Why Is Everyone So Afraid of ChatGPT?

With all the existential threats we’re faced with in the world today, the last thing we need is another one.

And you’d think that large language models, like Meta’s LLaMA, Google’s PaLM 2, and of course, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which are basically just chatbots on steroids, would be the least of our worries.

But in spite of the explosive popularity of these new AI tools, several dire warnings about the threat of artificial intelligence have coincided with their release.

That being said, cautionary tales and warnings about the threat of artificial intelligence are really nothing new, and they go back many decades, to a time before artificial intelligence as we know it even existed.

From The Terminator and Blade Runner to The Matrix, warnings about AI have pervaded popular culture for quite some time now.

But as we’ve been reminded over the last several months, these warnings don’t just come from pop culture, and many people in the know have given dire warnings about AI over the years, although they do seem to have been few and far between.

For example, in a BBC interview from 2014, renowned theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, declared that “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”

More recently, we’ve seen several warnings about the potential threat that these technologies pose to humanity.

At the end of March, the Future of Life Institute published an open letter, signed by a long list of prominent academics and industry executives, including Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, and billionaire tech magnate, Elon Musk, calling on AI developers to pause training of any AI systems more powerful than GPT-4, OpenAI’s most advanced language model.

And just a couple of days ago, the Center for AI Safety published its Statement on AI Risk, which states that “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”

The statement is signed by many well-known AI experts, and executives from several AI labs, including the CEO of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, and OpenAI’s own chief executive officer, Sam Altman.

But in spite of all the warnings, it’s obvious that these AI tools are too useful and profitable to pause for any significant length of time, as many of the people signing on to these statements are heavily invested in and already profiting from these technologies.

And aside from these warnings about AI in general, doomsayers in pretty much every sector have been worried about AI potentially wiping out entire industries by making millions of people’s jobs obsolete.

This type of pessimism has been particularly pervasive in the marketing industry, where people fear that all manner of marketers – from copywriters, to programmers, to SEO specialists – will be out of a job soon due to AI tools like ChatGPT.

But are these people blowing things way out of proportion?

No one can really say for sure, but if you find yourself asking these kinds of questions, or wondering about the effect that tools like ChatGPT could have on your marketing, then you’re going to want to keep reading, because this article is for you.

What’s the Big Deal with ChatGPT?

When it comes to AI, there’s so much to talk about that I could write quite the essay on this topic, but out of respect for my time, and yours, I’m going to focus this article on just one AI tool, and one aspect of the marketing industry, namely ChatGPT, and copywriting.

ChatGPT is clearly the most popular AI tool today, not least in the marketing industry, and copywriting is a sector of our industry where people seem to be most worried about being made obsolete, so I feel like it’s important to narrow my focus in this way.

But when I think about the reaction we’re seeing today in response to AI tools like ChatGPT, it reminds me of a couple of seemingly catastrophic events that I lived through in the past.

One of those events took place about 30 years ago, when the World Wide Web became publicly available, and at the time, people were terrified about the effect this technology might have.

Fast forward three decades, and in spite of some of these fears actually coming to fruition, few people today would argue against the fact that the Internet is one of the most amazing tools ever invented.

Another similar occurrence was the release of WordPress, and I distinctly remember all the doom and gloom surrounding that event. My team and I even had a debate at the time about whether or not we were going to use it, which is crazy to think back on today.

20 years later, WordPress is now used to build the vast majority of websites on the Internet, and in many ways, it has simplified the web development process and made maintaining a website much more affordable.

But this isn’t a new phenomenon, and this sort of skepticism seems to surround conversations about any new technology.

Even the calculator was feared when it came out, as it was thought to be the death knell of the human intellect, but that’s already been proven untrue, not least by the existence of things like ChatGPT.

But at the end of the day, these technologies are simply tools and fear of their use and existence is typically unfounded, as we’ve seen time and time again over the years.

