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In 2022, we wrote an article about Why you need a copywriter. But then ChatGPT came along and stirred the pot. Now we are halfway into 2025 and many policymakers have asked themselves the question - what should I do with a copywriter who writes text, now that AI can write it? Reasonable question, let's look into the matter to see what a human copywriter in digital marketing can really bring.
1. Text that relates and inspires
If you ask a ChatGPT to write a text on a specific topic, you will get a good text, but a very generic text. You get long hyphens and cliched AI expressions such as: “In a world that is constantly changing...” and “It's not just an xx. It's an xx.” For anyone who has ever written anything with ChatGPT (which is the vast majority), it will be very clear that you did not put your heart into writing the article. And aren't you tired of texts that are obviously written by an AI?
When doing their research online in hopes of finding a trustworthy company, the majority want to feel that they are understood and can be helped, like there is someone behind the text who understands what they need, and speaks to them. The personal contact between the brand and the target audience must exist to create trust. It is, of course, possible to get an AI text with the brand's voice, but it requires thinking behind the text and that someone knowledgeable (like a copywriter) teaches your AI, uses the right prompts and edits based on your tonality and knowledge, so that the text does not sound like an AI-generated tedium...
2. Tonality with fingertip feel
Without a descriptive prompt, all ChatGPT texts sound the same. They have no tone, no soul. You can, of course, ask the AI to analyze your tonality and then ask it to write a new text in the same tonality. It can work in some contexts.
But if you have a really sharp copywriter, then this one will not settle for the initial analysis that ChatGPT suggests, but really penetrate the square words to find the essence of the tonality, and build on that. A copywriter can embroider the text and weave in what is important and stands out for your particular business. In this way, you get a specific and unique tonality that is imbued with exactly the right feeling. And as more and more companies rely solely on Chat-GPT, you can stand out PROPERLY by having a copywriter's hand in your texts.
3. ChatGPT is just guessing, based on what is logical
If you want to be a little scientific in your texts, and show that you build your arguments with knowledge and science in the back, then you might want to include some references in your text. But, you don't have time to do research and find sources yourself, so you ask ChatGPT to write a text with sources. What happens then? Well, BAM, and you have a text with source citations. Good huh?! But the question is, is that true?
It's easy to trust everything AI says. Because it is said with such certainty, and since AI is so smart, it must be right? But this is not always the case.
In many cases, ChatGPT can actually type in sources that don't match. Therefore, you still need to be on top of the topic and be source critical.
AI models like ChatGPT (and the like) are not hooked up against a real knowledge database that checks facts in real time. Instead, they act as huge language models trained on vast amounts of text from the internet, books, articles, forums and other sources.
AI knows what is commonly used, not what is true and therefore also cannot review facts, or verify facts in real time because the answers are based on trained data. In other words, ChatGPT guesses based on what is logical, even when it comes to sources. Sometimes it gets right. But just as often there are crunches.
A copywriter knows how to do good research and find the right references. AI can definitely be used as a tool here, but then it is important to have the critical eyes with you and take the time to review each part.
4. A copywriter sees the whole picture
An AI works “prompt by prompt”. After chatting for a while with ChatGPT, you'll notice that it forgets what you told it a couple of prompts ago (unless you set it to remember those aspects). If you are doing a multi-part campaign, it will be difficult for ChatGPT to keep the red thread and see the big picture. So does the copywriter! The copywriter can see the big picture of campaigns, funnels and customer journey, coordinate copy across channels and make strategic priorities based on purpose, timing and goals.
AI also cannot take into account the unsaid. We humans do not always think and act logically. We are emotionally-driven, distracted and full of contradictions. Here, through interviews, a copywriter can capture insecurities in tone and body language, understand the underlying needs of the target audience, and make sure to address objections with the right tone. AI can produce text, but it is the copywriter who understands the target audience.
5. Each text is part of the larger strategy
Just as we described in the paragraph above, a text is not just a text, it is part of a larger context. Part of a thoughtful strategy to build trust, drive conversion. And to create a text that does this, you need to understand the business goals and target audience, be able to prioritize the right message and create content that supports the entire customer journey.
After all, almost everyone who has gone to primary school can write a text, with or without AI. But a good copywriter knows what it takes to land it right with the target audience.
AI can absolutely give you a well-written article, but just because it sounds good doesn't mean it builds relationship, sets you apart from the competition, or gets the target audience to act. There's a big difference between filling a page with text, and actually communicating effectively.
Copywriter + AI = true.
We're not dissing AI, quite the opposite. It's one of our most important tools, and we use it like designers use Photoshop. AI is a ball board, an idea sprayer, a fast trainee happy to take on simpler tasks.
A copywriter becomes more efficient with AI and can take more jobs, But the fact is that you need a copywriter to get texts that make people want to take the time to read. Texts that are not generic but make your target audience reach out, and act the way you want them to act. Together with AI, a copywriter can produce more and faster than they have ever been able to before, while ensuring that every text has heart and every word has a purpose.
With a couple of prompts, anyone can get a perfectly okay text with AI. But with a copywriter who actively works with AI as a tool, you get the human touch too. And it is, after all, quite important.
How do we work with AI at Smarkify?
Each copy has their own preferences regarding how they like to work:
Caroline Adlercreutz
“It is different depending on the project and the needs of the customer. If there is a lot of text material I am going to produce, I make sure to train the tonality and that ChatGPT understands the purpose of the text to create a foundation, then I fix it so that it is exactly the way I want it. ChatGPT is also very valuable when I need to get out of my own head, find new formulations or further develop a fuzzy idea.”
Robin Andersson
“Brainstorming and further development. I've experimented with letting AI give me “skeletons” on texts and then work on them, but I find that the results are better when I first set a human foundation and then just ask for development suggestions from ChatGPT. It's good to have an almost finished text, and then ask the AI to look at it and suggest improvements or additions. Any text will probably be 20% better just by playing that way. And sometimes I ask ChatGPT to deliver a little Gothenburg joke, but I've realised it's no use.”
Leone Serrander
“For an article, I first start from the customer, interviews and research that I have done myself, write down a first draft and then I let the AI come up with more ideas and shorten the text. In this way, I know that the text from the beginning has the tonality of the brand and is not in danger of becoming generic. In addition, AI is an excellent sounding board during the work process to get suggestions on what might appeal to a target audience. I always ask for sources and fact-finding obviously the information I get because AI tends to give a lot of factual errors.”
How we protect customer data
We have a strict AI policy at Smarkify, about how we use AI to protect confidential information and comply with our internal and external privacy requirements. Everyone at the company has signed this policy.
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