Like most people, we were blown away in November 2022 when ChatGPT hit the market. Unlike most people, it represented the first possible existential threat to our business.

So, like the responsible business owners we are, we leaned into ChatGPT AI copywriting, learned how to use it and identified its current limitations.

By the time The Globe and Mail came asking for our take, we had an informed one to offer.

You can read the article here, and you can keep reading for three additional takeaways about ChatGPT and AI copywriting.

ChatGPT is not the enemy 

You’d think professional writers might feel differently — and some probably do. But we see ChatGPT and AI copywriting as a useful tool for solo-brainstorming.

When no one else is around to jam, a writer can toss a few ideas into the interface and use what it spits back out as a jumping off point into new thoughts, constructions and approaches. And when a particular tangent has been exhausted, a writer can go back into the AI and get re-inspired.

Another use for the technology is as a research tool. Essentially, it does the work of scouring the internet for facts and quotes. Of course, we then have to make sense of what we get and present it in a compelling way, but we can do it in far less time and bring our unique value to the project that much sooner.

ChatGPT is like an IKEA kitchen

IKEA kitchens absolutely have a time and place, and they add tremendous value there and then. But when you eventually move into your forever home, you’ll probably want something more unique, more indicative of your style and more suited to the way you use your kitchen for food and/or entertaining.

A company’s forever home is the feature content they know real people will read and evaluate when doing their purchase research. This would include their website, pitch decks, leave-behinds and legacy thought leadership pieces — essentially the pieces that the ephemeral messaging will almost always drive to.

Having said that, companies can save a ton of money by using ChatGPT and AI copywriting for that come-and-go content like emails and social posts where repetition is more important than message.

ChatGPT isn’t replacing human writers

Well, it isn’t replacing human writers who can connect with readers on an emotional level and move those readers to action.

It isn’t replacing writers who have unique readable styles that compel readers to keep going.

And it certainly isn’t replacing writers who can review a company’s offering, position them uniquely as the most obvious choice for their target audience and compellingly communicate that point of difference.

This is why it’s not replacing us, and why we’re not scared.