All things considered, just like the calculator, the Internet, and WordPress, artificial intelligence is not going away, and like it or not, it’s something we’re all going to have to come to terms with and learn how to navigate.

So, is it true that entire industries are going to be wiped out by tools like ChatGPT?

And will you be able to fire your entire marketing team and replace them with robots in the near future?

As someone who’s worked in marketing for more than 20 years, I would say don’t hold your breath.

Will ChatGPT Make Marketers Obsolete?

As is the case with all the technologies I’ve mentioned, just because you have access to these tools, doesn’t make you an expert on how to use them.

I mean, just because you know how to use a calculator, doesn’t make you a mathematician, right?

And simply having access to ChatGPT doesn’t mean you’re an expert copywriter.

So, when I think about things like what it takes to use AI for copywriting, this is when I realize how absurd it is to think that this technology will ever make marketers obsolete.

And even though I’m someone who absolutely loves this tool, even I can admit that the supposed benefits of ChatGPT are completely overblown, and the truth is, it’s actually been made out to be something it’s not.

For example, many people have been promoting the idea that ChatGPT can write a book for you at the snap of your fingers, but this just isn’t true.

While I’m sure you could technically use it for this sort of task, you can’t just give it a topic, tell it to write you a book on it, put your feet up, and wait for it to be done.

In my experience, even getting it to write more than 500 words without it randomly stopping in the middle of what it’s writing can feel like a chore.

Because the reality is this tool is nowhere near perfect, and if you want to make the most of it, you’ve got to understand how it works, and you have to know how to give it the right prompts.

So, if you wanted it to write a book for you, you’d have to hold its hand every step of the way, and it would end up being a very tedious process where you’d have to continually give it instructions on how to write each section of the book, breaking up its tasks into chunks of no more than a few hundred words.

At the same time, if you want to create effective copywriting, you’re going to need to have a deep understanding of a litany of different subjects, like marketing, branding, web design, psychology, and more, and be able to instruct ChatGPT on exactly what to do to create that copy for you.

You can’t just say, “Hey, ChatGPT! I’m creating a website where I intend to sell my collection of baseball cards. Can you write the copy for me?” and then expect it to be any good.

Because ChatGPT is a large language model, not a marketer, so it just doesn’t work that way.

Truth be told, it’s an amazing tool that helps experts in their field to be more efficient and effective at what they do, but it’s not going to make you into an expert marketer just because you’ve typed out a few prompts and hit return.

What I (and Our Clients) Love About ChatGPT

In spite of all the dire warnings and doomsaying, as I predicted, ChatGPT has turned out to be an absolutely invaluable tool for me and my team, allowing us to save a lot of time, and in turn, save our clients money.

But the benefits of using AI for copywriting go far beyond saving time and money.

In addition to allowing us to save our time, and our clients’ money, as marketers, ChatGPT gives us many other advantages, as well.

For example, you know those days when you just don’t feel like working, or you’ve got something on your mind that’s distracting you?

I don’t know about you, but when this is how I’m feeling, it can seem downright impossible to get anything done, and when you’re a copywriter, this is when writer’s block can cause problems, and coming up with ideas can be a real slog.

But when you’ve got access to ChatGPT, it can do some of the thinking for you, and instead of staring at a blank page for ten minutes, you can ask it to write a few paragraphs to get you started, or come up with a list of ideas, like article topics, if you’re feeling stuck.

This is just one of the many benefits of having access to an AI tool like ChatGPT, and it’s done a great job of helping me and my team to be more effective, and efficient, while keeping our clients happier.

And after several months of using it, I’ve realized that the truth about this tool isn’t found on one side of the argument about AI or the other, but more like somewhere in the middle.

It’s not going to write a book for you in a day, and it’s also not likely to overthrow humanity anytime soon.

With that in mind, if you really want to know the truth about ChatGPT, it’s best to steer clear of both of these extremes and just try it out for yourself.

Because once you’ve done that, I’m sure you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

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(Featured image by growtika via Pixabay)

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