This is quite a hot topic of conversation amongst my PR friends. The prospect of your hard-earned and learned skillset being replaced by a bit of software is quite a terrifying prospect!
However, the current reality is that natural language processing tools driven by AI technology, like ChatGPT and Google Bard, still require humans to give them some decent direction.
I’d also like to see AI cope with language nuances, such as irony, sarcasm and humour. Although, I guess the joy of AI means that it won’t be long until it’s understood all the levels of grey in the way humans communicate with each other. At the moment, it simply can’t build functional relationships – as humans do with each other. Hopefully, I’ll be long retired by the time it can!
I’ve also read articles that suggest that while AI won’t create copy that’s 100% right, it can give you a good starter for ten if you are failing to feel inspired. I guess that might be useful for freelancers like me, who don’t have the luxury of brainstorming with colleagues at work. However, I won’t be using it yet. As long as I’ve got most of my marbles, I will still try to get inspiration the old-fashioned way – from the most complex computer in the world (the brain), and Google of course! However, ask me in a few years time and I’ll have probably given in, as I have with Google when I can’t remember if a celeb is dead or alive etc.
However, I do understand the argument that in the not too distant future AI will be a tool we should embrace as PRs can use it to make themselves even more efficient. I can particularly see it benefiting us as the demand for oodles of content reaches a crescendo online.
However, you’re still going to need a human to fact check copy and make sure it has that ‘human element’. AI really can’t do emotional intelligence yet. When it can, I think all of us humans (not just PRs) will be out of a job. Hopefully, by then we’ll all be sat on a beach, drinking cocktails and reading materials generated by a piece of software!
I’ve proofed this several times, but as I’m a freelancer I don’t have a colleague to double-check what I’ve written. If I’ve made a mistake, at least you can tell that a human has written this and not a clever piece of AI!
