Conversational AI ended copywriter profession as we know it – vol. 1
I was recently searching for copywriters for a project. My friend and great strategist Petr Laštovka and I completed the positioning, Petr outlined several creative paths, we wrote down a few main slogans as the basis for a “vision – mission” (I’m usually replacing these with a single brand manifesto, more on that later), and we developed a set of keywords and phrases. The next step was supposed to be the work of a copywriter, or rather a team of copywriters. Expanding on the main messages, selecting the right terminology, polishing phrases, multiplying and refining message sets for various target groups and contexts. I cast the net, posted an ad, and started talking to representatives of a trade I previously didn’t have much experience with – freelance copywriters.
My inbox was literally flooded with dozens of emails from interested parties. Emails with a similar pattern: introductions, specialization in project types, links to live websites as proof of SEO skills, attachments with longer articles. The work style: from home. The communication style: written briefs, a short video call once a week at most. Not agile but waterfall: you assign, then there’s a pause for several days, and then I deliver. One or two revisions, final submission. The better and more experienced the copywriter on paper, the more focus on writing itself, refusing to be distracted by other activities connected to copywriting. Which actually means:
What AI can’t, human copywriters won’t.
What do AI “copywriters” like ChatGPT 4, Anyword, or Jasper offer? The same thing. They require a text brief. The better the brief, the better the output. That is, the more effort and skill the client puts in, the better the result. AI works best in steps, with revisions and incremental improvements. So do human copywriters. But with AI, a step takes seconds, not days. Including data sourcing. A quick, decent translation from one language to another. No typos. And we are not talking only plain, tasteless texts: there are not only general AI tools available, but as well specialized ones trained in genres. For example, Vondy offers styles like “Comedian GPT,” “Speech Writer,” and “Report Writer,” and the list doesn’t end there.
What does this mean? The dawn of most copywriters. I didn’t hire a single one. The first 4 blog posts for the project website as a test for me as a client -> prompt writer and a test for AI as a performer were written by ChatGPT 3.5, and later edited, i.e., improved, by version 4. The output? Excellent, and not thanks to my genius prompts, the credit goes to the machine. The total time spent on 4 blog posts in 2 languages? About 2 hours. AI can do all of this. What can’t it do? More on that next time.
The day ChatGPTv4 was launched, 99 % of members of the copywriters guild became obsolete. They just didn’t get the memo yet.