For professional content creators, from writers to marketeers, to coders and beyond, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, they present a future filled with increased efficiency, new creative avenues, and a means to drastically speed up tedious tasks. On the other hand, they bring with them a sense of uncertainty – will AI replace creatives altogether? Can a machine truly capture the nuance and subtlety of how we communicate?

Well, I’m about to start a course on AI Prompt Engineering, which you can find here.

By learning to harness the power of Generative AI tools, creators can not only adapt to the changing landscape, but also leverage technology to become more effective and efficient storytellers. At least that’s what it says on the brochure.

Let’s break it down.

AI for Creatives - The Benefits

Increased Efficiency and Scalability Scalability Scalability is a term that describes the constraints of a network via hash rates to meet increased demand. In the context of Bitcoin, scalability reflects the issue in which a limited rate can process transactions adequately.Blocks within the Bitcoin blockchain are limited in both size and frequency. The overall transaction processing capacity of the network is dictated by the average block creation time of 10 minutes as well as a block size limit of 1 megabyte. Consequently, this leads to pain Scalability is a term that describes the constraints of a network via hash rates to meet increased demand. In the context of Bitcoin, scalability reflects the issue in which a limited rate can process transactions adequately.Blocks within the Bitcoin blockchain are limited in both size and frequency. The overall transaction processing capacity of the network is dictated by the average block creation time of 10 minutes as well as a block size limit of 1 megabyte. Consequently, this leads to pain Read this Term: Let's face it, content creation can be time-consuming. Research, ideation, coding, planning, writing, and editing can all eat up the time. Prompt engineering allows creatives to automate repetitive tasks. Imagine generating outlines, basic content drafts, or even research summaries with artificial intelligence (AI) assistance. This frees up precious time for us to focus on the higher-level aspects of our craft: in-depth research, creative brainstorming, and stylistic elements or approaches that make content truly engaging. Here’s the key, AI can often output bland copy, or dull content, a creative professional can uplift that and, most importantly, make sure it's error free and on point.

Enhanced Creativity and Exploration: AI can act as a sounding board, generating unexpected ideas or variations on existing themes. Creators experiencing a creative block can leverage AI tools to break free from mental ruts and explore new avenues. A well-crafted prompt can spark fresh perspectives and ignite the imagination, leading to more original and engaging content. One such example, from a marketing Marketing Marketing is defined as the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers' needs and wants.This is a crucial element of any operation or brokerage in the financial services space. Well-funded marketing campaigns are instrumental to the survival and longevity of these companies in an increasingly competitive industry.Within the forex space, marketers perform a wide range of functions to help procure, secure, or retain clients.In particular, newer forex brokers also have t Marketing is defined as the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers' needs and wants.This is a crucial element of any operation or brokerage in the financial services space. Well-funded marketing campaigns are instrumental to the survival and longevity of these companies in an increasingly competitive industry.Within the forex space, marketers perform a wide range of functions to help procure, secure, or retain clients.In particular, newer forex brokers also have t Read this Term perspective, could be the AI generation of blog post topics around a theme. For example, “Give me 50 topics for blog posts around the idea of living in Cyprus”. In a sense, AI is thereby sending you in a direction, and then it’s up to you to create each post.

Content Diversification and New Formats: The limitations of human creativity are real. AI tools can generate content in formats marketeers might not have considered, like scripts, poems, or even musical pieces. This opens doors to explore new avenues, experiment with different approaches, and potentially reach a wider audience. I’m not claiming that any of this is a great idea, or even effective, but it’s certainly … interesting.

A Competitive Advantage: The ability to leverage AI effectively can set a professional apart. Understanding how to generate high-quality content with digital tools positions you as a valuable asset in a competitive market. Companies are increasingly seeking creators who can work efficiently and produce compelling content across multiple platforms and quickly. And there’s the key point – they can speed you up and in a world where many many of us are paid by the word, or by the project, that’s vitally important.

