Back in February, we explored ChatGPT in its infancy: the possibilities, the pitfalls and everything in between. We’re now in October and that ChatGPT article remains one of our most-read blogs every. Single. Month. What can we say? It’s a hot topic! But, in a recent trip to Cologne for DMEXCO (read about our takeaways in this article), Christiane Pidde and Chris Oliver discovered just how hot the topic of A.I. is in the world of digital marketing. So, we figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to revisit ChatGPT and A.I. by taking a look at what us mere industry mortals actually know now. Let’s go!
ChatGPT is an evolving beast
It’s been said that “The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long”. Well, ChatGPT burst onto the scene burning brightly but it hasn’t slowed down since. How bright was that initial flame? Here’s a stat from our DMEXCO blog that illustrates it perfectly:
Time to reach ONE MILLION users:
- Netflix: 3.5 years
- Facebook: 10 months
- Spotify: 5 months
- Instagram: 2.5 months
- ChatGPT: 5 days
That speaks volumes about the initial fascination with ChatGPT, but clearly this is more than a flash in the digital pan. This A.I.-powered innovation still holds the world’s attention. Why? Because A.I. keeps evolving, and ChatGPT remains at the forefront of that evolution. What essentially happened was, Open AI had a major breakthrough. Once that breakthrough occurred, as is always the case, everybody and their dog could copy it. So, a breakthrough for Open AI and ChatGPT was a breakthrough for the rest of the A.I. industry. That’s why we can expect to keep seeing more and more advancements in the field in the coming months and years.
It’s not to be feared!
I’d like to say “I told you so!”, but honestly the initial fear and uncertainty was not just understandable but also probably warranted and wise. We didn’t know its capabilities, its limits or what – most importantly – human beings could do (good or bad) with this new tool. Generally speaking, while there was a fear of ChatGPT and A.I. itself, it’s the people using it who would actually be causing any of the damage we were worried about.
As I said just a few weeks ago, ChatGPT is powerless without the people using it. That also means it lacks in areas that people excel in (more on that in the next paragraph). Essentially, it’s a platform that enables advancement and enhancement in our human-driven work. That still leaves moral issues up in the air (for example, it could be helping improve literacy in harmful propaganda, but it could also be used for positive purposes against that propaganda). With that said, the platform designers have gone above and beyond to minimise the usage of ChatGPT for the likes of hate speech or opinionated, non-factual arguments.
It’s actually creating jobs
I mentioned, in that initial article, that content writers like myself might see ChatGPT, or whatever revolutionary innovation emerges from it, as a threat to our jobs. What I hadn’t anticipated in that article was that a new form of skilled work would actually arise from it: ChatGPT prompters.
As it turns out, it takes a hell of a lot of skill to generate effective output from ChatGPT. You need the right information (and as much of it as you can possibly get your hands on) presented in the right manner in order to generate truly impactful, purpose-built content. Even a minor oversight can cost you without casting a keen eye over the output, and whatever content is delivered by ChatGPT will always be restricted by a lack of information.
Most importantly, as Kris Britton assured me all those months ago, effective content writing still needs a human touch. I’m keeping my job! The machines won’t win today!
It beats Google, hands down
This might sound silly to say, because ChatGPT’s capabilities go so far beyond that of a search engine, but Google turned 25 in the last few weeks and this is the first time anything has come close to trumping it as a source of knowledge and answers… and it’s been blown out the water!
If I need a quick, easy answer to anything, I can get it in one clear, trustworthy sentence or paragraph. No sifting through SERPS trying to find one I trust, one that gives me the information upfront rather than burying it in a 10,000-word blog and one that gives me the answer I need (right or wrong) to win the debate I was having with my mate.
It doesn’t work for everything!
As Jordan Parker Erb discovered in this Business Insider article, A.I. has its shortcomings, and those shortcomings mean that not everybody can leverage ChatGPT effectively. As we discussed earlier, the human touch is still lacking (hence, it doesn’t work on dating sites!).
So, if you’re trying to respond to customer queries & complaints, ChatGPT is not your friend. Likewise, if you’re attempting to write content for your website or marketing campaigns that rely on a personal feel, put in the work yourself – don’t reply on ChatGPT. Christiane & Chris noted that sharing personal anecdotes and impromptu stories in your content generates a lot of engagement, and that a human touch seems more welcome and important than ever. This, as ever, is most true for small businesses.
So, use ChatGPT – or any form of A.I. – wisely.
The final lesson…
Ultimately, the takeaway here has to be this: you should use KAYBE for your marketing instead!
Seriously though, while ChatGPT can’t offer everything you need to enhance your marketing department and elevate your business, KAYBE can. We can offer the human touch AND the all-knowing expertise to execute whatever marketing challenge you put in front of us. So, get in touch and put us to the test today.
