Let me write that for you: Prospects concerning the impact of GPT-3 on the copywriting workforce
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Denis Iorga [1]
| Abstract: The advertising industry is an economic sector in which the capability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology – such as Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3) – of generating text indistinguishable from a human-written text can have both positive and negative consequences. However, there are limited research attempts to examine the consequences of GPT-3 on the advertising workforce. In this sense, the current study explores the viability of using GPT-3 for automated copywriting (defined as writing text for advertising purposes) and discusses prospects concerning the impact of GPT-3 on the copywriting workforce. An advertisement evaluation inquiry was conducted to evaluate the viability of GPT-3 for automated copywriting. The inquiry involved asking participants (n=31) to choose between advertisements with text generated through GPT-3 and advertisements with human-written text. Based on the reflexive analysis of the results, it is plausible to consider three implications of GPT-3 for the copywriting workforce: (1) it may substitute tasks that involve the generation of low-cost, mass-produced advertising text; (2) it may create new tasks which involve the manipulation of GPT-3 input/output for automated copywriting; and (3) it may aid copywriters to manage creative exhaustion. Such prospects suggest an uneven distribution of GPT-3 consequences on the copywriting workforce, influenced by technological, occupational, and economic factors. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; AI; GPT; GPT-3; Future of work; Workforce; Jobs; Automation; Copywriting; Advertising; Creative industries; Creative exhaustion; |
[1] Interdisciplinary School of Doctoral Studies, University of Bucharest, Romania, denis.iorga@drd.unibuc.ro.