If you have a business with a blog, social media sites, a website, a newsletter or any other platforms that require content, you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT. Since its release in November, ChatGPT has grabbed headlines – and the imagination of small business owners who see it as a simple solution to their content problems.
What Is ChatGPT?
For those who don’t know what ChatGPT is, it’s an easy-to-use, automated chatbot writing assistant that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to answer questions in natural language. The responses are conversational and human-like – but not necessarily accurate!
As a digital marketing agency, our clients want to know if ChatGPT can write their blogs quickly and cheaply and simply, and the answer is while ChatGPT is great, ChatGPT and other AI writing tools can’t replace experienced content writers.
Here are some facts about ChatGPT and other AI assisted writing tools.
- Is ChatGPT the 1st AI writing tool?
No! AI writing tools have been around for a while. A few of the very popular ones are:
- Jasper
Jasper is an AI copywriting tool for writing blogs, press releases, social media posts, emails, articles, graphic designs, books… and so much more! Jasper has lots of templates and training materials, and a rabid fan base and user groups. It is a pay-to-use tool, with different price plans. - Grammarly
Most people think of Grammarly as a grammar and spelling correction tool, but Grammarly describes itself as a “free online writing assistant.” Not only does it make spelling and grammar suggestions, it also detects plagiarism and suggests copy improvements. Grammarly is freemium – there are paid and free versions. - Canva
Canva is a graphic design tool with an AI writing assistant to autogenerate text that helps write documents including social media, blog posts, presentations and articles. Canva is a freemium tool, but Magic Write is only available for the paid tool.
- Why is ChatGPT getting so much PR?
The version of ChatGPT that is currently available is a beta version, which means it’s a test version and the developers of the tool are looking for feedback and problems. It has received a lot of media coverage because overnight people were using it for many applications including quickly writing
- college essays
- cover letters for jobs
- professional bios
- email drip campaigns
- reword, revise or summarize copy
- and a whole lot more
- And more importantly, the beta version of ChatGPT is FREE
The beta version of ChatGPT is free, while Jasper, CopyAI, WriteSonic, Anyword and other AI writing tools are pay to use. Which versio is the best depends on what features you need in your AI writing tool:
- SEO content writing
- User-friendly
- Blog writing
- Social media posts and marketing
- What languages you need
- Plagiarism detectors
- Integration with other tools
When ChatGPT is released for full use, it will undoubtedly be a pay to use product, just like the other AI writing tools.
- So why can’t I use ChatGPT instead of a content writer?
You can use ChatGPT WITH a Subject Matter Expert (SME), like a content writer, just like you can use the other AI writing assistants with an SME. It’s important to know a few facts about ChatGPT:
- You need an SME to proofread and manage content created by ChatGPT.
- ChatGPT only has data through 2021, so it’s useless if asked about any information after 2022.
- ChatGPT gathers information from the internet, and a lot of info on the internet is wrong! If you own a business and need a blog about information relevant to your business, if ChatGPT gathers information from the internet, you need to verify the information is accurate.
- ChatGPT does not have a built-in plagiarism checker. If you use ChatGPT, you need to run a separate plagiarism checker.
- OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has said the released version of ChatGPT will have a built-in plagiarism checker.
- ChatGPT uses “normal” language but it doesn’t know your brand or product’s terminology. You need an SME to ask ChatGPT intelligent questions using strategic keywords and terms to ensure ChatGPT returns SEO-optimized copy, and naturally add your local keywords into the content.
- An experienced content writer will know how to provide strategic, targeted prompts for ChatGPT so that you get blogs, website copy, emails, newsletters and other types of content that help your business grow and become more profitable.
The bottom line is ChatGPT and other AI writing assistants are tools to help you create outlines or first drafts and to generate ideas quickly, but you need whoever manages ChatGPT and your other AI tools needs to understand your content strategy and goals.
Whether you’re writing manually or using an AI writing tool, the computer saying is still true:
GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out