ChatGPT, more than just a tool

ChatGPT has become a staple of everyone's marcom content tools. Within just a few months, it wiggled itself in and became as common as Google for search.

If you want to make an impact, you still have to do the work, with some help from ChatGPT, for insights, inspiration, ideation, research, and crafting the copy, including proofreading. 

Show that you care. 

Why it matters

Before you dive into the prompt copy-pasting to get some ChatGPT output, it’s you who has to innovate and dare to challenge the status quo.

On LinkedIn and every AI course, you stumble upon the templates, how-to’s, and advice, whether or not provided with copy-paste-ready prompts. It is all very convenient and easy – every monkey can do the job. Yet, if you know how to zoom out and use ChatGPT and AI as intended, you can give yourself an advantage and an edge in your content creation skills.

Here are a few things to know to get the most out of your AI collab.

1. ChatGPT is not an intern to boss around
2. It’s your mindset that provokes the magic 
3. Dare to deep dive into topics; down the rabbit hole
4. Paid is for pro’s
5. People recognize ChatGPT-created content

1. Don’t boss it around, respect AI

ChatGPT is not an intern to do your dirty work. It’s a co-pilot; it's your wingman to help you do better.  

It’s a great sparring partner; it’s still you who has the brains and has to guide ChatGPT to get the desired output. 

Good to be aware of… 

• No new insights or strategies. By now, we all know that ChatGPT is a generative AI. In short, it’s a language model with a chat-like interface that works based on probabilities. This means ChatGPT doesn’t give you genuinely new insights, strategies, or ideas. How generative AI works 
• No bias or judgment. The best part of generative AI is that it has no bias, judgments, or view of its own. ChatGPT can help you by giving rational arguments. Together, you can sharpen your thinking, broaden your mind, and come up with a different approach.
• Conversational design. Bossing around ChatGPT doesn’t get you anywhere. As said, it’s you who’s in the driver's seat. Chatting with ChatGPT is where the magic is created. Notice that it’s already in its name.

2. YOU drive the magic

That’s why you should say ‘hi’, ‘thank you’, and ‘please’ to ChatGPT. It’s not that AI cares; it triggers your mindset on how your brain works and how to get the most out of ChatGPT. Starting the conversation is for you, not for ChatGPT. This does something neurologically in your brain. 

Personally, next to ‘Hi’ and ‘thank you’, I also say ‘please’ to ChatGPT. Just because I can, and I like a more human conversational tone over the directive bitchy requests. 

Credits to Conor Grennan. 

• ‘You are treating ChatGPT like a tool; that’s how we interacted with the internet for a long time. However, ChatGPT doesn’t behave like a tool; it behaves like a human. Therefore, to get the most out of the tool, we have to behave like we are talking to a human and not a tool. And start your prompt with ‘Hi’.’
• ‘Starting with ‘Hi’ is not just common courtesy; it does something neurologically in your brain. It establishes respect and rapport. This is social identity theory; this is the cooperative principle. If you treat the other person (or tool) as a partner, you are going to initiate a more productive dialogue, which is exactly where the power of ChatGPT lies.’

3. Dare to deep dive into topics 

If you stick to the surface, you'll get what everyone gets. This is where you can stand out and differentiate from others that use the same prompts. You write a prompt for a 1000-word content piece on the ‘Reasons why not to use ChatGPT’, and you’ll get a listicle that will do a mediocre job.

The prerequisite is that you know your craft and have an in-depth understanding of the topic. If you don’t, it will show in the output.

If you dare to dive in and get totally nerdy into the rabbit hole on one or two parts of that output, and you prompt your way into it, you can surface those details that others don’t. You collect the output, evaluate and stack it, and put it together into a content piece

If you stay on the surface with your prompts, by lack of understanding of the topic and context, your output will stay superficial, and your audience will notice.

• Understanding and context of the topic. You do the strategic thinking and provide the context. Gen AI uses existing content for its output. It’s an echo of what is already there. Echoing and repetitive content can be boring and not bring new insights or points of view. 
• AI has nothing new: echoing. Be aware that ChatGPT and AI have no new insights or unconventional thinking to broaden minds and horizons. As Gen AI works with probability and predictability, it brings nothing new. Using ChatGPT for content creation is echoing what's already there. You specify and drill down into the prompt to surface the magic and show that you care (and know).
• Inaccuracies and outdated. Also, be aware of inaccuracies, trustworthiness, sources, and up-to-date knowledge. Even though the recent update makes ChatGPT tap into the www for information, it can be trusted (yet). Not only in the sources, also in outdatedness and (cultural) context.

The more you go into the rabbit hole, the more inaccuracies and inconsistencies will surface. 

4. Paid is for pros

Over the last week, I have been playing around with ChatGPT-4, the paid subscription. I have to say, there are differences with the freebee version; I’m not sure if that’s due to the new releases or the paid version.

The most important is that it feels more accurate and to the point. There’s a little less fluff. And the output is in a different tone of voice—a little less bland and vanilla. Yet I can’t prove this; it’s my gut feeling.

Next to that, it’s faster. With ChatGPT3-5, you sometimes have to wait a few seconds; now, the output is almost instant.

Is it worth the $24.20 monthly fee? For individual users like me, not yet.

ChatGPT-4 for businesses. 
For businesses, it is a whole different story. These are the three biggest advantages, according to ChatGPT-4 itself.

1. Consistent tone; can preset tone of voice and branding
2. Enhanced  natural language processing: the paid version is better at understanding and processing complex queries and prompts and giving output accordingly
3. Advanced features. First releases, additional features for, e.g., integration and more advanced analytics.

Of course, there are many more advantages. For individuals, it's nice to play around and decide for yourself if it’s worth it. For companies, please go pro for better customization and more advanced output.

5. People recognize ChatGPT content

This is actually one of the main parameters of how to recognize ChatGPT content.

• Listicles. There is no real intro; there is an immediate dive into the listicle. The structure of AI written copy is almost always the same. You do the prompt, and ChatGPT provides the answer without context sketching or personal notes on why it matters. And the structure is always listicles or similar. Even if you remove the bullets, you recognize this structure in the text. ChatGPT has a catalog-like way of giving information. 
• Originality. Lack of originality and creativity. Gen AI relies on data patterns, probability, and predictability — nothing creative to spark joy and engagement.
• Not human, no personality. No human touch or cultural sensitivity. Emotions, nuances, irony, humor, and surprises are what make content stand out. That’s something ChatGPT can’t do. The output is based on data and lacks personality and connection; it’s too clean and has no bias.
• Not consistent. Lack of consistency. As there’s no personality, there’s no consistency between the content items. The only consistent thing is that the content produced by Gen AI lacks identity and is bland and vanilla.

Summary

At the end of the day, it's up to you to elevate your content and create something awesome. Show genuine effort and care in every piece you produce.

These are the five things to know to get the most out of your collaboration with ChatGPT: wingman, you have the knowledge and context, go into the rabbit hole, experiment with paid ChatGPT-4, and know that people recognize ChatGPT content.