Is This A.I.?

Do you think you would be able to tell?

Is the future of copywriting doomed?

I was told by someone when I first started my copywriting coaching, “That’s not a good business to get into… with A.I. and everything.” 

As this stung for a mere second (I wasn’t going to give said person the satisfaction) I have thought about this from time to time since... 

Am I an idiot for starting a business that is inevitably going to be taken over by a robot? More importantly, will anyone even know the difference? 

What do I know.

Like any self respecting adult, I tossed and turned on this concept without any research or understanding. I just let my imagination of this threat get to me before I really actually looked into it.

You know. Adulting. At its finest.  

I actually knew nothing about A.I. except for what the news has glazed over & pop culture has taught me through movies…  What really is A.I.? 

Will they be going rogue like the robots in Will Smith’s 2004 (way before it’s time) movie I, Robot? Where the robots are quite helpful completing tasks until they develop sentience and start thinking for themselves? 

Photo: I, Robot: Ava Gerlitz

Will the Bots trick us like in the Joaquin Phoenix 2013 movie Her?  Where a lonely but soulful Phoenix, starts chatting with an operating system and grows real feelings to find out “she” is talking to millions of others right along with him? 

Joaquin Phoenix. Photo: Warner Brothers/Untitled Rick Howard Company LLC

What are we really looking for?

It got me wondering: Do we as humans just want to get the job done? Or do we just want “human” connection whether it be real or fake as long as we are none the wiser? 

A.I. chats are trained on a vast number of databases of digital texts and designed to predict the next word in a sequence. They literally and liberally make stuff up. (I mean, that’s what I am doing right now, right? Oh I’m so confused… )

A little experiment.

Looking into this, I came across an article by Natasha Singer, a reporter for the New York Times used A.I. to Write Essays for Harvard, Yale and Princeton.

She wondered how the chat bots would do on shorter essay questions for the elite schools. College admissions are currently handling the profound question of authenticity and how to handle A.I. on the submission side as well as the admission side.

Excerpt from Singer’s article :

This is funny. But how would artificial intelligence pick up on the nuances and layers of a song? And I am sure the student could give them a song title because it means something to them, and allow the bot to have at it, but… that kind of defeats the whole point of the exercise, No?

Another more concrete example:

Does this sound like a high schooler to you? That is just about to set out into the world for the first time? I know it’s to get into a prestigious school, but, come-on.

I mean… I was not even close to being in the running for the Ivy Leagues, but still… Using ChatGPT is just vacuous and demeaning to your hypothetical future roommates. Take your “colorful” mess and shove it. Ha!

I had a go.

I myself downloaded the app & decided to ask ChatGPT what it was all about… Write a 100 word essay on how AI appears real to humans… 

What I gathered:

“Illusion of reality” 

“Mimic human behavior & cognition” 

“Fooling with lifelike conversations”

“Simulate worlds that feel genuine”

I agree with the Chat bot that it raises a profound question of discerning the illusion from the reality… 

One thing I do know.

Remember those pianos that are programmed to play themselves (sans human) in theme parks like Great America or Disneyland?

As a kid and not that savvy with a few years of piano lessons under my belt, I almost always instinctively knew if it was a programmable machine playing or an actual person…

There is something that is undeniable about the soul shining through the playing of the notes. Or in this case, the writing of the words for me. 

So maybe if it gets the job done and you’re happy with it, it’s fine? I mean… to each its own, right? 

I was in the wine and liquor business for 25 years… It could just be like wine: there-is-no-right-answer… you either like it or you don’t?  

Keep your eye on the Bot.

So no worries over here about hiding from the bots… I think they can be useful and I even heard of a premier bot that can organize Excel spreadsheets and data and all that tedious work that has to be done in life?

So I will definitely be keeping an “eye on the bot” assessing what they bring to the table and just like life: taking what works for me, and discarding the rest.

But wait… do I still have a job?

. . .

If you are like me, and want the true authentic human connection… and feel like the bots won’t take over the soul of your business… keep reading. 

Are you A.I. posing as an entrepreneur or an aspiring business owner?

Just joking.

Would you like the human to human connection that models your exact core values and the soul-led journey of your brand? That has a consistent voice that you don’t have to question if it is authentic or not?

Why not have ourselves a chat?

On the call, we will look at what’s working and what’s not working. We will discuss the best course of action so you can move forward with ease and comfort (you know, like a real person to person interaction) And then… if there’s a possibility to work together then we will make some time to chat about that as well.

We can link arms with the artificial arm of a bot, or not. Your choice.

Which I think is what it is all about anyway…

Fact check: I strive for accuracy and fairness… if something is off, please send a shout! Kp@kpcopy.com