circle

AI or a Living, Breathing Copywriter? Which One Is Better?

By 
Jeannine Weaver
 Posted on 07, Dec 2022

Okay, before we even try to answer this question, let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, at Imperium Group, we think our PR copywriters are pretty awesome, so if you think that we can’t answer this question without bias, you may have a point. That’s fair. Still, with AI-assisted writing a thing these days, we wanted to give our two cents on it. Is it better than the work a human being creates? We gave this thorny issue to one of our copywriters for her opinion, so here goes.

No doubt about it - AI rocks.

First, the advances in technology that we have created really are amazing. It seems like only yesterday that the first personal computers were being unpacked in people’s homes, where typewriters were still in use. In a few short decades, we have gone from learning how to use a word processor to using AI-powered programs that can write paragraphs, papers, and even books. So, the innovation of leaders in AI has been remarkable. They deserve credit for that.

For some people, AI-writing can save time but will cause problems down the line because of differing expectations of quality.

To understand this, let’s look at my ability to play the piano. I have played for over 40 years and am considered to be pretty good. A lot of people who listen to me would agree. However, someone who really knows music will notice when I make a mistake. They will hear my fingers falter on a tough passage, and they will certainly be able to tell the difference between me and some professional pianist. Do I care about this? Beyond my pride, no, not really. I generally play for myself and try not to care what others think. I am not playing for an audience of thousands or millions of people.

It’s different for a business leader who wants to have something written for publication. Yes, with AI, they can put in the ideas, and the program spits out an article. Is that piece good? Is it worthy of being published? It will depend on who sees it. If the person reads infrequently, they may be fine with it. Those who read a lot, however, will be able to immediately spot the differences, and that makes a very poor impression that the company can’t recover from.

It is true that one copywriter’s talent is not the same as another’s.

There is no question that you cannot fairly compare AI-generated writing against the output of all copywriters. Whether it is because they are new to their craft or find it easier/harder to write about some topics than others, a human copywriter may be better - or not - than AI. In this case, it’s a matter of finding the right professional to work with and sticking with them for your PR efforts.

One drawback of AI is that it cannot suggest new topics or content.

With AI-writing, what you feed the program is what you get back. If you tell it to write about X, you will get an article about X. A copywriter, however, may write about X, but before they do, they may throw out some other ideas that could work even better. Or, they might write about X but in a slightly different way that makes the article stronger. At this point, AI doesn’t have that capability, which is a significant weakness.

AI can’t flip back and forth between different mindsets or draw upon personal experiences as it is writing an article.

A good copywriter will be able to enter the mind of a customer, no matter how different the person may be, and write an article that appeals to them. They will also be able to use their own experiences, when appropriate, to flesh out the content and give the article a more human feel. A computer isn’t able to do this, another strike against it.

In the end, what is it that we really want for our society? Robots or the human imagination?


There will always be a part of society that prefers to use AI-assisted writing, and their reasons are understandable. The question we must ask ourselves is this: are we really prepared to cede our responsibility for thinking to computers? How do we implement the exciting advancements in AI without losing humanity’s empowering ability to think and create?


Imperium Group is an American public relations and marketing consultancy firm. Founded in 2016, it specializes in guaranteed placements, creating utmost transparency for its clients. Imperium Group generates over 15M impressions a month for its clients. Its team is based out of New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles.  


For more information about Imperium Group, please see https://navigator.imperiumgrouppr.com/.

 

3 Comments

  • David Angel Makel

    The bee's knees bite your arm off bits and bobs he nicked it gosh gutted mate blimey, old off his nut argy bargy vagabond buggered dropped.

    Reply
  • Bailey Wonger

    Do one say wind up buggered bobby bite your arm off gutted mate, David victoria sponge cup of char chap fanny around.

    Reply
  • Hilary Ouse

    Baking cakes is cobblers wellies William geeza bits and bobs what a plonker it's your round,

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.