Question: As a business owner, why would I pay a content writer to write articles or blog posts for me when ChatGPT can do a perfectly good job free of charge – and faster?

Answer: It’s a very sensible question, but ChatGPT will never actually replace a human writer. The bot responds to prompts, so the nature of the instructions you give it are important. Give it generalized instructions and you’ll receive a generic article – one that is exactly like thousands of others on the same subject and will likely only persuade the reader to yawn and click away. However, give it specific and detailed instructions with word counts, paragraph headings and sub-headings and ask it for statistics and for sources to be cited correctly and you may get something which certainly seems passable.

So, why pay a content writer? For the difference that makes an article written by a knowledgeable human being stand out from more generic offerings. Nuance, anecdotes, storytelling, for example – the human touch, in other words, that engages readers and attracts clients. Granted, the human writer will need time to come up with something that ChatGPT can do in seconds; that is because human content writers need first to research and ensure they have the evidence to support their statements, then plan and craft the article, write a first draft and then edit and rewrite until they’re satisfied with the finished product and – yes, this does take time. However, the finished product will have originality; the personality of the writer will come through; the article, blog post, or web content will stand out from the crowd.

Additionally, quality content writers tend to have a fairly strong understanding of their clients’ businesses and requirements; at Prompt Proofing, we make sure that our content is finely tuned to reflect our clients’  needs and appeal to their target audience. Chat GPT does not have this knowledge.

Bear in mind the old maxim: good, fast or cheap – pick any two; you can’t have all three. If you want fast and cheap, don’t expect it to necessarily be that good – passable, maybe, but not truly ‘good’. Want good and fast? It won’t be cheap. Whether the extra price is worth it for you, in order to get content that engages your target audience and stands out from the crowd, is up to you. AI can be a useful crutch, particularly if time is of the essence, but nothing will replace the personal touch and originality of an article or blog post crafted by a professional.

At Prompt Proofing we offer both proofreading/editing, and copywriting: press releases, website content, blog posts and articles. Feel free to discuss your needs with us.