As an avid ChatGPT user, I looked on in astonishment — and a bit of trepidation — as the wunderkind AI writer soared beyond all expectations in Q2, eclipsed all other AI writers and became a household name.
ChatGPT’s grasp on the public imagination is so intense, the tool’s Web site is clocking nearly one billion visitors-per-month.
Scores of third-party developers are scrambling to cash-in on the resulting AI writing craze, rolling-out plugins, Chrome extensions and similar add-ons for ChatGPT and its competitors — which are adding to the frenzy.
And at least one company is promising the ultimate in news production that’s based on AI writing technology: A newsroom-in-a-box that can churn-out limitless regurgitations of news stories that it finds on the Web, minute-by-minute.
But unfortunately, what ChatGPT giveth, ChatGPT can also taketh away.
More than a few editors and writers saw their worst fears realized as the growing popularity of ChatGPT and similar AI writers ginned-up a storm of pink slips telling workers to hit-the-road.
German tabloid Bild, for example, unabashedly deep-sixed more than a hundred editorial jobs by stating the obvious: You’re obsolete.
And BMV released a study that found the job-loss apocalypse among copywriters is already underway, according to 70% of marketers surveyed.
Meanwhile, editors, writers and other content creators at CNET are trying to beat back a similar fate.
But it’s tough to get the upper hand on a tech that can do so much of your job for just pennies on the dollar.
Bottom line: ChatGPT proved in Q2 that the technology is — without a doubt — a supernova on the world’s radar.
But ChatGPT has also proved that when it comes to editing and writing jobs, it — and technology like it — is taking no prisoners.
Here are the stories from Q2 that helped shape that perspective:
*ChatGPT: Now Nearly 1 Billion Visitors-a-Month: AI auto-writing wonder ChatGPT continues to gobsmack the world — now clocking nearly a billion visitors every month.
Observes Stefan Katanic, CEO, Veza Digital: “The ChatGPT phenomenon spread like wildfire at the end of 2022.
“And we expect it to soon break all records of being the fastest-ever Web site to reach 1 billion monthly active users in such an incredibly short space of time.
“Debates about AI are divisive.
“But one thing we can probably all agree on is that AI is no longer the future: It is the present.”
*Automated Newsroom-in-a-Box: Humans Optional: Media tech veterans from southern California are readying release of an AI tool that can continuously churn-out automatically generated news — sans human oversight.
Essentially, by employing advanced algorithms, natural language processing, data gathering and analytics, the tool — dubbed ‘WELLS’ — will be able to autonomously research, verify, and write news articles across multiple platforms at unprecedented scales, according to a press release from maker HeyWire AI.
News of the coming product launch coincides with increasing numbers of Web sites that are using AI-automated news tools to rewrite and regurgitate news found elsewhere on the Web — denigrated by some as ‘Pink Slime’ journalism.
Observes Jeffrey S. Klein, an advisor to HeyWire AI, and a former senior executive at the Los Angeles Times: “As the needs of the (news) industry have changed, and its use of technology has evolved, newsrooms must adapt and learn to use tools such as WELLS to enhance their approach to the business and remain competitive.”
Ideally, HeyWire envisions users of WELLS employing human editors to review every story produced by the AI tool before it hits the Web.
One hopes.
*Rumoredly ‘Plugtastic:’ ChatGPT Premium Users Now Have Access to 70+ Plugins: ChatGPT users who pay $20/month for the ‘Plus’ version now have access to 70+ third-party plugins for the tool.
Observes writer Pahi Mehra: “OpenAI says this upgrade will enable ChatGPT to access up-to-date information, run computations and use third-party services.
“The company has also hired ChatGPT plugin developers from a waiting list to construct these additional capabilities.”
*Pixel Perfect: News Imaging Getting a New Industry Standard with AI-Powered Photoshop: While dozens of AI imaging tools are already on the market, it’s quite another matter when the industry standard — Photoshop — announces an AI upgrade.
