk,

For a tale that’ll leave your taste buds spoke.

I’ll take you on a journey through dairy delight,

With a voice that’s loud, and jokes that ignite.”

Ok, I’m almost hearing his accent now but it’s missed an opportunity to rhyme ‘spoke’ with something about being ‘woke’——I mean, c’mon! And this is the thing, ChatGPT is not that clever yet. It can’t write a poem about cheese, in the voice of Bernard Manning, and in the style of his humour. That’s largely because it isn’t a human (of a certain age) but also ChatGPT won’t use misogynistic, racist or homophobic language, and unfortunately, that’s the bulk of Manning’s material.

No, the world doesn’t need Bernard Manning-style poems but that’s not the point, this is: AI can’t make art. ChatGPT doesn’t think, it has no life lived which contributes to the creation of art. The kind of AI that can learn consciousness is still the stuff of Science Fiction. So whilst these bots are smart, they’re still just a rubbish version of a human, certainly in terms of using imagination to create something original. Yeah, LLMs like ChatGPT are fun to play with, and they also render semi-convincing images but no one with any discernment wants to hang AI-generated ‘art’ on their walls.

It all feels a bit empty, like a hollow pit of nothing much to offer. AI is fine for those who like cheating or cutting necessary corners but there’s a sense we’re seemingly powerless against the inevitability of the fake and inauthentic. You would’ve thought we’d had enough of that shit.

ChatGPT is the tool, not the craftsman.

To be clear, AI is not the panacea for all our business writing ills. ChatGPT is only as good as the human operating it. In real-life content situations, it doesn’t know your audience and it has no clue how you speak to them. If you lean on it too much, you’ll come a cropper (and fall flat on your arse), hence this lovely little heads up:

Worryingly, ChatGPT’s answers can look authoritative but be wrong.

“We have lots of work to do on robustness and truthfulness.” That’s a direct quote from the creator of ChatGPT, Sam Altman.

To be clear, I don’t think AI is a villain. It can make our lives easier. ChatGPT will improve, and just like any search engine, it will grow in its sophistication. But like Google, it pulls its information from the internet and we know how unreliable that information can be. If you choose to write your web content with it, you’ll spend quite some time fact-checking. It might actually take you longer to edit than to write the damn thing yourself. Humans do their research before they write blogs/articles/white papers/PhDs so think again if you imagine AI will save you time.

ChatGPT and SEO.

Nothing has changed when it comes to quality. If you care about your clients, continue to provide the best possible information for search. Your priority is content that is well-crafted and can be trusted.

“SEO is dead!”

Now we have ChatGPT, I’m hearing SEO is on the way out (again). Before we consign it to the graveyard (along with blogging and selling) let me add my tuppence: search will live on but probably not as we currently know it (Jim).

“AI is intuitive. I think it’s clear the current made-to-measure potential of search will only improve. Our broad-level thinking, in terms of traffic, will focus solely on the microcosm that is our audience.”

>>The Slow Content Movement: bask in the genAI backlash<<

ChatGPT will change the face of SEO. Search will evolve into a more tailor-made experience. But SEOers, like content writers, don’t need to worry just yet. I keep my ear to the ground and the big names in SEO are embracing AI but thankfully in a measured way.

Look, Neil still bangs on about SEO…

“Search is like the front door to your website.”

NEil PATEL, NP DIGITAL

Organic search will improve as the bots understand our queries more effectively. And depending on your point of view, that’s either thrilling or terrifying.

Hold your horses.

Quite often the next big thing is like those wank fireworks you buy from your local newsagents. The hype on the packaging bears no resemblance to the pathetic squeals and bangs.

Sure, AI has been in development for years, also, we knew the day would come when the tech would be scarily good but it still has a way to go. Remember how virtual reality was going to change our world? The film, The Lawnmower Man came out——scaring the living shit out of us, and then nothing. Thirty years later, Zuckerberg rebranded it and it is again, going to change our world. Yawn.

Look, crocheted jumpsuits were fairly zeitgeisty in the ’70s and 1950s society was sure we folks would be driving flying cars. We can forecast the future all we want but it doesn’t mean shit until it gets here. What we can expect from ChatGPT, is more errors and teething problems.  

First published, 23rd March 2024.

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