Okay, let’s dive right into it. All the content marketers out there, this one’s for you!

ChatGPT is great, Generative AI is great. It helps to automate everything, acts as a superior search engine and research tool, and insert one more generic jargony use case here to round up the rule of threes.

It’s a helpful tool, except when it’s not. We’re going to delve into this topic together.

Oh no, did I really use the word “delve”? No, that can’t be right. I must have used AI to generate the above sentence. Humans don’t use the word delve; only AI does. Delve sounds too close to the devil, why would a God-fearing human even consider using it? It has to be the work of those damned AI text generators.

In fact, there’s a whole list of words floating around the internet that can be used as identifiers of AI-generated content.

Except, B2B content writers have been using these words for ages now.

*Sigh*

J’accuse

I don’t know if it has happened to you, but it has been happening to me a lot lately. People assume that the text I wrote was not me but the shenanigans of an automated engine. Why?

“The language you have used contains a few words that feel too AI, people wouldn’t normally use these together.”

This was feedback I received on a copy I wrote recently. The words that I believe caused this commotion? Esteemed partners, diving deep, and quick glimpse.

Words that I have been using a lot – me, a human being made of flesh and bones – ever since the beginning of my career as a B2B marketer.

It’s an occupational hazard for us content folks. We get so used to writing technical copy and articles and press releases and whitepapers and eBooks and what have you for the B2B audience that eventually certain jargon-sounding words become a part of our regular vocabulary. We can’t help it, really!

Also, where do people think ChatGPT gets its data from?

Scouring across the internet and compiling information from more B2B writers who have written tons of articles on the topic you are searching about.

It is but natural that ChatGPT is going to mimic our tone of voice.

Not that every writer has the same tone of voice; my point is the verbiage starts to resemble an actual human being’s.

Sidenote: I know there are other generative AI tools as well; I’m just more used to ChatGPT so I keep referring to that. Sorry, OpenAI. Or you’re welcome, OpenAI – depending on how you see it.

Another sidenote: Also, I’m sure B2C content writers and marketing professionals are dealing with a similar problem. Not taking anything away from their ordeal when I keep mentioning B2B. B2B is just what I know best!

Anyway, back to our topic at hand!

AI Takeover?

So, if ChatGPT is starting to mimic content writers, does this mean our jobs are in danger? No. Hell NO!

Any marketer worth his or her salt will tell you that you cannot, CANNOT use the content generated by ChatGPT as is. The sentences sometimes don’t make sense, there’s no natural flow to the structure, the lack of context – despite providing the best of prompts – can be baffling. And the list goes on.

ChatGPT is a great tool to generate the first drafts or fetch information from the deep abyss of the internet. But it needs polishing oh-so-bad.

And if you start to actually read AI-generated content, you will realize it uses a lot of words to say a whole lot of nothing. Look at all these LinkedIn “influencers” who are regularly posting content from their profiles trying to look all intellectual; but read one of their posts and you’ve read them all. Same structure, same flow, same nothingness.

Can’t really win without the human touch, now, can you?