OpenAI has just announced the release of Chat GPT-4 and on the back of that, we thought we’d take a refreshed look at the capabilities of the platform, the appeal to its users and whether it’s time for marketers to start trembling about the future of their roles.
I saw a recent article on Linkedin, where someone actually asked Chat GPT what jobs GPT-4 would be able to replace. Chat GPT came up with a list of the top 20 roles it could take over, along with the human trait that it replaces.
The Top 20 Roles Chat GPT-4 Could Replace
We’ve listed the top 20 roles that GPT-4 itself thinks it could replace.
- Data Entry Clerk
- Customer Service Representative
- Proofreader
- Paralegal
- Bookkeeper
- Translator
- Copywriter
- Market Research Analyst
- Social Media Manager
- Appointment Scheduler
- Telemarketer
- Virtual Assistant
- Transcriptionist
- News Reporter
- Travel Agent
- Tutor
- Technical Support Analyst
- Email Marketer
- Content Moderator
- Recruiter
As you can see, over a quarter of the roles on this list are within marketing. Based on this, we thought it was time to put what Chat GPT can do to the test and see how good a replacement it could be for these roles.
Can Chat GPT-4 Replace Our Jobs?: A Breakdown of 8 Roles
Let’s dive in below:
Data entry
The first thing worth saying is there seem to be a lot of limitations to this feature as a whole, as I have yet to get it to work. First of all, I asked Chat GPT if it was possible for me to upload a document and whether it can amend the document, which it stated that it cannot. It said it would be happy to do the data entry if I could supply the content in a text format it recognises. I then pasted some values from a spreadsheet into the chat box and asked it to update the values based on it meeting a condition in another column.
It said as an AI language model, it does not have the capability to directly modify the data I provided, but it can provide me with instructions on how to do it myself. Now, I’m open to trying some other scenarios and seeing how this could work, but that was a real-life example that we needed help with data entry on and it couldn’t complete it. Also, before you come for me, I know I can do what I’ve asked above with a formula, but that just exacerbated the issue, as it was a simple task that Chat GPT couldn’t complete.
What else do you think we should ask Chat GPT to do to test out this function? Or have you managed to get it to do some useful data entry for you? Let us know in the comments.
Proofreader
I copied some of the content from our latest Pinterest Predicts blog and made some deliberate spelling and grammar mistakes, then asked Chat GPT to let me know of any issues. It came back with a corrected version of the content and found all my errors, even putting commas in the right place.
As an agency that gets everyone to proofread any content three times before it is published or sent to a client, this could be a really useful efficiency gain. Although, I feel we’d have to always proofread Chat GPT’s proofreading. Could be a useful timesaver for proofing content within the early stages of review though!
Translator
I then took the same blog post and asked Chat GPT to translate it into Italian. It translated the whole piece in seconds. After this, I put the translated copy into Google Translate and converted it back and it did so word for word. We would need a translation expert to verify how culturally correct the translation was; our guess is it would be as good as if you put it into Google Translate. Although, it’s worth noting that Google Translate has a character limit so you get much faster results using Chat GPT.
I would hazard a guess that anyone using a service like Google Translate to translate content currently could get a more efficient service with Chat GPT, but it’s unlikely to be as accurate as using a human translator.
Copywriter
Now this is probably the most obvious one as what Chat GPT does is write content, and it does it exceptionally well. However, we have issues with this, in that it will never take into account lived experiences, the human touch, plus the fact that if you run it through any checking systems, they all come back saying written as AI.
How comfortable are you with replacing a human copywriter with a computer? Interestingly, some of the top search term questions regarding Chat GPT are: “Does chat GPT plagiarise/is Chat GPT recognised by Turnitin?” and “Can Chat GPT content be detected?”. It’s clear that there’s still a lot of concern over the content it writes and whether this can be used. Personally for us, we think it’s a great aid in researching content for an article, but the article should always be written by a human (this blog is 100% human-written, FYI).
Social Media Manager
I asked it to look at our Instagram page and based on our account, provide me with a 30-day social media calendar in a table format with ideas for what we should be posting about, the proposed imagery or video to accompany the post and the written caption, including hashtags.
