The Showdown: Humans vs. ChatGPT
Three Wishes in Marketing (Part I)
[From the perspective of a human being]
Fretful Franny owns an online cat hat business — yes, there is such a thing. She makes them herself and uses her photogenic cat, Patootie, as her model. She just started her business and doesn't have the budget to hire any employees. However, she considers herself to be a good marketer. One night, after a grueling day of writing and scheduling many social media posts, she falls asleep on her couch with her sweet, little, gray and white, diluted calico cat curled beside her.
Picture by Elissa Talley
As she falls into a deep slumber, a genie visits her. At least, she thinks it is a genie. It doesn't wear prominent genie garments but says, "I'm the magic genie, Kai. I'm a specialist genie as opposed to a generalist. I grant only wishes pertaining to marketing. I'm here to assist you with your business. My boss sent me because he likes your social media posts but feels that your marketing efforts could use a little work. You are allowed three wishes related to marketing, and 'no' you may not use one of your wishes to request additional wishes."
Franny thinks she must be dreaming, but she looks at Patootie and sees that she, too, is utterly fascinated with this thing floating above her.
Kai continues, "Your wishes will be granted as long as they relate to marketing. What are your truest marketing desires for your business?"
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Franny thinks for a moment. She spends so much time marketing her business that she doesn't have much time for anything else. Social media alone takes up hours of her day, and she admits she gets a little side-tracked reading or watching posts from others.
Franny says, "I would love if there were a way for me to input a few commands into a computer and have it provide any number of posts per day. I would set the number and the requirement for the posts, but it would write them and include video and images. It would save me so much time!"
Kai looks at her, puzzled. "Why, Franny, that is totally doable! That already exists! It's called ChatGPT (among others) and can do exactly what you ask. It is artificial intelligence that can follow the directions you provide, uses correct grammar, builds and learns from your responses, and provides amazingly well-written posts for any platform you tell it. However, remember that how you word your prompts is very important! Be as specific as you can. Use the keywords you want to rank for. Don't be afraid to experiment.
Here are some things to think about:
1. Give it context. Do you want it to be educational or fun? Do you want bullets or a paragraph? Are you a student or a business owner?
2. Use conversational language. Pretend you are speaking to a friend.
3. Provide background information.
4. Give examples.
5. Keep in mind that it is not perfect and has its limitations.
Give me your ideas for a post, and I will show you what it can do."
Franny contemplates her plans for tomorrow. Funny cat posts often go viral; she can use that to her benefit. She says to Kai, "Here is what I want. I want a funny cat post for Instagram."
Kai says, "You must phrase your request as a prompt with as much context and detail as possible."
Franny thinks for a moment. "OK, please tell ChatGPT that I'm the owner of a cat hat business, and I would like an Instagram post that includes a catchy line for a cat business and a funny picture or video of a cat in a hat, and that it should include the name of my business Ginger Cat Hat."
Kai nods. "It's done! Here is what Chat GPT gave you…”
Franny says, "Hmm, I see two problems here. Instagram isn't the platform for a post this long, but I love the words! Perhaps I can use this post on Facebook. Also, where is the picture or video?"
Kai says, "Let me check…Can you include an image or video?"
Kai asks, “Can you make this post shorter?”
Franny thinks about this all for a minute. She appreciates how easily ChatGPT came up with the copy for the post, but she sees that there are still a few things she will have to do that take time. She must take a picture or find an open-source image or video. Also, she will have to experiment with the post to see if the hashtags work, and she will need to monitor the performance to see if it successfully gets traction (likes or new followers).
Right now, Franny thinks ChatGPT has potential, but it didn’t fulfill her wish. So, she starts to think about wish #2…
Score:
Human = 1
ChatGPT = 1