Can Copywriters Learn to Love AI?

A few years ago, I bought a robot cat as a prop for a local theatre production (I played a cat lady. This, my friends, is called “typecasting.”) It’s cream-colored and fluffy in a rayon-nylon, faux-fur sort of way. Turn it on, and it blinks its big eyes, approximates a meow, purrs when stroked and even lifts a paw and rolls onto its side. Clever or creepy, depending on your point of view.

After the production ended, I placed the artificial cat in front of my artificial fireplace as a bit of décor. Naturally, my real cats were interested. Alpha Cat Peep, wise in the ways of the world, gave it one sniff and walked away. Scaredy cat Jeffrey took one look and ran like the devil was after him. But Remington…

Remington was in love. Never having bonded with Jeff or Peep (who also gave HIM one sniff upon his addition to the household and walked away), Rem had found, literally, a bosom companion, a Yin to his Yang. Every day he napped curled up beside CatBot, purring contentedly and, if he happened to brush a paw over the thing in just the right way, even getting a purr in return sometimes.

After about a week, though, I noticed that Rem’s half of the cat bed was empty. He had taken up residence on one of the sofa cushions, apparently not having found what he was looking for from his new friend after all. (Whether the break-up was amicable or bitter, I cannot say; it was done in private between the two of them and never spoke of by either afterward – probably because Rem is a cat, and CatBot is a bot, and neither speak English).

The New Cat in Town

What’s the point of this poignant tail … er … tale? It reminds me of the new relationship we writers are trying to/having to forge with AI technology. I suspect most of us have sniffed it a bit warily, like Peep, and perhaps also walked away. Others may have embraced this new creature in our midst, certain that it will make us better, stronger, and faster.

When it comes to ChatGPT and the like, are you Peep, Jeff, or Remington? Do you disdain it, fear it or love it (maybe even a little too much)? However you feel, the fact is that AI has claimed a spot in our littersandbox, and we’ll have to learn to co-exist.

Cat Fancy: What AI Does Best

Let’s face it. AI is smart. Like … scary smart. A few minutes ago, I set a timer and brainstormed 5 ways freelance writers can use ChatGPT. In just under 30 seconds, I produced this list:

1. Research
2. SEO optimization
3. Combat writer’s block
4. Idea generation
5. Outlining

I then posed the same query to ChatGPT. In something under 10 seconds, it produced THIS list:

1. Idea generation
2. Content Outlining
3. Writing Assistance
4. Editing and Proofreading
5. Keyword Research and SEO

Pretty close to the same. But ChatGPT did it in one-third the time AND included explanatory text for each item, plus introductory and closing paragraphs.

Ouch. Or should I say, HISS.

Gotta admit, ChatGPT is very good at all of the items listed above, and many more. With a simple query, I was instantly able to determine that my model robotic cat was produced by Hasbro, was introduced in 2015, and has many potential uses, such as “a companion pet, particularly for seniors and individuals who may benefit from the companionship and interaction of a lifelike pet without the responsibilities of caring for a real animal.” In less than a minute, it

• gave me a very comprehensive result when asked to “create an outline for an article on the features of robotic cats and their potential uses and benefits.”
• produced a nice list of potential article topics of interest to people who own robotic cats.
• generated 20 SEO-optimized keywords to use to attract readers to my robotic cat content.

Litterbox Issues

With all that, there are areas in which AI output is kinda … crap. Currently, its last “knowledge update” was in 2021, so it doesn’t know a lot of things that have happened since then (and a lot of things have happened since then). It can delineate possible ethical issues related to pairing lonely seniors with artificial pets, but doesn’t have much to offer in terms of what those considerations and caveats actually mean in real, human terms.

Similarly, it is unlikely to create a blog post like this one, which uses my personal experience with real and robotic cats as a framing device and metaphor for the freelance writer’s relationship to it. (Note: While a robot cat might seem a nice fit for an artificial intelligence, ChatGPT confirms that it does not, in fact, own one.)

In short, as purr-sonable as AI appears to be, it probably won’t meet all your needs, or your clients’. It does what it does very well – and so do you. Use it as the tool it is, appreciate its powers and be glad that it can make your work perhaps a little more productive, a bit less stressful and altogether more impactful (unlike the very real feline who is at this moment making this writing task infinitely more difficult).

P.S. Remington has since found a very real cat pal to curl up with, and CatBot has been relegated to a basement closet.