I recently gained a new friend called Jasper. We have a few things in common: we both like to write, we're good at coming up with new ideas and have an annoying habit of repeating ourselves. Sounds like the perfect co-worker right?
Not really. Jasper is an AI (artificial intelligence) copywriting tool and he’s coming for my job.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
What is AI Copywriting
Before we dive into the wonders and woes of artificial intelligence, we need to understand something: copywriting and content writing get confused quite a lot. I’m guilty of using "copywriting" when I should actually use "content writing" — but that’s a post for another day.
It'd be more accurate to say that Jasper is an AI tool for both content writing and copywriting (he’s marketed as just a copywriting tool).
Although Jasper and I have been recently acquainted, I’ve been using him every day for over a month for a specific client’s work. (Don’t worry, I still write my own content for everything else).
The creators of Jasper claim that AI makes “it fast and easy to create content for your blog, social media, website, and more!”
Jasper, who has apparently read 10% of the internet, can return written content from a command you input. And I’m not talking about a couple of lines. This little guy can spew paragraphs and paragraphs.
I asked Jasper to write an introduction about AI copywriting and here (with no editing) is what it had to say:
As a freelance copywriter, you may be wondering if you should start writing about artificial intelligence (AI) and related topics. After all, AI is one of the hottest buzzwords in the business world right now.
Before you start cranking out blog posts about AI, though, it's important to understand what AI actually is, and what it could mean for the future of copywriting. Here's a brief overview:
AI is a branch of computer science that deals with creating intelligent machines that can work and react like humans.
AI technology is already being used in a number of industries, including healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and retail.
As artificial intelligence (AI) begins to play an increasingly important role in our lives, it's also starting to take on new and diverse roles in the workplace.
One of these is AI copywriting- a field that involves using AI technology to create high-quality content for websites, advertising, and other marketing materials.
How Jasper works
Jasper uses “recipes” to write different forms of content. These recipes are premade templates with instructions like “write a blog introduction”.
Although you have to guide him most of the time and watch out for repetition, he can produce a blog post of over 1500 words in a couple of minutes.
A skilled little machine, Jasper has recipes to write content for:
Cold emails
Blog posts
Facebook ads
Product review blog post
The Hero’s Journey outline (a popular formula for outlining books/stories)
Video scripts
Non-fiction book introductions and outlines
You can also create your own recipe with custom instructions. (Side note: I wonder if Jasper could write a cookbook recipe?)
Should copywriters be worried about AI tools?
My verdict? AI could never replace a real copywriter. I know it's a truly unique sentiment from a human copywriter. (I doubt Jasper could achieve sarcasm like this.)
Why? Well, to start off with, Jasper gets writer's block.
He can get flustered with a command. He’ll return the same content repeatedly no matter how I tweak the instruction. This is not just repetition where he reiterates the same idea — it's word-for-word the same copy. I’ve had to reload pages because he’s just stopped responding.
One thing you learn as a copywriter is that you write for your audience first, not yourself. Jasper apparently hasn’t read that 10% of the internet.
Even when I’ve set up all the information and commands correctly, he’ll ignore me and write about whatever he wants. I was composing a post about options for home internet and he started babbling about Shopify. That would get you fired in the real world Jasper.
He also talks a lot of nothing. He loves adding fluff and unnecessary words. Plus I know if I see any statistics or numbers (like prices or contact information), I’ll have to do a fact-check. That defeats the marketed effortlessness of the system.
Finally, no hate to my new friend, but his content is boring — it needs a human touch.
With Jasper, I get the feeling of “Something isn’t right but I can’t put my finger on it.”
He might have all the words on the page but they lack the personality and soul that a real copywriter would give them.
Should businesses use AI over human copywriters?
This is one of those annoying yes and no moments.
There are definitely benefits:
Copywriters who are skilled in using AI tools can expect to see a lot of growth in their field in the coming years, as businesses increasingly turn to AI for content creation.
For a machine that has no emotions, Jaspers enjoys shameless self-promotion.
But he's right.
Knowing these types of tools can be valuable to both copywriters and businesses. The market is exploding with new refinements and I'll never deter someone from a tool that could potentially help them.
For businesses
If you need to create a lot of content quickly and originality isn’t that important to you, then Jasper’s your friendly AI robot. He never sleeps, never asks for a pay raise nor complains about short deadlines.
But that doesn’t mean he works for free. The price is all dependent on how much content you know but prices start at $29 per month but can go into the hundreds of dollars (also there’s no alternative currency option).
Does Jasper replace the creativity and je ne sais quoi of a human copywriter? No, at least not yet. Technology has a way to go and I’m sure Jasper will only get better. But, for now, he is still a robot.
You may think you're saving money by cutting out the middleman (i.e. the copywriter) but the content still needs to be edited and cleaned up. Ultimately someone with the correct understanding has to do that.
For copywriters
If you write content for clients, I don't recommend using Jasper.
Not that I think it's deceitful to use such a tool (how is Jasper any more deceitful than Grammarly?). I just don't think it's worth it.
I find that as “easy” as Jasper is marketed to be, I spent more time correcting him than relishing in his abilities.
As a copywriter, I want to add my own research, points of interest and insights. If I'm doing that, I might as well write the content — that way I can always ensure the quality I give my clients.
But if you want to use Jasper as a starting place for your own content, go for it! It could be a valuable niche to dive into and one I'm sure has much more growth ahead of it.
Final thoughts from a human copywriter
I’m prepared for the days when robots and copywriters work hand in hand (hand in mouse? Hand in binary code?) together. But that’s not happening for a long time.
Jasper is a fun tool. If you have the opportunity to try the platform out, I suggest you take full advantage of his capabilities.
But is he going to start taking clients from me? I got the chance to work with Jasper because a client still need a copywriter with the know-how to produce the final, optimised copy.
In a way, Jasper brought me more clients. So no, he could be a good ally but I don't see him as a threat.
Until next time, I'm Sam — your very human copywriter.
This is the new world we're in, I think the important thing to remember is automation is coming for us, and getting better every day, all we can do is embrace it and be assured that we position ourselves in the space that AI can't touch, the human aspect. There will always be the need for the human element, it might just get smaller and smaller, but never extinct. Instead of seeing AI as a threat, we should welcome it and treat it well and look after it. If we don't, we are the redundant ones and Skynet will be born