This article covers:
What is generative AI?
What a six months it’s been since the explosion of generative AI in the digital marketing world. When I first really became acutely aware of generative AI and ChatGPT, and its wrecking ball entrance into the world of SEO, I admit to some scepticism.
Was it scepticism or concern or mistrust? I’ve long been frustrated with the lack of appreciation for ‘good writing’ – everyone can write can’t they? Now it seems that artificial intelligence could do the job of an experienced, skilled content writer… sigh.
ChatGPT – What is it?
However, I think the first question should be, ChatGPT – what is it? Where better to ask than ChatGPT itself? I asked ChatGPT what it was ‘in simple terms’ and its response was:
“ChatGPT is an AI language model created by OpenAI that can have human-like text-based conversations. It understands context and various topics, providing relevant responses. However, it’s essential to remember that it’s not conscious and may not always be entirely accurate.”
I love the caveat sentence at the end and I’ll discuss that later on…
Will generative AI change roles forever?
I’ve never been adverse to the forward thinking of technology: my career began in Computer Aided Design (CAD). Part of my role involved training designers (who were used to the drawing board, pen and paper) in the use of designing their drawings on computers. These people were changing how they did their jobs forever. I remember the sweat on their brows as they knew their job depended on being able to adapt to a whole new way of working.
So, if you’re worried about whether AI will replace you, maybe you should consider instead that a person ‘using’ AI may well replace you.
Is ChatGPT as good as they say?
So, I’ve been here before. Let’s see if it’s as good as they say…
I’ve kept my powder dry and decided to find out as much about generative AI, ChatGPT, Google Bard and more as I could to give us as much understanding as possible within our content department here at Pod Digital. I’ve listened to podcasts, read articles, networked with others in the industry and consumed content obviously written by AI. To be fair, I’ve enjoyed the ride.
What I really think about ChatGPT
I like it and I use it. However, there is a massive caveat to that. I have heard from various people, from first-time users to experts, “You put garbage in, you get garbage out”. That seems fair. So, it’s all about what you put in and that is where learning to use the right prompts comes to the fore. It is informative and grammatically well written, however, it lacks personality.
Google Bard vs ChatGPT
So, what about Google’s competition to OpenAI – Google Bard. I find both ChatGPT and Google Bard to be, at times, repetitive and inaccurate, yet Google Bard seems to be less fluffy than ChatGPT: more succinct. There are more instances where Google Bard isn’t able to answer a query, whereas ChatGPT more often can answer the query.
I asked the same question to ChatGPT and Google Bard: Google Bard’s reply was, “As a language model, I’m not able to answer that.” However, ChatGPT gave a comprehensive reply.
Bard is free to use and has access to the real-time Internet, whereas you need to pay for ChatGPT 4 which has access to the Internet. ChatGPT 3 remains free but cannot access data or information before 2021. Overall, as a copywriter, I prefer Google Bard – it cuts to the chase!
How will Generative AI create jobs?
The ‘new job on the block’ is ‘Prompt Engineer’. Going back to my, ‘garbage in, garbage out’ reference, generative AI needs to be fed information it can use to create content you can work with. I have seen 18 week training courses for this role…I’m not sure that is necessary? Prompt engineers use questions and prompts to shape the content of the responses.
There is a growing demand for prompt engineers and the skills and experience that are required for the role. Personally, for us here at Pod, I see it as a tool to help an experienced content writer to use their time efficiently.
Do we use Generative AI at Pod Digital?
When we use either ChatGPT or Google Bard, we may enter numerous prompts and only take from it one sentence or suggestion. We use it to spark an idea or find a direction: it is useful for brainstorming and research.
Would I use AI to write my content on its own? *insert expletive here* NO!
Why we wouldn’t rely on generative AI to write our content
When we first began experimenting on ChatGPT, and more recently Google Bard, we noticed that it hallucinates. This follows on from my previous paragraph, from ChatGPT itself, “May not always be entirely accurate”. By that I mean it makes things up. If it hasn’t got an answer to what we asked, it will literally make up a response: statistics, dates – whole paragraphs of nonsense.
However, I think the most important reason why we wouldn’t use generative AI to write our content is that it lacks personality and soul. Google uses quality rater guidelines to evaluate the personal experience and expertise of the content: you can’t replicate that personal element of someone writing from experience. Here at Pod Digital, we make it our business to know our clients’ businesses so that we can be their expert voice.
Now for a bit of a brag… We recently were awarded Most Client-Focused Digital Marketing Company 2023 – East Midlands from the SME News Business Awards.
More recently, it’s been reported that ChatGPT has been taking whole blocks of content directly from websites. Renowned SEO expert, Dr Marie Haynes, recently commented on this in her latest newsletter where she has found proof that ChatGPT is effectively copy and pasting. This opens up a whole myriad of concerns: plagiarism and penalisation from Google at the very least.
How safe is AI?
Concerns about safety have been increasing since the advancement of generative AI. With the production of convincing text, images and even voice on command, we are left wondering what we can believe.
Recently, Rishi Sunak has announced that the UK will host a global summit on safety in AI in the autumn. He believes the UK should take on a leading role in the global debate on AI regulation. I must say I agree – not often I can say that about the UK government but let’s not get political!
The summit is bringing together experts from government, industry, and academia to share their views and to develop recommendations for action. It will be interesting to see what comes from it and how it will affect businesses moving forwards. It’s good to know that after the initial excitement – I think that’s the right word – that maybe there is a calming down and bit of ‘taking stock’ going on.
Is AI biassed?
As well as concerns about safety, concerns about AI bias have been raised: AI systems can reflect the biases of the data they are trained on, leading to possible discrimination against certain groups of people. I would compare it to how children are influenced by the views of their parents. Generative AI is similar: it has been fed a huge amount of data to exist and function in the first place. So I suppose, as long as the world has bias, AI will have bias.
Can we compare the evolution of AI to the world wide web?
The invention of the World Wide Web and the development of artificial intelligence are two of the most significant technological advancements of the 20th and 21st centuries. Both have had a profound impact on our lives, and both continue to evolve at a rapid pace.
The invention of the WWW and the development of AI are two of the most important technological advancements of our time. It is exciting to think about the possibilities that these technologies offer. It is also important to be aware of the challenges that these technologies pose, so that we can use them responsibly and ethically.
Final thoughts on AI
It’s important for me, and for Pod Digital, to always be learning and keeping in touch with the latest technology and tools within the SEO industry and AI continues to fascinate me. I’ll keep on devouring podcasts and blogs on AI; I’ll use it, experiment with it and try to understand it.
How it is now, is not how it will be in ten years time. For now, it’s a good tool but not good enough to leave to its own devices, but who knows what the future holds.
By the way, I asked ChatGPT to completely write one of the paragraphs for me… Can you work out which one it was?
If you are interested in content for your website that has personality and is written by humans but with a responsible nod to AI, get in touch. Because, of course, what’s a website without words?
