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AI and Copywriting: THE TRUTH | Can You Succeed Without Expertise?
Published April 1, 2023 · 87 views on YouTube
Can AI make a mediocre copywriter successful?
No. In this conversation, a veteran copywriter argues that AI tools speed up the workflow but do not replace research skill or personal writing style. A copywriter with no research technique and no personality was already going to struggle before AI existed, and using AI as a shortcut does not fix that underlying problem.
Does AI eliminate the need for research in copywriting?
No. The discussion points to Agora, one of the top direct-response marketing companies, whose new copywriting hires spend nine months doing research before they write a single line. AI can support research the same way Google searches or reading books can, but it does not replace the depth of research that strong copy requires.
Why do some copywriters fear AI will put them out of work?
The conversation frames this as a “fear factor” that misreads the real risk. The concern raised is that a copywriter who writes like a bot, with no research technique and no distinct voice, was already vulnerable to going out of business even before tools like ChatGPT existed. AI does not create that vulnerability; it exposes it faster.
What should a copywriter bring that AI cannot replicate?
According to the conversation, it comes down to personality, writing style, and the judgment to choose which AI output is actually good. One speaker notes that people can scrape their own past copy into a tool so it writes “in their style,” but questions why that’s even necessary when a writer already has their own style and can shape the first draft themselves. The larger point made is that copywriting is not a commodity: bringing personal voice and creative choice to the work is what separates someone who benefits from AI from someone who becomes replaceable by it. The speakers also stress that marketing success requires more than one skill in isolation, describing it as “a three-legged stool” of media selection, offer creation, and messaging, and that a copywriter who is already skilled will see AI extend their ability, while a mediocre copywriter will not be saved by it.
Full video transcript
The conversation opens on using AI tools with the right understanding, and how the key input is what goes into the content brief. The better the content brief, the better the instruction the AI receives, and the better research behind that brief, doing the research for your market and your target before filling it out.
One speaker shares an experience from Jeff Walker’s Mastermind, where they noticed a “fear factor” narrative that every copywriter would be out of work because of ChatGPT. Their response: if you’re writing like a bot, with no research technique and nothing else, you’ll be out of business, but you should already be out of business even without ChatGPT. Another speaker at the Mastermind, David Deutsch, talked about personality and writing style as the differentiator. That’s why it seemed strange to some that a tool could scrape someone’s own copy and write “in their style” when a writer already has their style and can work the first paragraph in themselves.
The speakers agree that plain vanilla sales copy never works, and bring up research as the key word. Agora, one of the best-known marketers, has new copywriting hires spend nine months just doing research before writing a single line, underscoring how much research goes into good copy. AI can be used for research the same way someone would use Google or read books, but the thing that captures the imagination is treating AI as a building block, not a replacement for personality, which matters “in everything in life.”
One speaker criticizes “fear mongers” who claim you’ll be out of business if you don’t use AI, and might also be out of business if you do use it incorrectly. The conversation turns to an interview happening later that day about the future of learning and these tools, and how the discussion has increasingly centered on actively thinking and choosing when working with AI, rather than letting AI “take the driver’s seat.” Letting AI drive removes the value a person brings: creativity, choice, and the ability to discern which output is better. This still requires understanding and skill, so AI extends the ability of a copywriter who is already good, and does not turn a mediocre copywriter into a good one, because mediocre or good copy is still just copy.
One speaker reflects on 40 years in the business, having met and worked with many of the great copywriters of their lifetime, saying there is a special talent involved and that copywriting is not a commodity. If someone thinks it is, they argue, that person shouldn’t be in copywriting. AI will speed up the process, but the speakers ask why anyone would not want to bring their personality to their work in any part of life, since imitating everything else makes work less fun. They acknowledge this is a real discussion because a lot of people are looking for shortcuts in marketing.
The speakers note that in copywriting specifically, there aren’t as many people taking shortcuts long-term, because you can’t sustain a living being mediocre for long; you have to get results. As a marketer or business owner, that means media selection, offer creation, and messaging, described as “a three-legged stool,” and anyone who doesn’t understand that won’t stay in business long. They compare it to appearing on Shark Tank with a single product and no plan for a second or third product, which can produce a one-hit wonder rather than a lasting business. One speaker closes by saying they are in it for the long haul, referencing their book on playing the long game.