The internet has been buzzing with talk of the rise of artificial intelligence and the likes of ChatGPT, with one particular topic scaring creatives and tech-heads alike witless: “IS AI COMING FOR YOUR JOB?!”
The short answer is no – at least, not necessarily. Read on for our take on the rise of AI and what it means for writers, programmers, and the SEO industry as a whole…
What is AI and ChatGPT?
AI (or artificial intelligence) refers to intelligence demonstrated by man-made machines. The most relevant example of this is the new ChatGPT software which is a chatbot/language model that has taken the world by storm in recent months due to its uncanny ability to create impressive copy and content on demand, given only a few basic prompts.
For example, you might type into ChatGPT: “Write me a 500-word blog post titled: “AI and SEO: is it really coming for your job?” – and what you’d get is a (fairly) well ‘written’ article with very little in the way of humor or personality.
Yes, the software is very impressive – particularly if you are unable to write yourself, or if English is your second language and you need to put some content together as quickly as possible – however, by and large, it has a long way to go before many of you have to be worried about your livelihood.
How does it work?
To put it as simply as possible, ChatGPT has been exposed to a huge amount of information – up to a certain point. It’s essentially ‘downloaded’ the internet, and then uses all of the keywords and information at its fingertips to make ‘educated’ responses.
So, when you ask ChatGPT to write you an article, it doesn’t write anything, it simply trawls all of the information that it has on the prompts you entered, and then using machine learning and prediction, puts together a generic article that ticks all of the right boxes.
Again, it’s very impressive, but the quality of writing it produces is average at best because it draws from writing that has already been done – by other people.
The same applies to coding, programming, artwork, graphic design, translation, and all of the other creative tasks that it is able to tackle. The fact is, there’s only so much it can achieve as it is created based on everything that has already been created. As such, it cannot create ‘new’ or ‘fresh’ content – only regurgitate what has already come before.
Is my job safe?
Your job is perfectly safe so long as you are above average at what you do. If you’re an OK writer, or a semi-talented artist, or an average programmer, then it won’t be long at all before the likes of ChatGPT far surpasses your usefulness.
However, if you lean into your human qualities (i.e., your imagination), and use that inherent creativity to think outside of the box and produce fresh and authentic content, then you’ll be perfectly fine for a long time.
Remember, people still need to be behind the scenes, pointing AI in the right direction. If you are looking for SEO services in New York City, you’ll still need to hire a firm with real people who can strategize and optimize a campaign for you – which means that there will be people behind the scenes, creating, programming, troubleshooting, and fact-checking.
Or recruitment companies, for example, may rely on AI to crawl through resumes and speed up the job-matching process. However, by and large, the face of recruitment will always be human.
Many big techies are pushing for a halt to AI development, why?
In the same breath, you may have learned that there has been a recent push from many of the biggest names in the tech industry to put AI development on hold – including Elon Musk.
This is largely because many people are concerned by the rate at which AI can learn and progress. Some might say that we are effectively opening Pandora’s box and unless we put a lid on it and give ourselves time to fully understand its full potential and regulate it accordingly, it could be devastating for our global society – in which case, it doesn’t matter if it is coming for your job.