If you think it’s odd for the internet to lose its collective mind over something as mundane as a new chatbot, ChatGPT may make you rethink your opinion on the future of AI.
Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT aims to make you feel like you’re talking with another human being. That’s nothing new. But because of its sophisticated algorithms, ChatGPT has capabilities that go far beyond those of your standard bot.
Let’s take a deeper look at what ChatGPT can — and can’t YET — do. And what it may mean for the future of your business.
The Tech That’s Terrifying Google
Ask ChatGPT a question and the first thing you’ll notice is its ability to answer in “natural language.”
For example, you can ask it things like “how does a plane fly?” or “how do you cook spaghetti?” and get an explanation or instructions written in plain English. It can even write songs, computer code, poetry (the quality of which is debatable), and carry on a basic conversation, similar to the one you might have via text message with a friend.
ChatGPT can even go as far as to write simple essays or articles based on prompts you provide. Ask it to write a 500-word article on the dangers of artificial intelligence and it will happily comply.
That first capability has Google terrified. They reportedly issued a company-wide “Code Red,” meaning the C-suite sees ChatGPT as a serious threat to its core search business. But that last capability, the ability to craft content, has marketers feeling the heat and dusting off their crystal balls.
Can ChatGPT Truly Replace Humans?
It doesn’t take a wild leap to imagine ChatGPT replacing paid copywriters and dutifully churning out content 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no holidays, no sick days, and no salary.
Give it a prompt to write an article on anything for which it has “training” (more on the importance of this in a second), and in under a minute you’ll have your article — with no plagiarism and (for the most part) no errors. It does, at times, get some of its facts wrong.
But while it can do a convincing job of producing “lifelike” material and sounding human, it’s important to remember that ChatGPT can only produce content from its pool of training material.
Like All AI/Machine Learning Tools, ChatGPT is Limited by its Training Samples
All AI/machine learning tools need massive amounts of material to “learn.” In the case of ChatGPT, it absorbs and analyzes millions upon millions (if not multiBILLIONS) of lines of text, much of it gleaned from the internet. Its algorithms can then use all of that material to recreate what sounds to us like natural language responses.
OpenAI stated that “human AI trainers” helped tweak how the tool worked by providing feedback. This is a very basic explanation of the way all AI models like ChatGPT work — they produce a result, get feedback on the result, and then produce refined results until they “get it right.”
One Chatbot to Rule them All?
At the end of the day, ChatGPT is a truly groundbreaking piece of tech, and it will be interesting to see where its creators take it from here. It’s not, however, going to replace human writers or others who rely on originality or creativity to serve their clients or customers. At least not yet.
It cannot offer groundbreaking insight, produce an original “spin” on existing problems, or be creative in its approach to…well…anything. It’s simply using AI to draw on its storehouse of “knowledge” and mimic human language. Nothing more, nothing less. What this means for marketers is somewhat complicated. You can read our take on what we see as the implications of ChatGPT in this post.
What Does ChatGPT Ultimately Mean for Your Digital Marketing Strategy?
From the perspective of a team of die-hard digital marketers, ChatGPT is a long way from replacing the strategic thinking and insights you get when you invest in a living, breathing marketing partner.
If you’re looking to learn more about how ChatGPT works and the pros and cons of utilizing AI versus good-ole fashion human brain power for your digital marketing content, we’d love to chat.