Don't worry: behind every AI is a human
Reports of the death of the copywriter have been greatly exaggerated
For years, people have been writing bad marketing copy using only what’s between their ears and, if they’re lucky, some kind of typing machine. Now, they can write it so much more quickly and efficiently with the help of AI.
‘You can’t tell the difference between AI-written and human-written content!’ yell the AI-ophiles.
That’s right. You can’t tell if a misguided human or a badly-prompted AI tool wrote this particular blot on the marketing landscape, spotted in a webinar invitation:
Here’s what we’ll cover during this session:
What a GTM (go-to-market) strategy is.
Steps to executing a winning GTM approach that delivers results.
How to leverage a strong GTM framework to unlock key commercial benefits.
Note how the eye glides over the words without really taking anything in. Note how the writer ticks all the top B2B clichés: ‘leverage’, ‘unlock’, ‘key benefits’. Note how it sounds exactly the same as a hundred other emails you’ve ignored this week.
I have so many questions! What results, exactly? Could you specify at least one of these commercial benefits? What’s the difference between bullets two and three? What will I learn from you that I couldn’t get in two seconds by googling ‘GTM strategy?’ To write a better webinar invitation, these questions need to be answered and then distilled into words that don’t send the reader to sleep.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI
When ChatGPT first burst onto the scene, a generalist marketer friend of mine asked me if I was worried it would take my job. I asked him if he was worried it would take his.
Being a (good) B2B copywriter involves doing many of the same things (good) B2B marketers do. Challenging assumptions on client needs or competitor differentiation. Speaking to knowledgeable topic experts. Negotiating creative and commercial compromises. Dealing with organisational politics. Thinking up new and entertaining ways to get a message to cut through and persuade prospects to act.
I don’t care what kind of marketer you are, if AI is coming for my job, it’s coming for yours, too.
It’s hard to open a newspaper, listen to a podcast or scroll social media without getting deafened by a cacophony of AI hysteria, both for and against. AI is the future of everything and human skills will be redundant within two years! AI has been massively overhyped and businesses are losing billions on it! Most people won’t let the small matter of having zero expertise in the field get in the way of sharing an opinion (present company included).
In the face of all that, I tend to follow the advice of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Don’t Panic. People who didn’t value copywriting in the first place will try to use AI to produce it. Those who understand how integral strong copywriting is to successful marketing, won’t.
Can we all get on with writing good copy now?
Now I’ve got this off my chest I’d happily never talk about AI for content production again. If you feel AI helps you write better stuff, great. (I’m not getting into the ethical and environmental concerns here.) If it doesn’t, don’t use it. Either way, AI content tools won’t fix bad B2B content. If any element of your research, positioning, messaging strategy, marketing understanding or creative thinking aren’t up to scratch, then buff up your words all you want with artificial intelligence, they’ll still be anodyne, ineffectual screen-filler.
I hear a lot of people saying they love using AI to create content; I’ve yet to hear anyone say how much they love reading it.
I’ll leave you with a heartfelt message directly from ChatGPT herself.
P.S.
I’m performing at a tech comedy night on Thursday 8th May, 7pm. If you work in B2B tech and you’re in the London area, come along! Tickets are £20 each, or you can get 4 for the price of 3- all profits go to the Campaign Against Living Miserably.
I’m Heather Barnett, a freelance B2B copywriter and creator of silly videos about marketing. This is my regular newsletter with tips on creating better B2B content.
If you’ve subscribed, thank you!
If you haven’t, there’s still time…
If you have no memory of subscribing and are secretly fuming at having this email appear in your inbox, please do unsubscribe. But why not get your own back on someone you hate first, by forwarding it on and suggesting they sign up?