Let’s not kid ourselves: ChatGPT may be an AI, but it’s definitely not the next Hemingway.
ChatGPT is a generative text AI. You input text, like “give me birthday present ideas for my kid,” or “write me an essay on Genghis Khan,” and ChatGPT produces a response.
Most people are wrong about ChatGPT, though. They think it’s a good writer.
It’s not. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company that built ChatGPT, basically agrees.
ChatGPT gets heaps of facts wrong, repeats itself constantly, is painfully verbose, and doesn’t have a good grasp on style.
In other words, it’s bad at generating original content.
But it’s excellent at condensing existing content and helping you come up with ideas. This is the better way to use ChatGPT: as a tool to improve your ideas, not your writing.
Here’s an example of what we mean.
We typed this sentence into ChatGPT: “Most people think ChatGPT is a good writer. It isn’t.”
Then we told ChatGPT, “Rewrite the following to be wittier. Provide three significantly different variants.”
Here’s what ChatGPT gave us:
- “Everyone thinks ChatGPT is a literary genius, but let’s be real: it’s about as talented as a brick.”
- “While some may view ChatGPT as a skilled wordsmith, it’s actually about as adept at writing as a pineapple is at tapdancing.”
- “Let’s not kid ourselves: ChatGPT may be an AI, but it’s definitely not the next Hemingway.” …recognize this one?
The bottom line? ChatGPT isn’t a replacement for good writing. But, when used effectively, it can help enhance your own creativity: whether in advertising, cold email, content, or otherwise.