I’m training my apprentice, not my replacement
I’m sure by now you’ve heard of this thing called AI. You know, short for “artificial intelligence”?
Not even 12 months ago, I had barely heard of it. It seemed like the product of a distant land that I only heard about once or twice a year when there was a terrorist attack, or some other event that merits 90 seconds of airtime on Fox News.
Now it’s ubiquitous. Everyone is talking about it.
I’ve even had a couple of clients say they no longer need my editing services. Because AI can do it for them. Maybe not at the level of quality I provide, but good enough when you’re in a pinch and need to meet a self-imposed deadline.
Back when I began thinking and writing about this in earnest, probably February or March 2023, I was skeptical about AI.
Looking back, I think this skepticism was in my background as a pro musician, and then in content creation – both of which require years of practice, making mistakes, suffering setbacks in order to perform at a high level. I remember specifically saying that a trumpet can’t practice itself, and that in essence is what copying and pasting from Chat GPT and passing it off as one’s own work is.
Not only is it a very deceptive form of plagiarism, but the “creator” is deceived into thinking they’ve created something when they haven’t. It’s like performing a concerto without putting in the reps on the scales, performing in front of grandma. Or writing compelling copy without testing it on others. Does it get people to do what you want them to do? Meaning does it get them to buy your product, press play on your podcast, whatever the case may be?
It seems like cheating.
And if that’s all you do with a service like ChatGPT, it is. You’re cheating yourself at the end of the day, because there will come a time you actually need to write something without ChatGPT and you’ll be left flat-footed. You can’t hide a lack of real training and experience, no matter how many prompts you feed into AI.
So that is how I viewed it for the next few months. I was kind of proud of myself for bearing the banner of artistic integrity amid the onslaught of The Machines, the dumbed-down culture that will inevitably occur.
But then I realized I was being quite silly with this attitude. I realized that ChatGPT, or any of the hundreds of AI platforms that are created each week, aren’t going anywhere. Others are going to figure out a way to use it in their work editing podcasts, creating copy for websites, (still don’t know how it can practice a trumpet, but let’s give it 3 months and see what happens ;).
So rather than fight a futile fight, why not give it a shot and see if it can work?
So I did and realized it’s not as bad as it first seemed.
It’s actually kind of fun to enter a prompt and have a blog post that would ordinarily take 30 minutes to write write itself in front of you in mere seconds.
Of course what ChatGPT produces isn’t anywhere near what I would write. It’s tepid, bland and barely at the level of an 8th grader with its “creativity”.
This is the critical moment when it all comes together.
I realized that I can “hire” ChatGPT to do the tedious work, and then I come in, personalize it to my liking, and it works. Kind of like hiring a junior copywriter, only they don’t get offended when I say their work sucks and I need to improve on it.
So I began experimenting with this practice, and I’ve been pleased with the results. I actually rewrote the entire script for my Trumpet Dynamics podcast using AI. It gave me ideas to improve on which I never would have thought of. Who cares if it’s not what I would have written? I’m happy to throw a bone to my new employee here and there so long as it keeps producing 😉
So it’s the years of practice in writing emails, podcast descriptions and such like which enables me to increase my efficiency, even the content itself using AI.
Will I ever copy and paste something created by ChatGPT and publish it in my name? Of course, but not in every situation. I would never do so writing something as personal as this email. One must keep his wits sharp. But I will do so for writing a quick blurb about the essential elements of a website. I just did that this past week on our JNS Media website.
I’ve realized that I treat AI as I would an employee. I tell it what to write, and then I edit it so that it sounds like it’s written by me.
That’s what countless influencers, writers and copywriters have done for decades; I see no moral dilemma in doing so myself.
So that’s my take on AI as of today, 16 October 2023. It’s of course a hot topic, but I believe it will never replace the need for quality writing. If anything, it will make the quality writers stand out among the phonies who are cutting and pasting whatever ChatGPT is spitting out and calling it a day.
Now for the call to action. I have no affiliation with this organization called “Superhuman”, but I’ve been reading their newsletter for awhile. They dive deep into what’s new and hot with AI and it’s really informative.
If you’re like me and wanting to learn more about how AI is changing life as we know it at blinding speed, check out their link: https://www.joinsuperhuman.ai/subscribe?utm_source=newsletter_referral