Unfortunately, Chat GPT showed its limitations again by saying it is not able to access our Instagram (it cannot review any links), but it can provide a general 30-day content calendar. This included generic things like a post about the first day of spring, national puppy day and some very, very generic content and hashtags. I do not in any way see the threat of Chat GPT in the role of a social media manager, where content ideation and creation is only a small part of their role.
It does not have the capability to schedule the posts, manage your accounts and respond to people, post on your behalf, review the performance data or understand your brand and target audience in any real human detail to be able to provide value to someone who needs their social media managing professionally. It’s cute for personal accounts but that’s probably as far as it goes.
Telemarketer
This one got me from the start as how is Chat GPT going to phone people on your behalf? I was curious to know how it thought it could replace this one. So, I started by asking a quite general question to see where it would lead: “I’m looking to speak to senior marketing professionals who need help with their SEO. Can you help me find those people?”’.
Chat GPT came back with “As an AI language model, I don’t have access to personal information or contact details of individuals. However, I can suggest a few ways to help you find senior marketing professionals who may need help with SEO” and provided a list of tips. The tips were really relevant and would be insightful to novices, but they all need to be actioned by a real, living person. Nice try Chat GPT, but I don’t think you have this one in the bag yet (or at all?!).
Email Marketer
Our own Ben Mackrill will love this, as he is in charge of our monthly newsletter. I thought I’d ask Chat GPT if it could take care of a specific section of the content for our newsletter. By now, I’m already well aware that it will not be able to replace this job as it cannot create, design or send emails. What it can do though is help with some of the content, and I wanted to ask Chat GPT specifically what it would say for our ‘nailed it and failed it’ section. Here’s how it went:
Claire: “I want to send a monthly email newsletter with a nailed it and failed it section about recent campaigns within the month, one that has totally ‘nailed it’ and generally has been widely praised and one that has ‘failed it’ and been criticised. Can you help me create the content for March?”
Chat GPT: “Sure, I can help you with that! Here are some recent campaigns for March that you can feature in your nailed it and failed it sections:
Nailed It:
One campaign that has been widely praised this month is Nike’s “Play New” campaign, which encourages people to get out of their comfort zones and try new things. The campaign features athletes and everyday people pushing themselves to try new sports and activities, inspiring viewers to do the same.
Failed It:
A campaign that has received criticism this month is Pepsi’s “Fizz to Life” campaign, which features a series of ads showing people drinking Pepsi and suddenly breaking into song and dance. Some people have criticised the campaign for being too similar to previous campaigns from other soda companies, and for being too focused on the product rather than the message.
You can use these examples as inspiration for your newsletter and include any relevant information, such as the goals of the campaign, the target audience, and the overall response. Make sure to provide a balanced perspective and avoid being overly critical or overly positive, as both can come across as biased.”
Now what I actually really like about this is the structure of the response, the content and also, look at Chat GPT giving me a handy little tip at the end that I didn’t ask for! We would never take Chat GPT content and use it as our own but sometimes, we can spend quite a lot of time searching for content for this section when Chat GPT could assist with the inspiration in seconds. I have to say, its ideas are a little bland and probably not right for our tone of voice, but this is the nicest display of content I’ve seen it produce during these experiments.
Recruiter
This one got me the same as a telemarketer, so I had to try it out. Having recently just hired a new candidate and going through interviews for another role, I was curious to see how Chat GPT thought it could help in the process.
I asked simply, “I’m looking to hire a social media manager for a job in Leeds. Can you help me find them?”. Again, I got a response that I’m getting used to which were tips on how to do it myself. It’s clear that Chat GPT can be a great aide to a lot of roles but it certainly cannot replace them.
Our Final Thoughts
Chat GPT purely produces content. I’m not understating its power, as it’s truly phenomenal, but you need a human to decide between right or wrong, a brand of cultural fit, to do the setup, implementation, creation and any other human elements of the work. Not only that, but a lot of work takes trial and error and Chat GPT is very tunnel-visioned in its approach.
So when it comes to what Chat GPT can do, I think that people will be able to hold on to their roles a while longer. There is a lot of misunderstanding about what the platform is and how it can be used. In my mind, it provides a great solution to gathering information when you might be short on time. It cannot do any implementation but no doubt we will have AI in the future that can. For marketers to succeed, the aim would be to work alongside AI tools like Chat GPT and allow it to be a harmonious relationship, rather than trying to fight it.
We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Also, if you need some real, human copywriting, give us a shout and contact the team!
