Is the Death of Content Here? ChatGPT vs. Media

It seems like just yesterday that ChatGPT-3 was launched and created a buzz on social media. And already, the rise of AI writing and chat tools such as Bing, ChatGPT, and Bard has revolutionized the way we communicate and create content. Popular for their convenience and efficiency, students, bloggers and digital media execs are using them for generating text for various purposes.

However, as these AI-powered apps become more prevalent, it seems obvious that their implications on the online media, advertising, and blogging industry will be serious.

Impact of ChatGPT

Personally, I’m already seeing journalist applicants and interns at our company rely on these technologies more than I was expecting. So today, I’m exploring the potential challenges and changes that these technologies might bring to the digital landscape.

1. The Rise of ‘Junk Talk’ and Importance of Slang

AI bots are now writing our messages, including ideas, questions, itineraries, advice and almost everything else. With these tools, conversations will become superficial in the near future, where your bot writes an email that I give my bot to summarize. This convenience of conversation will create a lot of “junk talk”, just like packaged foods.

As more and more students use AI tools to take notes and write papers, their analytical and writing skills will be affected such that tomorrow’s employees may struggle to create their own paragraphs.This raises concerns about the authenticity and depth of human interaction and ideas.

So in the future, human touch will need to really “show”, maybe in incomplete sentences, broken sentence structure, spelling shortcuts and trailing off thoughts. Perhaps by 2025, you will love these types of messages more, ”hey how r u”. But then, perhaps ChatGPT will also start talking like that in 2025 to sound more “human”.

2. The Impact on Content Creation

While AI writing tools like Bing, ChatGPT, and Bard make content creation easier, they lack original thought. Of course, this is because these are not idea-generation tools, but text generators. So, they rely on pre-existing ideas found in blogs, videos, podcasts, and other sources to answer queries.

While this usage is great for schoolwork, it can also affect journalists and content creators. This trend may lead content creators to question the merit of producing unique content. Why write something new and unique when it can easily be “stolen” and replicated by AI bots?

Now, I know what you must be thinking. Those who have original ideas will always create new things and unique content. However, it’s not easy to create new content.

Thinking of new ideas can indeed be mentally demanding. It requires creativity, critical thinking, and a lot of mental energy. One great incentive to do all this work is the impact and engagement it creates, which may be lost if tools like ChatGPT can “steal” these ideas without giving credit. And no – a small sub-text like credit does not count, as it doesn’t create impact.

2.5 Are AI Text Generators Tools or Hinderance for Writers?

Even before GPT 3.5, tools like Rytr used to produce content, and I’ve used quite a few of them. However, I stopped using them all after a day or two, because I realized they are more of a hinderance than a tool, as they restrict my creativity.

Our brains are wired for efficiency and conserving energy. It’s a survival mechanism that’s evolved over time. Since creating an article or piece of content from unique ideas is so mentally draining, our brains try to find the easier path by overly relying on a writing tool if it helps us avoid thinking and overworking.

And that’s why my journalist internship class of 2023 is the least creative by far. It’s easier for writers to believe that ChatGPT’s writing style is “actually theirs” and its ideas are publish-worthy, even when they’re not unique.

3. Blogging and Media Industry at Risk

The blogging and media industry may face significant disruptions due to AI writing tools. As more and more Ai-generated content fill social media feeds and search results, content creators will find it challenging to stand out, which could ultimately affect their reach and viewership.

In order to really stand out, journalists and bloggers will have to focus more on original thoughts, first-hand research like news-based analysis, surveys, expert interviews, polls, etc. However, these types of articles are more time consuming and require a lot of thought and creativity.

This is where the main problem will arise. As a result, media houses, bloggers, and journalists may need to seek additional incentives or income sources to sustain their content creation efforts. However, this will seriously impact the quality of content – how, and why should you care, you ask? Let’s discuss advertorials.

4. The Rise of Branded Content and Bias

One potential outcome of AI-generated content is the rise of branded content or sneaky advertorials that align with specific interests or agendas. As media outlets and bloggers seek additional sources of income, branded content might become more prevalent. However, this shift could lead to biased reporting, affecting the authenticity and objectivity of information available online.

5. Implications for Analytics, Demographics, and SEO

The increasing reliance on AI-generated content could also impact website analytics. With content becoming more biased, accurate insights into user behavior may diminish, affecting decision-making for e-commerce and non-content sites.

Additionally, the SEO industry may undergo changes, as traditional methods of optimizing content may no longer hold the same influence in an AI-driven landscape.

6. Advertising Industry and Trust Issues

As AI-generated content becomes more common, advertisers may face challenges in placing their ads on websites. The perceived bias and lack of credibility could lead advertisers to rethink their strategies 🔗, potentially reducing ad revenue for media outlets and bloggers. This, in turn, might lead to a shift in power dynamics, with tech giants like Google and Microsoft potentially exerting more influence over the media landscape.

It’s media industry’s job to inform the public in an unbiased way, so that governments and people are accountable for their actions. Any scenario where media is unable to keep itself independent is bad for the people at large.

As we move forward, it is essential for content creators, media outlets, and advertisers to carefully navigate the evolving digital landscape.

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