3 Reasons Why I’m Not Worried About AI Taking Over Copywriting
Ever since ChatGPT came out in November 2022, AI seems to be everywhere.
I can’t open any of my business apps without being told of their “great & new” AI writing assistant. Or an amazing extension that will write my emails, respond to LinkedIn articles, or help me search on Google more easily.
But AI isn’t entirely new to writing.
Grammarly is a form of AI, and it’s been around for a while. Grammar and spelling checks in any word processing programs use a form of AI.
But ChatGPT changed the game because now AI can write for you.
For the most part, it’s free (on some platforms). And anyone can plug in their prompt, and AI spits out a response they can copy & paste to wherever they want. It’s fast and cheap.
So why am I not worried AI is going to take my work as a copywriter?
Because you hire a carpenter. You don’t hire a hammer.
The same goes for AI.
AI is a tool to help craft copy. It’s not perfect and needs a skilled writer to turn it into writing that’s compelling and engaging.
Will some businesses use AI to save money instead of paying a copywriter? Sure. And they may be perfectly happy with the mediocre copy they get (until they’re not because it doesn’t drive action – then skilled copywriters will be ready to help!)
But let’s dig deeper into the 3 top reasons AI won’t replace expert copywriters.
Because AI doesn’t produce quality writing.
AI can’t produce a single line of writing without first “learning” from the writing already on the internet. (And I use “learning” in quotes because to many writers it’s more like plagiarizing.)
So AI “learns” and then rewrites what others have already said.
But AI will never be Shakespeare inventing new words (like dwindle, lackluster, or lonely). Or Maya Angelou pulling together a sentence that sounds like poetry. It will always just regurgitate what others have already said.
But if your goal is to get content on your website (and save money), then AI is the right route for you.
Just remember, you pay for what you get. And you’ll get the same sounding content your competition has (because AI will pull from them).
And in a crowded market, how does the same generic copy with the same “ideas” make your mom-owned business stand out as a choosable option? (The answer is it doesn’t.)
When you hire a copywriter, you’re hiring an expert to craft compelling messages that connect with your target audience. You want your audiences to be moved into action with writing that fits with your brand’s goals and voice.
Can AI do that? Maybe.
But only with the right prompt and several rounds of tailored edits.
And an expert on the other end who understands persuasive writing, your target market, and storytelling to give AI the right inputs.
(And if you plan to use AI to save you time because you’re a busy woman, that goes out the door when you have to type up different prompts to get the response you need.)
So until AI understands what it’s like to be up at 2 a.m. with a newborn or how it feels to have a man “mansplain” a topic to you, I’m not worried.
Because these are the stories your readers want to hear. They want to know you dealt with a baby who woke up every hour at night, how you were so sleep-deprived you started hallucinating, and how the program you developed saved you from more sleepless nights.
These personal, genuine stories about how your product can solve your audiences’ problems are what AI can’t produce. This is the quality it will lack – human connection.
Because AI isn’t adaptable.
When you write a blog versus an article for ForbesWomen, the writing style needs to be adjusted and adapted for the audience, platform, and writing objectives.
Every place you publish content on needs messaging tailored to optimize your engagement and achieve your desired outcome.
Can AI write an Instagram post? Sure. What about a landing page? Yeah.
But it’ll all come back to those pesky AI prompts you’ll have to type up to get the right writing for the right platform.
And that means you’ll have to understand what makes an engaging Instagram post or a high-converting sales page to know what you got from AI is you asked for.
And that’s why you hire an expert copywriter.
Because a copywriter knows words and how those words provoke action from your audience. They know how to adapt an Instagram post to work on Facebook and LinkedIn (without having to start from scratch). Or how to write and structure an interesting welcome email sequence.
A copywriter knows about calls to action, headlines, meta tags, and search engine optimization (SEO). AI only knows this information when you tell it to use it in the prompt.
It’s like deciding if you should have your nephew take your family pictures or a professional photographer.
Your nephew will be cheap and fast. He has some experience from the photography classes he’s taken. The pics he’s shown you look pretty good. And the professional photographer is a lot more expensive and can’t book you for another 6 weeks.
But will your nephew know what to do when the light changes and casts weird shadows on everyone’s faces? Or how to get everyone looking and smiling at the camera at the same time (especially your 8-year-old son who hates pictures)? Or is the right aperture to use for that neat sunset pic you saw on Pinterest?
This is the adaptability you pay for with a professional photographer.
And it’s no different with a copywriter.
Because SEO, social media, and other marketing trends are always shifting and so can the needs of your target market. A copywriter can adapt your copy to match these trends and the new needs of your customers. AI won’t even know about these changes until someone else writes about it.
Because AI can’t strategically think.
You started your business to solve a problem. Maybe it’s a course to help women-owned businesses find venture capital. Or a product to help nursing moms with cracked nipples and painful latches.
And as you developed your product, you dug in to understanding your target audience from pain points to demographics. Then using that information, you developed a marketing strategy.
Now you have a new course or new product that requires you to pivot your marketing messaging in a new direction and build a new plan. But you don’t have the time to do it all yourself like you did when you first started.
So you turn to ChatGPT (or another platform) to do it for you. But AI can’t do the level of strategic thinking you’re looking for.
AI can only produce what it learns on the internet. And then you end up with marketing that sounds just like competitors.
Or maybe you have something so new no one else has a product quite like yours. What will AI draw from? Nothing.
Only the strategic thinking of an expert copywriter will get you what you need. They can do voice-of-customer research that defines your target market’s pain points and understand how they describe their problem.
A copywriter will help craft your new value proposition and know how to showcase your cool features into benefits for the buyer. This part is especially important when you’ve put together something completely different from your competitors.
And a copywriter folds it all into your overall business plan to achieve your long-term goals.
AI can’t do that.
AI can’t think creatively or generate original content to match your new product. Those fresh, unique perspectives only come from an expert.
Will I use AI as a copywriter?
Well, yeah. I’d be a fool not to use it.
It’s a powerful tool for writing. And a powerful tool that can help save me time, dig into research, and bump me out of writing slumps.
Just like photographers who use Adobe Photoshop to enhance their pictures, writers will use ChatGPT or other AI platforms.
But I’ll always be the one writing the content.
A final thought about AI
One of my biggest issues with AI is the ethical concerns.
It doesn’t “write” anything. It takes from others’ work and produces content. And those writers it borrowed from get no credit or royalties. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of anyone using my hard work to make money.
(Read my article on Medium about people who use AI and call themselves “writers.”)
Plus, when someone reads a blog on your website to learn from you, what type of trust can you build if AI wrote it? Sure, maybe a copywriter wrote that blog, but at least it was a person with life experiences and knowledge. (And you hopefully gave input to apply your expert knowledge.)
Also, a copywriter can ensure that the writing is truthful and compliant with industry standards. Because the tricky thing about AI is it tends to make up information. And if you ask it for a source, it sometimes makes that information up too! (Like these lawyers who learned the hard way.)
Someone who takes the time to read your content is giving you something precious – their time. And they want a genuine connection with your brand to understand how you’ll help solve their problem.
If all they get is regurgitated, plagiarized copy, why would they give you their money?
I know I wouldn’t.
If you need quality, genuine, action-driven copy for your company, hire a copywriter.
You’ll be glad you did.
Because you won’t sound like your competition. Meaning you get more customers, make more sales, and have more time to invest in yourself, your business, and your family.
Need a copywriter? Send me a message. I’m ready to help!
Or set up a free consultation to talk about your SEO copywriting needs.
I can’t wait to connect with you!