Freelancing

Don’t be fooled by the “slowdown” in AI news and progress.

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For much of this year, AI has been front page news. On top of that, new and more capable models and model versions were being announced on an almost weekly basis.

But now, things seem a little quieter.

When we read about AI in mainstream media, it’s often speculation about an AI bubble. And there’s plenty of chatter about Large Language Models – LLMs – hitting a ceiling, or at least a major slowdown, when it comes to new advances.

OK, you may think, time to relax. This AI thing isn’t going to take over the world – or my job – after all.

Not so fast.

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Be the Human In The Loop… And dramatically increase your value as a freelancer.

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t-shirt with logo saying I am the human in the loop

You have a lot of choices when using AI to write copy and content.

First, you can choose between the major Large Language Models, like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude3 and others.

Then you have dozens, if not hundreds of new AI-writing platforms, most of which are using these models as the engines that drives them.

It’s little wonder the web is being flooded with new AI content, most of it sounding like it was written by a well-meaning robot.

The content isn’t badly written. With some decent prompts, most of these tools will give you a very passable first and second draft.

But there IS a problem.

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What if Sam Altman is only half right about AI doing 95% of your work?

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Kyodo Photo via Credit: Newscom/Alamy Live News

This is what Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said in an interview last fall:

“It will mean that 95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists, and creative professionals for today will easily, nearly instantly and at almost no cost be handled by the AI — and the AI will likely be able to test the creative against real or synthetic customer focus groups for predicting results and optimizing. Again, all free, instant, and nearly perfect. Images, videos, campaign ideas? No problem.”

To put this into context, he’s not talking about GPT-4 or the upcoming GPT-5. He’s talking about when AI achieves Artificial General Intelligence, AGI.

AGI is broadly defined as the stage at which an AI model gains enough skills to perform any task that humans can do, with equal or better proficiency.

We’re not there yet.

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Why use AI writing tools like ChatGPT when you can do better work on your own?

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The question in the headline was asked by a good friend, and highly-regarded copywriter.

It’s a totally legitimate question. As professional copywriters we can write better than any AI, and we naturally infuse our work with emotion… because we know it works.

So… if we can do all that on our own, why do I recommend that people dive into AI, use tools like ChatGPT, and then infuse the AI output with Emotional Intelligence?

Why make it complicated? Why not just carry on as normal?

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It’s time to step out from behind the curtain, and be more human.

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As a freelancer, I am my brand.

I’m me… the good, the bad and the less-than-perfect.

Human, through and through.

I do my best to keep the less-than-perfect parts to myself. But even if they peek out from behind the curtain from time to time, that’s not so bad.

It just shows I’m real.

More specifically, it shows I’m not an Artificial Intelligence.

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3 Ways to diversify your digital copywriting services in the age of AI.

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expanding copywriting services to include AI

This year we’ll see some significant advances in the field of AI. And yes, some of those advances will impact our work as freelance copywriters.

It’s time to lean in and get ahead of the curve.

You need a plan. And that plan can’t be “Sit tight and do nothing”. The way things are, you can get ahead and profit from the rise of AI. Or you can fall behind.

There’s no middle ground. Sitting tight means falling behind.

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