Reluctance and Fear: Understanding Your Hesitation

Despite these clear benefits, many may be hesitant to embrace AI tools. Here’s why:

Fear of Replacement: The primary concern is that these systems will render humans obsolete. However, AI tools are more like assistants, not replacements. While they can generate basic content, it still needs human oversight and guidance to deliver truly exceptional work. Let me reiterate that: The initial results is very often not good enough. Pause there and let that sink in. In my field, writing, I’m speaking as an editor and writer who’s worked for renowned publishing firms around the world. Computer-generated text must be edited by a professional. It is that simple. It is often filled with errors and oddities, and it very often sounds artificial, as if it were written by the numbers, because it was. No doubt this is true in other creative fields, too.

We've now reached peak Orwell as firms are advertising jobs titled "AI Content Writer". In other words editing AI script.

This is obviously a holding post until gen AI evolves to not need editors, so I wouldn't start saving for a pension, maybe dig a cosy bunker instead. pic.twitter.com/5IjCqPYJS6

— Ed Crocker (@edcrockerbooks) March 11, 2024

Loss of Control and Creativity: We may fear that these tools will stifle our creativity or lead to a homogenization of content. However, prompt engineering requires human input – the user sets the parameters and guides the direction. Ultimately, they retain control over the final product. It is down to you to create something of quality. If you put your name on it, it better be good.

Ethical Concerns: I’ll address this in two senses. Firstly, AI outputs can perpetuate biases if not carefully monitored. We have a responsibility to ensure the content generated by these tools is accurate, unbiased, and ethical. Secondly, tools like ChatGPT are trained and use the Internet as a source. Everything on the Internet has (up until recently) been created by a person. Is using Gemini not a form of creative plagiarism? Quite possibly. Quite probably. Everything, therefore, needs to be read, edited and re-written to create something unique. Use them to guide you, use your talent to complete the task.

AI - Embracing the Future

The key to overcoming these fears is understanding that AI is a tool, not a competitor. I’m hoping that my upcoming course on AI Prompt Engineering can equip me with the knowledge and skills to fully embrace AI as a means of boosting my creativity and output.

Here’s what I’ll be learning:

The Fundamentals of AI Writing Tools: Understanding how tools like ChatGPT function, allowing me to effectively utilize their capabilities.

Crafting Effective Prompts: Learning how to structure clear, concise, and informative prompts is crucial for generating the desired outputs from tools.

Editing and Refining AI Outputs: AI-generated content is rarely perfect. Writers need to understand how to edit and refine these outputs to ensure they meet the writer’s needs.

Ethical Considerations: Writers have a responsibility to use AI tools ethically and responsibly. This includes ensuring factual accuracy, avoiding bias, and upholding copyright laws.

By acquiring these skills, I hope to be able to transform my workflow, unlock new creative avenues and to better serve my clients. All of these skills are transferrable to any number of disciplines or use cases for AI.

The Takeaway

I don’t believe that AI tools like ChatGPT are threats to professional creators. Instead, they are powerful tools that can be harnessed to create better content, faster. By embracing this technology, we can become more efficient, can explore new creative frontiers, and remain at the forefront of content creation. I believe that the future of creativity is not a tale of humans versus machines, but about humans using machines to create stories, or other outcomes, that truly resonate with audiences around the world.

Personally, I do use AI in my work. I use it to generate ideas, I use it to suggest titles after a long day at the keyboard, I use it to write a 280-character Twitter tweet when I’m at my wit’s end. I also use it to summarize big blocks of text. All of these are things that I can do myself, but that can take a long time. In the case of titles and tweets, it’s the mental block that wastes time, in the case of summaries, it’s the sheer amount of work it takes to condense text. They’re also things that AI does quite well.

However, what I would never do is use AI to create blocks of text and then throw that out there into the world with my name on it. It’s not good enough. The prose is dull, it can make mistakes. They tend to use the same adjectives time and time again. I don’t want my name on it. If you see an article with my name on it, written for a client, that is my work. AI might have given me the idea, but the content is mine.

In short, to do the legwork, AI is great. To truly create, not so much. At least, not for me.

Here, you can find the second, third and fourth articles in the series.