AI and the future of content marketing

If you work in the online space it will be hard for you to have missed all the chat about artificial intelligence (AI) and particularly ChatGPT. In the interests of staying on top of all things impacting an online entrepreneur's capacity to be visible, I recently conducted an experiment with said software, asking it to tell me about the AI implications for entrepreneurs trying to be more visible.

I'm sure a great many legal professionals are wrapping their minds around these very issues as I type, and while they do that, for those of us in the content creation game, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. We're currently living in the Wild West when it comes to AI, in the same way that we were in the Wild West at the beginning of the century when it came to blogging and the internet. Things will move fast so do you best to stay up and be agile enough that you can pivot when you need to.
2. If you're going to use AI in the way I demonstrated above, don't just cut and paste and pretend its your own work. Edit it, refine it, put your own thought into it. Think of it as you might a writing assistant who has prepared a first draft for you. There are some helpful thoughts there and now its time for you to bring your unique perspective to the table.
3. Because everyone in your industry now has access to the same first draft you do, I'm predicting you might see a lot of the same content being pumped out. And I mean, exactly the same. Word for word the same. To avoid getting pulled into the drama this will inevitably cause, storytelling is going to be one of your best friends. No one knows your story or can share your story like you do. Incorporating your story or your philosophy or your experiences into your work has never been more important than it is now.

Content marketing production is going to speed up

It seems clear that the production of content marketing is about to speed up exponentially. How can it not? A significant barrier to creating content just fell away. Suddenly we're on a much more even playing field and people who didn't have the resources before to produce content, will now be able to. It's like Roger Bannister has just broken the four minute mile, we're all going to be running the content marketing game far more quickly than we ever have before.

But is that a good thing?

As a proponent of the tortoise rather than the hare, I'm not particularly interested in speed for speed's sake. I do however, like speed which alleviates burdensome and clunky tasks (like the washing machine, which according to my buddy ChatGPT 'saved women an average of 9 hours per week on laundry-related tasks. This translates to around 468 hours saved per year, or approximately 20 full days.').

If we can produce content more quickly and in so doing, free up time for other tasks, this will be a wondrous thing. If we just fill it with producing ever more content, then that probably won't be great for anyone.

To use technology to our advantage, we have to change as people. We have to redefine ourselves, not as industrialised automatons trying to keep pace with technology, but as infinitely creative beings who use technology effectively in order to create more time for thoughtful, creative, inspirational content.

Which leads me to what is most exciting about this technology; the potential for content creators to lean more fully into their creative selves. When I first started making videos in the noughties, it was so labour intensive that there was as much effort being put into the production side of things as there was into the content itself. As technology has advanced in the last 20 odd years, the production side of things has become very simple, which means that most of my time can now be spent on playing around with content - the concepts I want to share and the way I want to share it - or on something else entirely.

AI software now provides an additional level of support to entrepreneurs; in record speed, it's able to deliver a baseline set of concepts for you. You can then turn these into something fun, inspiring, creative, different, unique, and original.

Rather than seeing everyone pumping out the same content thanks to AI software, I'm hoping we see an explosion of really creative and unique forms of expression, made possible because the time that you might otherwise have spent on research or structuring ideas, has just been freed up.

Unique voices will be more important than ever

Which brings me to the most important thing when it comes to the visibility of you and your brand; thanks to this new baseline of information we have access to, unique thoughts and means of delivering content are going to become important differentiators when it comes to content creation. (I suspect that anyone who has built their business on collating facts or tactics might have to think carefully about the implications of AI software on the way they present information to their audience in the future.)

Storytelling, building genuine connections with your community, supporting the growth of emotional intelligence and intuitive wisdom, creating networks of human beings who can inspire and support one another, these skills are all going to be enormously useful in the coming years.

AI is going to change the content marketing game forever. Sharing useful and easily digestible information around a niche topic - a tried and true content marketing strategy of the past - may not be the golden ticket it once was to building your community. Something different is going to be asked of you in the coming years.

Something more human and less mechanical.

And I'm 100% here for that.

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*For example, I asked ChatGPT whether it has any creative ideas for a 7 year old's birthday (fellow Mum's take note - this could be your new best friend) and here's what it came up with:

'Sure! Here are some creative ideas for a 7 year old's birthday:

1. Scavenger hunt: Organize a scavenger hunt around your house or garden. Hide clues and small prizes in different locations for the birthday child and their friends to find.
2. Craft party: Set up a craft station where kids can create their own personalized crafts such as painting, drawing, making jewelry, or decorating cupcakes.
3. Outdoor movie night: Set up a projector and screen outside and host an outdoor movie night. Provide snacks and drinks for a cozy movie experience.
4. Themed party: Choose a theme that your child loves and create a party around it. This could be anything from pirates to superheroes to princesses.
5. DIY pizza party: Set up a DIY pizza station where kids can create their own pizzas with different toppings.
6. Science experiment party: Set up a science experiment station where kids can conduct their own experiments and learn about science in a fun and interactive way.
7. Petting zoo party: Hire a petting zoo or bring in some friendly animals for kids to interact with and learn about.

Remember to prioritize the safety of the children and follow all necessary precautions when planning and hosting any activities.'

(Given the 7 year old in question, I'm leaning toward a science experiment party with a DIY pizza station on the side.)

+To test this I asked ChatGPT to name three great leaders in history and three significant contributions to humanity.

Here are the names it produced; Julius Caesar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. And the three significant contributions to humanity were; the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg, the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, and the development of the internet (to which three men are noted as playing significant roles).

The common denominator that all these examples have in common may not have escaped you...

And whilst I agree that these are absolutely significant contributions to humanity, were I asked the same question, the number 1 thing that comes to my mind is the contribution of parents, and specifically, mothers. Firstly that of pregnant people - primarily women - who keep humanity going and then primary caretakers - primarily women - who build entirely dependent human beings into creative, intelligent, empathetic people capable of contributing to the society in which we live.

The second thing that comes to mind is the contribution of teachers (a profession that happens to be dominated by women), for taking up that mantle of responsibility for human development and turning small people who are barely toilet trained into fully competent adults able to articulate their own thoughts and desires and, from time to time, even think about the needs of other people.

(And let's face it, the printing press, penicillin and the internet wouldn't have been invented at all had the men involved not had the benefit of caretakers keeping them alive and educators encouraging them to think.)

The third thing that comes to mind is effective contraception. For reasons that should be self evident, but because a man's ejaculation habits have always been deemed a woman's responsibility, is still seen as 'a woman's issue'. In truth, it's enormously important to the whole of humanity, now and into the future, and has wildly important wellbeing and economic implications for both individuals and for countries.

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