Will Artificial Intelligence replace writers?

Helen's story

With the rise of Chat GPT and several A. I tools, many people have predicted that content writers would be replaced. In other words, writers should start looking for something else or possibly consider a career in programming or the likes. At some point, I started searching for a safe career path so I can make the switch. I was very tense, honestly. Who would not be?

Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

The prophets are right, to an extent though. Chat GPT can churn out blog content in minutes. With it, research is very easy. It can do more than just write content though.

Here is the thing. Chat GPT will replace some writers. It's not just going to happen to writers alone. It is going to change the world of work in every field and industry.

Before I delve into the reasons for this, and the type of writers it will affect let me tell you the story of a service provider down my street. She is late now though.

Helen's story

Helen was as bold as a Lion, wise as a Dove, and smart as anything you can imagine. A very industrious and disciplined woman. Before she died, she had a shop at the university of Nigeria Enugu campus. She provided typing services to the students. 

Helen learned how to type when the work tool was a Typewriter. After learning the craft, she got a shop within the school and start working. The business boomed as it should because she was solving a problem.

All was well till something came knocking at the door. To some, it was an innovation, to others like Helen it was a threat.

That something is the computer. Back in the early 2000s, computers were expensive and considered a wonder. 

It was not as popular as it is now in Africa. Don't get me wrong. I am African, and I don't mean to paint the continent badly. The truth is that there were not so common.

Computers do a lot better than typewriters. Documents typed with a computer are very neat. It's faster and documents are easily edited with computers than with typewriters.

When this change was coming, it did not mean that typists would be replaced, it simply meant that the tool of work was changing, and so was the way and manner in which they worked. 

Some people proactively took steps to upgrade their skills themselves. They registered for training and learned how to use the computer. Others refused to learn while hoping that something bad would happen to the innovation and drive it back to wherever it came from.

Helen belonged to the last category.

She continued with her crude work tools. Customers began to reduce. Her profit margin dropped. She continued with the crude tools. I can't tell why she adamantly refused to upgrade her skills. One thing I know is that change is not easy. 

 Her work was not fast nor was it effective or efficient. I mean why would I spend twice to get a document typed in almost two days when I can achieve all that in hours with little or no cost using a computer system?

It didn't take much long she began to struggle with paying for the basic needs of life. Rents and other bills were on her neck. Eventually, she lost the space in the university. As a result, she joined the job hunt team. She couldn't find a job because she lacked the skill needed.

Life became too tough and very unbearable for Helen. Eventually, she died of a partial stroke, depression, and worry.

If you have been pressured before by your landlord, you will understand the kind of pain Helen was in. Her death is a self-induced one. Something that could have been prevented had she taken time to adjust to the new realities.

The same will happen to any writer or any professional who fails to adapt to the new reality. It's not a prophecy but it's the result of refusing to be innovative.

With AI, you can produce ten search engine-optimized articles if not more every day, throughout the week at little cost. You can't do that as a human being. 

 AI is very reliable compared to humans. It doesn't get ill. It doesn't have children that can develop running stomachs in the morning or an emergency that requires immediate hospital attention. They don't go on leave. I can go and on to enumerate what it can do that you can't do within a particular time frame as a human being. 

It is here to stay. To avoid being replaced or losing your job, do these five things consistently and you will be top of your game.

Five things you can do to future-proof your career

Learn how to use AI tools 

 AI is a tool. It's an aid to help you to work efficiently and effectively, but you need to learn how to use it.  Invest in Knowledge. Understand how the tool works and how to use them. It's a superpower.

Invest in the greatest AI in human history - your brain.

Your brain is the greatest AI in human history. Invest in it. Nurture your creativity. Feed your brain with the right content. Don't feed it with garbage. If you do, you will get garbage out of it. To feed your brain with the right content, you have got to be intentional about it.

Add value to yourself.

Yes, I know you can write excellent blog posts, but is that all that you can do? Add marketing and sales to your career. If you are not interested in marketing or sales, find something and add to it. This year, I took a step toward learning marketing. It's not an easy one but I am happily doing it.

Study the trends

Now is the best time to know what is happening in your industry. Based on the information you get, take steps to proactively position yourself in your industry.

Most importantly, hone your writing skills.

I used Chat GPT to write an article for a client a month ago. It produced four blog posts in minutes but I noticed that it just regurgitated what someone else had written. What that means is that the articles are plagiarized.

 If I didn't check that, I would submit plagiarized articles to my client. 

I leveraged my writing skills to restructure the article in a way that met the needs of my client's target audience. It would have been a disaster if I didn't know jack about writing. 

Closing notes

I want you to win. Take steps proactively to guard your source of income. Create time to develop yourself. If you don't, you will be laid off once you stop meeting KPIs or for some other reasons. Be valuable.

If you are a founder or business owner, consider the customer's needs first. Look at how you can meet the customer's needs at little cost. That way you will remain in business.

Don't be scared. You have the most powerful tool in the world. Hone it and use it to your advantage.

Till next week my friend,

Ama.