There is understandably a lot of chat and concern in the blogging world about the impact of ChatGPT and programmes using Artificial Intelligence to produce content. I strongly believe that while it is right to recognise the threats these advances pose we also need to acknowledge they bring with them opportunities and more importantly, they aren't going to go away. ChatGPT might be the buzzword right now, but there are many other programmes working in a similar way. The point of the internet is to make information easily available which inevitably means others will use that information, combine it and produce something new.
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| I asked ChatGPT the same question after writing this post. I think bloggers are safe for now |
3 Key Issues With AI Chatbots for Bloggers
Plagiarism and Intellectual property
My biggest concern right now is how ChatGPT (and some other software) gets its information. Essentially it takes information that is already out there and reproduces it. It can do this in a very clever way, combining different pieces of information to make something better, but people have taken time to produce the original content.
If I write a report or essay I reference the sources of theories and give them credit, but ChatGPT doesn’t do that. If I use a stock image, I credit where the image is from. I only use images I have permission for rather than just taking any picture at random of the Internet. Often the AI content is very different to the original, sometimes it is very similar, but if you are using the output of ChatGPT or similar tools you can’t easily tell.
Having said that, this is the same thing that are brains do every day. We all take in a huge amount of information, we mix it all up in our minds and then at some point we will share our thoughts and opinions. Like I am in this article. I couldn’t tell you where all the ideas came from or all the videos, comments and articles I have seen which have lead me to the conclusions here. Hopefully my brain is a little smarter than ChatGPT, hopefully I can make conclusions and connections that a computer programme can’t make, but it's a similar principle.
So I have concerns that people’s original content is being used without credit, but I have hope that the content will be changed enough to be original and if it isn't now, then in the future of AI it will be.
Originality
The way AI computer programmes currently work means they are only able to provide information that they have received. As an example let’s take a blog post about visiting the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
There are probably hundreds of thousands of pieces of content on the internet about the Eiffel Tower. It’s not unheard of for someone writing a new article to have never have been to Paris and instead read various articles and use them to write their own. ChatGPT etc does the same thing, but with the potential of more skill. A computer programme can read far more articles, in far more languages giving it a larger pool of data to make the finished content.
The issue here is: the real world doesn’t stay the same. Ticket booths change locations, ticket prices change, places close, displays are updated. You actually need people to go to the Eiffel Tower every so often, experience what it is like and write about it to be useful to readers.
It means that producing our own original content, with detail and images becomes increasingly important. I recognise that this content is then at risk of being used by AI, but for years unscrupulous bloggers and journalists have taken other people’s content and changed it just enough to get away with it, so it's not a new risk. If you write about an area you love and know about well you are better able to stay one step ahead.
Accuracy
In time ChatGPT will probably be able to do an assessment of different information and pick out conflicting information, but it is likely to be years (if ever) before it can reliably pick up inaccuracies. Whether the errors are genuine mistakes, lazy journalism or out of date information makes no difference and outputs need to be checked. Before you know it misinformation in one post gets into another and another and you end up with the technological version of Chinese whispers with the articles published not reflecting reality.
So what can we do about these threats?
If you are using ChatGPT to produce your content:
- Be aware that you might accidentally be plagiarising someone else’s work. Use the generated content to inspire your work, but add your own style, language and ideas.
- Do your own research where possible to add something new.
- Check facts and make sure that they are supported by credible sources.
If you are a blogger and worried about the threat of AI:
We need to recognise that information we publish is available for others to use. Very few of us will publish anything unique enough that it can be copyrighted, but it is still frustrating to have our content taken. It is equally frustrating to put time and energy in to writing articles and others to fill their websites with content without effort.
The key to the success of AI though is enough people producing original content. People want answers which they turn to the internet for. Be a leader, be an expert in your field by continuing to produce useful, accurate information and hopefully your readers (and Google) will recognise this.
AI can be an opportunity for us too. We can use it to start planning our content and provide frameworks. Think of it a bit like brainstorming with a friend. You can use it to give you more ideas and viewpoints to build on, but don’t use it in isolation.
In Conclusion
There have always been people who care more about publishing large numbers of posts than providing quality information. From scraping other people’s contents, paying pennies for writers on Fiver or just short, badly written posts, it’s nothing new. New software makes this easier for them, but I have to believe that readers and search engines will spot the difference and choose to recognise our original content as better. We all write with our own perspective, style and opinions that are unique to us, and these can't be copied. Embrace what you have to offer and don't lose hope.