Will AI Replace Copywriters Completely?
The application of artificial intelligence is gaining traction and this trend scares people. Their fear gets stronger when they find out that according to the Future of Jobs Report of the World Economic Forum, AI will replace some 85 million jobs by 2025.
I’ve been working as a copywriter and content creator for 10 years and the first time I came across that information I was petrified:
“No way! Who would have thought science-fiction stories would become a reality so fast.”
I bet you’ve thought about it when you came across news about AI on the web at least once.
Then I have good news for you: there are two sides to every coin, which is not the case.
Why We Shouldn’t Be Afraid of AI
According to the Future of Jobs Report which I mentioned above, the expansion of the use of automation and technology also will create some 97 million jobs. New roles are set to emerge in content creation, including social media management and content writing.
Experts are convinced that skills like analytical and critical thinking, creativity, and flexibility will be crucial in five years’ time.
It means that copywriting will be transformed by the power of computing, and the impact of robots. We finally will be able to delegate all routine work to artificial intelligence and spend more time on creative problems and challenges.
As you may have guessed, I don’t believe AI will replace copywriters or content creators.
I won’t tell you to think positively about our future, though. I am a realist rather than an optimist.
There are at least three reasons why I think it will never happen.
Client Communication
One of the most difficult tasks for a copywriter is effective communication with clients and customers about their wants and needs regarding their current projects. They must ask some personal questions to write personalized and selling texts. At the moment AI doesn’t have enough knowledge and skills to gather data, transform it, change questions depending on answers, and as a result produce unique content aimed at a specific market.
Editing
AI is still an imperfect technology that makes mistakes and typos and requires manual editing. Even programs that were created to edit texts sometimes get things wrong, they can’t catch a true context for instance. People are ready to pay for proofreading and polished copy, not something that looks unfinished.
Real Experience
No matter how good a robot might be, it will never be able to write texts identical to a human being going through the creative process.
A person who went through a certain experience can describe it more vividly than a robot who has never had the same feelings. Imagine writing about a gorgeous holiday destination or unique signature dishes. An AI will clump together cliché ideas, whereas a professional copywriter could find unusual examples and associations and do it playfully, and humorously, pulling the reader into the copy.
How AI Can Help Copywriters
There are, indeed, situations where AI writing tools can be helpful. For instance, they can create product descriptions, and SEO copy when given a specific set of rules to follow. Copywriters can use AI copy as a foundation for their own texts. This approach helps speed up the writing process. Also, AI can provide a source of inspiration and generate ideas for copy when writers suffer from writer’s block.
Final Thoughts
Summarize how AI will impact copywriters and content creators. There is no doubt it changes the usual order of things, and this field will never be the same again.
Will copywriters and content creators be forced to retrain for their core skills? Definitely.
Will many of them quit because of their inability to adapt to a “strange new world”? Obviously.
Will the rest be interested in using AI opportunities to work effectively and get more time to create unexpected new ideas and meanings? That’s true.
I believe every content writer should use AI to their advantage. This union will boost creative reality and give copywriters more opportunity for improvement.
