Chat GPT-4 has emerged as a strong AI tool capable of generating content in nearly every genre and every format you can ask for. From copywriting to recipe suggestions, people around the globe are going gaga over this multimodal AI tool and its capabilities. However, it has undoubtedly created a sense of fear in many professionals out there.
Since managers and founders are exploring the tool's potential, most writers are wondering if such an AI tool can replace them. Even professional academic writers, whom students ask to do my physics homework or complete a research paper, are concerned about losing their jobs. But how alarming is the situation?
To give you some clarity on the matter, we will discuss the range of AI capabilities in the writing space, what and how it impacts the writing industry, and whether it will replace human writers.
Where Does the AI-Language Model Stand at the Moment?
On the one hand, there are AI tools that most writers already use worldwide to produce fine-tuned content for different purposes, such as Grammarly, Jasper.ai, and Plag.ai. These tools are designed to aid the writing process through ideation, grammar check, plagiarism check, summarization, etc. However, a few AI platforms, like ChatGPT-4, are capable of writing content based on the input given.
Recently, AI has shown remarkable development by producing human-like text. It uses machine learning algorithms and deep learning to analyze vast amounts of data and curate content outputs. It further utilizes neural networks to mimic the human voice.
So, basically, the AI is being fed large datasets. It uses this data to understand context, tone, and structure and produce a similar type of sentence structure and style, mimicking the human way of writing.
The advancement is quite impressive and may be useful for people who need bulk content for affiliate marketing or to generate generic copies in large numbers. Marketers also benefit from AI writing tools by producing captions for social media posts, where originality and tone are not that important.
Where Does It Lack?
Since the AI language model feeds on existing human texts and mimics them, it lacks creativity and originality for the most part. It cannot generate new ideas and comprehend new concepts on its own. AI also cannot bring a unique perspective and voice based on the intent of content as humans do.
Besides, there have been instances where the information provided by AI was incorrect or partially correct. Because such tools sometimes fail to understand context, slang, or cultural references, they carry the burden of being wrong or inappropriate.
Moreover, human writers naturally have an emotional quotient and can add dimensions to a piece of writing. AI, most definitely, lacks this emotional depth. It can certainly train itself and mimic emotional aspects in content, but there's a limit as to how far it can go.
AI may also fail to understand the intent of content and can't really comprehend brand voice, target audience, etc. The final outcome also lacks value since AI tools respond to most queries with ambiguous answers.
Another limitation is that the new-generation AI writing tools are known to provide similar content on topics of a similar kind. Hence, AI-generated write-ups can also fall under plagiarism if two or more people publish AI-written articles on the same topic. It may not be mirrored word-to-word, but paraphrased content is still considered plagiarism.
So, no matter how good-quality content it is producing at the moment, it is not anywhere near humanized writing.
Will AI Replace Human Writers?
Now, coming to the original concern, let's understand how AI writing is different from human writing.
There are two types of writers:
1) who conduct intensive research, brainstorm ideas, and make their write-up more engaging and valuable through insights, data, a dash of humor, and empathy.
2) who write robotic responses on a topic, often a spin-off of top-ranking articles and easily available information, and don't add any value for the readers.
The writing style of AI doesn't differentiate much from the writing style of the second category of writers. However, the AI language model is far away from reaching the level of the first category.
Even though the writers are worried about AI taking away their job, the ones who have seen the content produced by AI tools and understand what is missing know that AI is not there to replace, but rather, it is to assist the writers.
So, on an honest note, AI can and will replace writers, but only in the second category we mentioned above.
But What Awaits for Writers in the Future?
Well, since AI is progressing like nothing else, and it learns and evolves itself, it can become capable of generating better quality content in the future. However, a machine-based program cannot mimic empathy, human values, and brand essence.
Many top-level writers and employers believe AI to be a productivity booster tool that will help writers create more valuable content in less time. For example, ChatGPT is quite efficient in generating extensive blog outlines, helping you understand topics and concepts, and suggesting compelling headlines.
High-quality writers use AI tools at their disposal to brainstorm ideas, research keywords, and get templates to defeat creative blocks. The tool immensely reduces total estimated time and aids writers in their overall writing process.
With continuous development, AI will become more apt as an assistant writing tool. So, if you want to get rid of the insecurity, you must understand where it stems from. The best way to figure out whether or not you are replaceable is to give yourself a reality check and see if you think the write-ups provided by AI are top-notch.
If you think that ChatGPT or any other tool gives better responses than your writing, it's time to level up. Invest some time, and probably money, in upskilling. Simultaneously, get hold of the trending AI tools and learn to use them to accelerate and enhance your work. The future is shiny for writers who have made friends with AI and mastered the technology for their benefit.
Conclusion
A machine can never bring the human touch we need in creative fields. Besides, an employer hires people to take over a task completely because they don't have time to invest in it. And the AI still needs human input to be able to produce write-ups. So, don't worry. Gear up and change your outlook. Only then can you make the most out of this revolutionary technology.