Let's Talk About the Elephant In the Room | 17 October 2024

If you've been worried that AI would eat your job for lunch, you're not alone. And ... potentially ... you're not wrong. AI is already impacting the economy in ways that many people didn't expect, even 12 months ago.

The question is, does it have to be that way? For you and your writing work, I mean?

Must Read

Let's Talk About the Elephant in the Room - AI and Writers

Back in the late 80's and early 90's my court reporter boss was using a form of AI to help speed up the process of transcribing court proceedings. We thought it was brilliant. But we didn't think of it as AI.

AI has been around in various forms even before the '80's and '90's. And it was having an impact on the economy even back then. Although, probably not so obviously as it is now.

In this article, I share some stats. And I also share my thoughts about AI and how, why and when writers should be using and not using it. Have a read. And then hit reply to this email and share your thoughts about this contentious topic that's not going to go away any time soon.

If You Use Your Words for Marketing You'll Want to Read This

Michael Stelzner, from Social Media examiner has just released his 2024 Generative AI Marketing Industry Report: How Marketers Are Using AI to Grow Their Businesses. Here are a couple of key points:

• "Nearly two-thirds (65%) of marketers are using generative AI tools either daily or weekly, with 37% using AI each day."
• "The most common uses of generative AI in content creation are generating ideas (70%), creating initial drafts (67%), editing content (58%), and coming up with titles (58%)."
• "Marketers widely agree that generative AI saves time (86%) and increases overall productivity (79%). However, they also express concerns about the accuracy and reliability of generated content (80%) and copyright/ownership issues (71%)."

There's a lot more to this report, so definitely check it out.

LinkedIn Newsletter About AI

This LinkedIn newsletter is all about what's out there in the AI world, what's new and how people are using it. Whenever I get one of these newsletters in my inbox, I always skim through it looking for helpful gems. Which I often find.

Top Tips

If you've never used ChatGPT or any of the other AI tools out there, try out this very quick exercise as a way to get started.

• Go to https://chatgpt.com/ or https://claude.ai/ and set up a free account.
• In the prompt box (looks a bit like a search box), explain what type of writing you do, e.g. "I write feature articles for top travel magazines that cover travel in [country/region or area you want to cover]. Please summarise the submission guidelines for [publication you want to write for]. Please include the URL for the submissions guidelines page."
• See what you get back. Then go fact check it.

Just remember, AI tools are not humans. They are robot assistants that are really smart in a dumb kind of way ... if that makes sense. So you have to be really clear about exactly what you want. And have the patience to get it to go back and redo things it doesn't get right.

Think of it like explaining how to do something to an 8 year who hasn't done that thing before. Just like the child, the AI tool needs context and clarity about what it's supposed to do.

Resource Roundup

How to Create GPTs

Jeanette Stein really gets why you need to be on brand when you're marketing your writing services. She also understands how helpful AI can be in helping you pull your marketing act together. Check out her free guide on how to use AI to create your custom brand and voice guide in 20 Minutes.

Taming the Tiger - How to Get Consistent Results from ChatGPT

Or you can check out this free 5-minute course from Steven Lewis (affiliate link) on how to get ChatGPT to write like you every time. Not so you can skip the creation process, but so you can nail the early planning, without sounding like some zombie version of yourself.

Jobs That Are Growing With the Rise of AI

This article from PartnerStack lists the job types that are growing thanks to AI. Of course many of these new types of jobs require some fairly sophisticated skills and training. But not all of them. Have a look. You might be surprised.

What We're Loving

Heating Pad For Unhappy Body Bits

Every once in a while, my long hours sitting at the computer gang up on me and I end up with a sore back. Last time it happened, I tried using heat patches to get a bit of relief. But I … ahem … left them on too long and ended up with blisters all over my shoulders. Not smart. And heat packs that you put in the microwave cool down too quickly. This electric heat pack from OCOOPA is just right. It heats up quick and after it’s been on for awhile, it lowers the temperature. So no more burns, thank goodness.

Not Quite AI, But Definitely Futuristic

This may come as a surprise, but Meta’s Quest 2 virtual reality headset has helped my family stay in touch even though we live oceans apart. Every Sunday my husband and I jump online and talk with our kids, one in Germany and one in the US. And once or twice a month, we’ll use our Meta Quest 2 headsets to play mini-golf. Sound prosaic? Even boring? Maybe so, but it’s perfect for letting us do something together AND talk at the same time.

The only thing is, those headsets can get sweaty! And then the sweat fogs up the lens. So annoying! So when I saw Sonicgrace‘s Cooling Fan Face Pad for Meta Quest 2, that STOPS lens fogging, I was like, “yes, please.” And made sure to remind my husband that I’ve got a birthday coming up 😊.

Featured Freelancer

Spotlight on Natasha Khullar Relph

I don’t even remember where I came across Natasha Khullar Relph, but I‘m glad I did. Natasha has written over 1000 articles for national and international publications, over 3000 blog and newsletter posts, and nearly a dozen books. I’m on her newsletter list and I find the tips and advice she shares very helpful.

In this week’s blog post I talk about how AI tools can help speed up writing time (without it doing the writing for you). And then I came across this post from Natasha explaining her framework for learning how to write faster. Worth a read.

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FREE Grow Your Business Q&A

If you have questions about growing your business, dealing with clients, improving your mindset, or anything else freelance-related, this is the Q&A for you. Save your seat for the first Boss Responses Podcast live Q&A on October 30, 2024 at 12 pm ET.

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