By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about Chat GPT and its text-generating abilities. It’s been used for everything from coming up with recipe ideas to drafting social posts.
Even at work, my colleagues and I are regularly encouraged to play around with it and other AI tools. It’s definitely helped me climb out of that all-too-familiar feeling of staring at a blank page, hoping for some fresh ideas to fall from the sky.
And while Chat GPT is great for getting the ball rolling on content drafting, it has advantages and disadvantages just like any other tool.
Let’s explore some of them:
Pros
Saves You Time
Chat GPT is a huge time saver when it comes to written content like blog posts and product descriptions. This is especially helpful when you need to create multiple drafts in a short amount of time, since the chatbot can generate responses in a fraction of the time. Most importantly, you’ll have more free time to work on other important tasks.
Helps with virtually any topic
Whether you’re writing about gardening tips or reviewing the latest tech drops, Chat GPT has your back. It’s like having an on-demand content writer! This versatility comes in handy for all your content needs, including drafts for video essays and more.
Great for idea generation
Chat GPT can serve as a valuable brainstorming tool. Like I mentioned before, I’ve dealt with writer’s block quite a few times over the years. Chat GPT’s ability to offer unique perspectives and angles on a topic helps me work past it much faster than usual.
Cons
Responses can be generic
While Chat GPT is great at putting words on a page, it may struggle to come up with creative and original writing. You might see cases where the prompt repeats words or phrases in an effort to seem “complete”.
A prompt that’s too vague can sometimes be responsible for poor output. There are also real concerns that chatbot quality has been on the decline, however. This is more apparent with GPT 3.5 (likely due to its age relative to GPT 4).
There have been some rumblings that GPT 4 has also been displaying signs of lowered creativity as well.
In light of these potential issues, you’ll definitely need to roll up your sleeves and inject some personal flair to craft something that truly stands out.
Some responses may be hallucinations
What are hallucinations? They’re basically another way to say “Chat GPT could make things up”. Since the goal of these chatbots are to satisfy your requests (within reason), the answers they give you may be completely made up. GPT-4 currently has a hallucination rate of 3%, which is among the lowest of all generative AI tools available at the time of writing.
While the risk is relatively low, you might not want to take any chances with your content. This is especially important if you’re working on a piece that needs to include factual data you can’t easily verify.
Risk of dependency on AI writing tools
At the end of the day, everyone’s writing style is unique. Cultivating yours needs just as much consistency as watering your houseplants or (insert your favorite hobby here). Relying too heavily on chatbots for content creation could stifle your ability to really nurture your personal style.
Remember to balance AI assistance with your own creative input to avoid falling into the dependency trap.
Unable to conduct real-time research
Unless all of your content is exclusively focused on sharing personal experiences, chances are you’ll need to do some research. While chatbots like Chat GPT are great for offering preliminary background on a topic, many of these tools can’t conduct a real-time web search for you. This is because they usually rely exclusively on training data up to a certain date.
It is worth noting that paid tools like Chat GPT-4 offer the option to browse the web. It’s up to you to decide whether you want to pay for subscription access.
Final Thoughts
It’s pretty clear that Chat GPT (and generative AI in general) is here to stay. It’s fast, versatile, and full of ideas. But like any other tool, it’s not perfect. So, whether you’re a seasoned writer or just dipping your toes into the world of content creation, Chat GPT can be a valuable ally on your writing journey.
A closing word of caution: If you do decide to use Chat GPT to help generate content, be careful to avoid prompts containing proprietary info. After all, the continued evolution of generative AI’s abilities are based in part, on the inputs we give.
Have you used Chat GPT for your content writing? Share your experiences in the comments!