Essentially, the refinement — dubbed Firefly and still in beta mode — integrates AI into a familiar tool that’s used by the lion’s share of news and content creators the world over.
Observes writer Farhad Majoo: “The software allows anyone with a mouse, an imagination and $10 to $20 a month to — without any expertise — subtly alter pictures, sometimes appearing so real that it seems likely to erase most of the remaining barriers between the authentic and the fake.”
*ChatGPT Alternatives: Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing, Baby: An extensive review of top competitors to ChatGPT reveals that while most give the tool a good run-for-its money, none are quite as deft as ChatGPT overall.
The reason: Many of these tools home-in on enhancing a specific function of ChatGPT, but cannot be used as a Swiss-Army-Knife for other writing and research tasks.
Also, most of these alternatives do not offer access to GPT-4 — currently the most powerful writing engine option that’s available with ChatGPT.
Even so, the rundown of tools in this piece will be of interest to users who are willing to sacrifice ChatGPT’s general-use superiority when looking to perform a highly specific task — or take a slightly different approach to AI writing.
Bottom line: This overview is the most thorough and valuable guide to ChatGPT alternatives you’ll likely find on the Web right now.
*Babel Begone: The State of Machine Translation 2023: Intento has released a new study detailing the state of AI-powered translation.
During the past few years, the off-loading of translation to AI machines has completely disrupted the industry.
This report examines 37 AI-powered translation platforms used by businesses and organizations across-the-globe.
*To AI or Not to AI: CNET Writers Have Questions: Writers and other media creators at CNET are leery of the publisher’s newly released plans for using AI-generated media on its Web site.
After CNET began using AI-authored articles last year, media creators at the company unionized.
Now, the galvanized group plans to negotiate with CNET on how the publisher plans to use AI writing and similar on its Web site.
A key demand: The option for writers to remove bylines on articles featuring AI-generated material that makes them uncomfortable.
*Bild Waves Bye-Bye to Workers: 100+ Editorial Jobs Slashed With AI: More than a hundred workers at German tabloid Bild are looking at a pink slip tsunami, according to this piece in Futurism.
A leaked email from the business stated in part that the tabloid will “unfortunately be parting ways with colleagues who have tasks that in the digital world are performed by AI and/or automated processes,” according to writer Maggie Harrison.
Adds Harrison: “The email detailed that those who will be replaced by AI include editors, print production staff, subeditors, proofreaders and photo editors — and that these time-honored human careers will no longer exist as they do today.”
*Apocalypse Soon: Writers Already an Endangered Species, Survey Says: Nearly 70% of content marketers believe that many writers will lose their jobs to AI by 2028, according to a new survey from marketing agency BMV.
Even more chilling: 29% of those surveyed believe that all writers at their company will lose their jobs to ChatGPT and similar AI writers by 2028.
Observe BMV’s researchers: “Notably, the (survey) found that nearly 7-in-10 content marketers believe artificial intelligence will replace writers on their teams over the next five years.
“However, this group was split on whether AI will replace only junior-level writers (40%) or all of their current writers (29%).”
So much for the saccharine promise — oft-voiced by some AI evangelists — that: ‘AI is not a job threat. Instead, AI will free-up writers to engage in more creative and rewarding tasks.”
That promise is being seen by increasing numbers of writers as little more than a shiny object some AI evangelists want you to focus on as your writing job disappears.
Unless, of course, you consider flipping burgers ‘more creative and rewarding work.’
*ChatGPT and the Writer: Farewell, Artistic Soul: With ChatGPT, we’ll never again know for sure if the writing we’re reading springs from the human soul — or is just a bit of machined text churned-out by a collection of chips and code.
Granted, ChatGPT is a wondrous phenomenon.
But even though works of fiction and nonfiction are generally destined to turn-out better with the use of ChatGPT and similar AI writers, there’s a spiritual robbery going on here.
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–Joe Dysart is editor of RobotWritersAI.com and a tech journalist with 20+ years experience. His work has appeared in 150+ publications, including The New York Times and the Financial Times of London.