What happens when a writer almost becomes a hypocrite? How do you save yourself from fleeting trends? Is AI a friend or a foe?
ChatGPT and Gemini like AI tools brought happiness to many professions, but one sector was majorly affected – the content writing community. It was a hard hit – people everywhere were making claims about how the jobs of writers would be taken over by AI. At once, the story of robots and AI controlling the world almost seemed like a reality.
Speaking of personal experience, I was not at all in the mood to check out the latest tech everyone around me was raving about.
“Hey did you see, ChatGPT can write poems like Edgar Allen Poe”
“Hey check this funny rap verse GPT wrote like Kendrick Lamar”
It did not amuse me at all! Being an avid reader, and an aspiring writer, I took it upon myself to never compare the writings of people with brainless robots. If writing a book was all about copying emotions – there would have been hundreds more like Shakespeare and Stephen King. And, even though I was not a Kendrick Lamar fan – I am now a proud owner of a t-shirt with his face printed all over it.
If it’s not already clear – I hated these new technologies without even trying them. Why? Because it claimed to do something I do and people liked that better! Trust me being competitive is not always good – especially if you are made to compete with AI that has data from thousands of different successful writers.
We writers are probably the most misunderstood ones in the professional world. There are times when people make fun of us saying “Oh! Your work is so easy, you just have to write stuff!” and then they insult us by paying peanuts for our work, and justifying it by saying that (aka two cents) should compensate for our time and efforts.
Imagine if the copywriter for Nike’s tagline – “Just Do It” was paid based on the number of words they wrote. What outsiders fail to understand is that, yes we just churn out words, but those words are exactly what drive your target audience to pay you for your products or services – at times our words are exactly why prospects even turn heads toward your products.
Coming back to AI and its effect on content writers. I did try it! And, guess what – I hated it even more – at first, because yes it was giving answers that made sense. But as I used it more, I understood AI was really stupid and could never replace me.
The Hypocrisy
The same people who once sang praises for the technology were now being way too harsh on it rendering it useless. The so-called keynote speakers on LinkedIn who once could not get enough of AI were now hopping on the trend of demeaning it.
The Happy Ending
I got my answer. My competitive mind was happy. My job was secure as long as there lived people who understood the basics of the language, emotions, and the human touch.
And for those who think replacing their workforce with AI is the way to go – my prayers will always be with you. May you get the courage to see beyond saving some cents and into what really matters at the end of the day – your customers who like to buy from real people and not bots, who love to read what real people write, and hopefully who can now, after so much outrage and news, can make out what is the difference between AI written content and something good.
From a writer who once almost got caught in the fading trends of AI-generated content to someone out there who might still be wondering – “Can AI really replace me?” No, it won’t. It can never. As long as you stay true to yourself and the people around you. You have your job, your skills, and the path to take you forward.
Moral of the Story
Even though AI-generated content ranked high enough for these keywords, it might in all honesty be another fading trend. Some people can’t get over it, and some are waiting for it to go out of trend. And, it’s okay if you use it to assist you when you are stuck with something, maybe a writer’s block, as long you are on the right side of the bridge.
