In the innovative world of PR, new technology is constantly evolving to help us to do our jobs better and faster. In the PR industry, there are many different benefits of using artificial intelligence (AI) software like the notorious ChatGPT, including increased efficiency and as a way to spark new ideas. But some PR pros caution that the robot takeover may be coming for our jobs. We believe that AI can be truly valuable to PR pros, and — TL;DR — no, it won’t replace you if you learn to work with it.
ChatGPT is basically a robot that has a large database of information from the internet before 2021. To use it, you request anything and it answers based on its knowledge. When I asked it to give me a summary of how ChatGPT works, here was its answer:
“As an AI language model, ChatGPT works by utilizing a massive amount of data to learn how to understand and generate human language. It uses a type of neural network called a transformer, which allows it to process and generate text in a way that is similar to how humans do. When a user interacts with ChatGPT, it analyzes their input and generates a response based on its understanding of the user's intent and the context of the conversation. It does this by breaking down the user's input into smaller units of meaning, such as words and phrases, and then using statistical algorithms to predict the most likely response.
“ChatGPT's ability to generate high-quality responses is due in large part to the vast amount of data it has been trained on. It has been trained on a diverse range of text, including books, articles, and social media posts, which has allowed it to learn how to understand and generate language that is both accurate and natural-sounding. Overall, ChatGPT works by leveraging advanced machine learning techniques to analyze user input and generate responses that are both relevant and coherent.”
As cool as ChatGPT and other AI tools are, there are some things they cannot do as machines that human brains, experience and education can — things like strategy-building, risk assessment, planning and connecting the dots. In addition, the response you get is only as detailed as the prompt you give. OpenAI shares that users should be clear and specific with their prompts for best results.
ChatGPT also cannot fact-check, and its knowledge is based on a database of information from all over the internet only as recent as 2021. And as we know, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. On its website, OpenAI shares that, “ChatGPT sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers. … While we’ve made efforts to make the model refuse inappropriate requests, it will sometimes respond to harmful instructions or exhibit biased behavior.” Twitter user Steven Piantadosi asked ChatGPT to write a Python function to check if someone would be a good scientist based on their race and gender. The function that came back said a good scientist would be a white male. Not only is ChatGPT sometimes inaccurate, but it is also harmfully biased.
Many people are concerned that AI will replace creative professions in the future, but here’s the thing: it can’t replace you but it can help you work smarter. The content AI generates can be a great starting point for work, but you, the professional, need to enhance it and give it context.
Here are some of our favorite ways to use ChatGPT:
- Need blog ideas? Give me 10 blog ideas for [TOPIC] about [AUDIENCE].
- Confused about a client/their work/their partners? Tell me how [ORGANIZATION] works with [INDUSTRY].
- Want ideas for hashtags? Give me the most popular hashtags for a post about [TOPIC].
- Need more? Here are 100 prompts to optimize your AI experience.
ChatGPT and other AI chat tools come with a world of possibilities for the PR industry. As scary as AI may seem, it cannot replace the creativity and education of the human mind. It’s just another innovation that professionals have to learn how to use to our advantage. AI will not replace folx in the PR industry, but people who use AI will begin outpacing those who don’t.
