Using AI for marketing content creation… isn’t that just cheating?
The generative AI tools that have started appearing in the last while have incredible potential for boosting marketing content generation, but isn’t it a bit like cheating?
A potential paradigm shift
It would have been hard to miss the recent buzz around Open AI’s Chat GPT, which in the last week of January recorded 100 million users taking advantage of its free beta version, just a couple of months following its launch.
Whilst Chat GPT only has access to information on the internet from 2021, its impressive ability as a search assistant, copy generator, code writer, maths assistant, and more is obvious. As a result, an investment by Microsoft has been announced in Open AI and a latest version of Chat GPT has already been released for some test users on Bing.
Google has sought to rush out its own option, Bard, in fear of Chat GPT’s potential as a game-changer in the search world. Whilst Bard hasn’t been released yet, a preview ad mistakenly included footage of the new software answering a question incorrectly, resulting in billions being wiped off parent company Alphabet’s shares. Every day seems to bring new developments and it’s amazing to watch the drama unfold between the tech giants.
A whole new set of tools to try out
Chat GPT is only one (albeit, particularly impressive) tool amongst many already available, some in beta, some as live products. Many developers are rushing out minimum viable products to get first mover advantage, so there is a lot to discover, and certainly, quite a few options that won’t be around for long.
Amongst the more mature is Jasper AI, a live text generation tool, particularly strong on copy creation and certainly worth a look. Generative AI is also available for imagery. Dall-e 2 (also from Open AI) and Stable Diffusion can generate visuals based on a few prompts and even fooled art experts in a recent Guardian piece (Is this by Rothko or a robot? We ask the experts to tell the difference between human and AI art | Art | The Guardian).
Tantalisingly, whilst generating talking head explainer videos has been available for a while (see Synthesia AI for example), Runway is promoting a text to video tool, which, if it works, would be pretty astounding.
But… isn’t using AI just cheating?
Is it right to use these tools? Isn’t it just cheating?
Well… why? An analogy that has been used is the invention of the pocket calculator: simply a technology that boosts basic human capability, much like any other technology. Any resistance we feel is the “shock of the new” that many must have felt when the telephone or motor vehicle were created.
Using these tools is very much a marriage of humans and AI. The art is in choosing the right prompts and the time saved on content creation can be spent on letting your imagination flow. Then, currently at least, some human editing work is needed as there are often errors or inconsistencies. They’re definitely not perfect.
Some search engines can spot where generative content has been used and may discriminate against it, so care is advised before going “all in”. They want to ensure that content is authentic and useful to the visitor, so the best approach may be to use these tools to support those aims.
Get involved!
Many of us have had a lot of fun using ChatGPT. It’s amazing to see the combination of human prompting and AI produce something original (a rescripting of The Godfather featuring zombies anyone?! See below… 😊) and also to see its potential in terms of search and other applications.
If you haven’t tried generative AI tools don’t be scared, just give them a go and see what works. Creativity is a key marketing attribute and these tools let you boost that to superhuman levels. The future is here: get involved!
Now… was generative content used to create this article…?
We would love to hear how you have used generative AI in your marketing activity. Please comment and respond to share your successes and any learnings along the way in our LinkedIn group.
This article was written by Ben Grainger, Channel Marketing Lead at Allianz and Communications Ambassador for the CIM London Committee. Find out more about the CIM London Committee members here.